BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//The Understudy - ECPv6.15.15//NONSGML v1.0//EN
CALSCALE:GREGORIAN
METHOD:PUBLISH
X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://theunderstudy.com
X-WR-CALDESC:Events for The Understudy
REFRESH-INTERVAL;VALUE=DURATION:PT1H
X-Robots-Tag:noindex
X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H
BEGIN:VTIMEZONE
TZID:America/Chicago
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:-0600
TZOFFSETTO:-0500
TZNAME:CDT
DTSTART:20250309T080000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:-0500
TZOFFSETTO:-0600
TZNAME:CST
DTSTART:20251102T070000
END:STANDARD
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:-0600
TZOFFSETTO:-0500
TZNAME:CDT
DTSTART:20260308T080000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:-0500
TZOFFSETTO:-0600
TZNAME:CST
DTSTART:20261101T070000
END:STANDARD
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:-0600
TZOFFSETTO:-0500
TZNAME:CDT
DTSTART:20270314T080000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:-0500
TZOFFSETTO:-0600
TZNAME:CST
DTSTART:20271107T070000
END:STANDARD
END:VTIMEZONE
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260928T193000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260928T210000
DTSTAMP:20260921T183615
CREATED:20260817T032557Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260916T044116Z
UID:10000275-1790623800-1790629200@theunderstudy.com
SUMMARY:The Understudy Dares You to Produce This Play: Poor Clare
DESCRIPTION:A monthly reading series highlighting plays that have not yet been produced in Chicago\n\n\nThe 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. \n \nThis month\, we’re reading Poor Clare by Chiara Atik \nClare: Felicia Oduh  \nBeatrice: John-Payne \nFrancis: Andrew Shipman \nAlma: Jordan Levene \nPeppa: Preeti Thaker \nOrtolana: Mari De La Rua \nThe Poor/Beggar: Izzy Valdes \n \nAbout the Play \nIt’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.
URL:https://theunderstudy.com/event/the-understudy-dares-you-to-produce-this-play-poor-clare/
LOCATION:The Understudy Coffee and Books\, 5531 N. Clark St.\, Chicago\, IL\, 60640\, United States
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://theunderstudy.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/0bf3fde215661c504ff1998019148afe-u0zxDi.tmp_.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260929T193000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260929T220000
DTSTAMP:20260921T183615
CREATED:20260918T161432Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260921T051206Z
UID:10000291-1790710200-1790719200@theunderstudy.com
SUMMARY:New Playwrights/Established Companies: The Path to Production
DESCRIPTION:Phanésia\, Zach\, and Netta discuss how their plays (Dead Girl's Quinceñera\, The Pilon\, and Hayward) found their way to full production.\n\n\nOver the last year we have seen new playwrights be produced by larger theatre companies: \nPhanésia Pharel’s Dead Girl’s Quinceñera is making a triple collective world premiere (Barrington\, Goodman Theatre\, and Hartford Stage). \nZach Barr’s The Pilon produced by Red Theatre\, won the ATCA New Play award. \nNetta Walker’s Hayward is debuting at Steppenwolf Theatre\, presented by The Gift Theatre. \nJoin us as we talk about the steps of taking their pieces to production\, asking how long the plays were developed\, what pushed the play to production\, how did you pitch/represent your play to new audience members\, and what is the history of your plays development? \nWho are the playwrights? \nPhanésia Pharel \nPhanésia Pharel is a Haitian-American playwright and screenwriter from a dragon fruit farm in Miami. She is the daughter of an immigrant teacher and farmer. \nHer play DEAD GIRL’S QUINCEÑERA is making a triple collective world premiere. It will then run at the Goodman September 26th-November 1st and conclude its world premiere at Hartford Stage in spring 2027. It recently closed our Barrington run. \nShe recently made her Off-Broadway debut at the WP Theater with her play The Waterfall\, which was co-produced by Thrown Stone. \nShe is the Playwriting Fellow (2025–2027) at Emory