- This event has passed.
The Understudy Dares You to Produce This Play: Poor Clare
September 28 @ 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm
FreeThe Understudy Dares You to Produce This Play is a monthly reading series highlighting plays that have not received a Chicago production. Produced by The Understudy’s bookstore team, this series works to expand the variety of playwrights and titles in our vibrant community.
This month, we’re reading Poor Clare by Chiara Atik
Clare: Felicia Oduh
Beatrice: John-Payne
Francis: Andrew Shipman
Alma: Jordan Levene
Peppa: Preeti Thaker
Ortolana: Mari De La Rua
The Poor/Beggar: Izzy Valdes
About the Play
It’s 1211 in Assisi, Italy, and Clare’s got beauty, wealth and a rich suitor who showers her with expensive presents. So why is she so drawn to this guy Francis who gave up all his possessions just because poor people are suffering? Everyone in town says he’s crazy. And yet… she starts seeing everything in her life differently. This hilarious, anachronistic telling of the real story of St. Clare considers the cost of doing good – and how little has changed for the haves and the have-nots in almost a millennium.
Other Events
ARSENIC AND OLD LACE by by Joseph Kesselring
October 5 @ 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm
A play reading of THE OUTSIDER by Paul Slade Smith produced by Exit, Pursued by a Play Reading. Drama critic Mortimer Brewster’s engagement announcement is upended when he discovers a corpse in his elderly aunts’ window seat. Mortimer rushes to tell Abby and Martha before they stumble upon the body themselves, only to learn that the two old women aren’t just aware of the dead man in their parlor, they killed him! Between his aunts’ penchant for poisoning wine, a…
ARSENIC AND OLD LACE by by Joseph Kesselring
October 5 @ 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm
Mia Schachter: How to Do Consent (without Sounding Like a Robot)
October 8 @ 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm
a modern guide for moving sex and boundaries past rigid rules and toward real connection, personal fulfillment, and self-discovery. ABOUT THE BOOK Essential, up-to-date guidance on consent and sex for anyone who’s having it—and everyone who wants to do it better. Empowered practices, embodied skills, and frame-changing advice for navigating consent, pursuing pleasure, and building connection in the real world. Part practical guide, part cultural critique, this book offers braver, more creative, and more empowered visions of what sex can…
Mia Schachter: How to Do Consent (without Sounding Like a Robot)
October 8 @ 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm
Re:working – Elements of Surprise: Specialized Design
October 15 @ 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm
Join Matt, Megan, Alice, & Ethan as we discuss their wide-ranging careers and visions around specialized designs that surprise and amaze us. When was the last time you gasped in a Chicago theatre? Chances are, one of these folks had something to do with it. Join Matt, Megan, Alice, and Ethan as we discuss their wide-ranging careers and visions around specialized designs that surprise and amaze audiences. Together, we’ll lift the curtain on their creative processes which span meticulous puppetry,…
Re:working – Elements of Surprise: Specialized Design
October 15 @ 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm
Re:working – Elements of Surprise: Specialized Design
October 15 @ 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm
Join Matt, Megan, Alice, & Ethan as we discuss their wide-ranging careers and visions around specialized designs that surprise and amaze us. When was the last time you gasped in a Chicago theatre? Chances are, one of these folks had something to do with it. Join Matt, Megan, Alice, and Ethan as we discuss their wide-ranging careers and visions around specialized designs that surprise and amaze audiences. Together, we’ll lift the curtain on their creative processes which span meticulous puppetry,…
Re:working – Elements of Surprise: Specialized Design
October 15 @ 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm
(X)tra: An Anniversary Cabaret
October 22 @ 7:30 pm - 10:00 pm
About This Event We spent a year building something. Now we’re celebrating it the only way we know how: by gathering everyone we love in a room for a night of community. (X)tra is (X) Collective’s first annual anniversary cabaret, built specifically for work that refuses to play it safe. Bold performances. Wild moments. Artists doing the thing they’ve been waiting for someone to give them the room to do. Artists operating at the edge of what they know how to…