University\, where she serves as a visiting professor and will have a new play produced by the university’s repertory company. \nHer plays have been developed at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center’s National Playwrights Conference\, New Harmony Project\, Playwrights’ Center\, New York Stage and Film\, SolFest\, Shattered Globe\, and Echo Theater Company. \nShe has received commissions from the Atlantic Theater Company\, Lucille Lortel Theatre (Alcove)\, La Jolla Playhouse\, Miranda Family Fund\, Hero Theatre\, City Theatre Miami\, and the Latinx Playwrights Circle. \nPhanésia is a member of the Obie Award-winning EST/Youngblood group and The Wish Collective. As a screenwriter\, she is an alumna of Lena Waithe’s Hillman Grad Screenwriting Lab. \nShe holds a B.A. in Urban Studies from Barnard College of Columbia University and an MFA in Playwriting from the University of California San Diego. \n \nZach Barr \nZach Barr (they/them) is a nonbinary multidisciplinary theatre artist. Their plays include THE PILON (2026 Steinberg/ATCA New Play Award Winner)\, ENDURING JEST (2026 O’Neill Conference Semi-Finalist)\, NEW OLEANNA (2024 LiveArts Waterworks Finalist)\, and QUINLYN CAN PAINT. They’ve completed residencies with Three Brothers Theatre and Filament Theatre\, are a two-time semi-finalist for Seven Devils New Play Foundry and a two-time honorable mention for Wild Imaginings’ Epiphanies festival\, and have had work developed by Valdez Theatre Conference\, Bramble Theatre Company\, Black Cat Theatre\, and Fat Theatre Project. Zach serves as Literary Manager at Red Theater\, curating the new play reading series “Script Club\,” and is the creator of the video essay series “And Now They Sing” on YouTube. They are a proud member of the Dramatists Guild. Find them on NPX. @admiralzachbarr \n \nNetta Walker \nNetta Walker is an actor and playwright that began her career onstage in Chicago 10 years ago as the Rose of Sharon understudy at The Gift Theater for “The Grapes of Wrath”. Now she is known for starring as Keisha McCalla in “All American: Homecoming” and “All American” on The CW for 3 seasons. In 2019\, she won a Jeff Award for “Best Supporting Performance in a Play” (“Yen”\, Raven Theater) and was quickly named one of the Chicago Tribune’s “Hot New Faces” by theater critic Chris Jones. \nShe studied playwriting at The LIR at Trinity College for a year while simultaneously taking acting classes at RADA. As a writer in the Pearl Cleage writers workshop with the Tony Award winning Goodman Theater and Remy Bumppo Theater Company\, she began developing Hayward – which was chosen as a Eugene O’Neill National Playwrights Conference 2025 Semifinalist. Her play keerah was selected as a winner in Definition Theaters’ 2024 AMPLIFY New Play Festival\, where it is set to be workshopped for two years. keerah has also been performed in scratch nights in London with Irish speaking casts. Her Filipino short film Balik won the Horror/Thriller short script category at Hollywood Just4Shorts Film and Screenplay competition\, as well as being selected for London Film Festival International and Edinburgh FFI. This was swiftly followed by her short script Baby Gay being selected for the Chicago Script Awards and as a Cambridge Script Festival finalist (LGBTQ Screenplay). Both shorts were selected for the Best Script Awards screenplay competition in London in the same year. Walker was also chosen to pitch her original feminist dystopian series House of Dixie at the American Cinemtheque’s Proof of Concept Film Festival in LA in 2024 – it then went on to be selected as a Quarterfinalist for WeScreenplays’ Diverse Voices Lab Spring 2025. She is now adapting it for stage. \nChicago onstage acting credits include: Lion in Winter (Court Theater)\, How to Defend Yourself (Victory Gardens\, original cast); Yen (Raven Theatre\, Jeff Award for Best Supporting Actor); Hamlet\, Grapes of Wrath (The Gift); No Child (Definition Theatre); Continuity (Goodman); truth and reconciliation (Sideshow Theatre Company); Great Expectations (Silk Road Rising/Remy Bumppo); The Wickhams: Christmas at Pemberley (Northlight\, original cast) and in workshops and reading series with companies like Steppenwolf Theater\, Jackalope Theater\, and Pride Films and Plays. Regional: Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley (Milwaukee Rep). \nBorn and raised on the Florida/Georgia line in the Westside of Jacksonville\, Florida\, her unique background as a child of an immigrant and a Navy Chief influences every decision of storytelling she makes. The blended cultures of Cebuano Filipina and traditional Southern African-American heritage — fuels her passion for creating multicultural\, multilayered and nuanced representation of the human condition in the arts. \n \nThis event is moderated by Joel Willison
URL:https://theunderstudy.com/event/new-playwrights-established-companies-the-path-to-production/
LOCATION:The Understudy Coffee and Books\, 5531 N. Clark St.\, Chicago\, IL\, 60640\, United States
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://theunderstudy.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/164283c4404504912ecde42e6f8b51ac-T9zRL7.tmp_.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260930T193000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260930T220000
DTSTAMP:20260921T183615
CREATED:20260917T001800Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260917T001800Z
UID:10000289-1790796600-1790805600@theunderstudy.com
SUMMARY:A Toast to Poetry with Muffy Films
DESCRIPTION:
URL:https://theunderstudy.com/event/a-toast-to-poetry-with-muffy-films/
LOCATION:The Understudy Coffee and Books\, 5531 N. Clark St.\, Chicago\, IL\, 60640\, United States
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261005T193000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261005T213000
DTSTAMP:20260921T183615
CREATED:20260904T041101Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260916T044118Z
UID:10000287-1791228600-1791235800@theunderstudy.com
SUMMARY:ARSENIC AND OLD LACE by by Joseph Kesselring
DESCRIPTION:A play reading of THE OUTSIDER by Paul Slade Smith produced by Exit\, Pursued by a Play Reading.\n\n\nDrama 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 brother who thinks he’s Teddy Roosevelt\, and another brother using plastic surgery to hide from the police – not to mention Mortimer’s own hesitancy about marriage – it’ll be a miracle if Mortimer makes it to his wedding. Arsenic and Old Lace is a classic dark comedy about the only thing more deadly than poison: family. \n \n** CAST TO BE ANNOUNCED **
URL:https://theunderstudy.com/event/arsenic-and-old-lace-by-by-joseph-kesselring/
LOCATION:The Understudy Coffee and Books\, 5531 N. Clark St.\, Chicago\, IL\, 60640\, United States
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://theunderstudy.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/e3fcd457c5ff565f00ea9266e808f023-ZiXI6R.tmp_.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261008T193000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261008T210000
DTSTAMP:20260921T183615
CREATED:20260903T041052Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260916T044119Z
UID:10000282-1791487800-1791493200@theunderstudy.com
SUMMARY:Mia Schachter: How to Do Consent (without Sounding Like a Robot)
DESCRIPTION:a modern guide for moving sex and boundaries past rigid rules and toward real connection\, personal fulfillment\, and self-discovery.\n\n\nABOUT THE BOOK\nEssential\, up-to-date guidance on consent and sex for anyone who’s having it—and everyone who wants to do it better. \nEmpowered practices\, embodied skills\, and frame-changing advice for navigating consent\, pursuing pleasure\, and building connection in the real world. \nPart practical guide\, part cultural critique\, this book offers braver\, more creative\, and more empowered visions of what sex can (and should) be. Essential reading for anyone having sex in the 21st century\, How to Do Consent moves the conversation past stale and rigid assumptions toward one rooted in connection\, fulfillment\, and self-discovery. \nTimely\, provocative\, real-world\, and affirming\, Schachter’s work dispels misconceptions like: \n\n“Consent can be done perfectly”: When in practice\, it’s relative\, subjective\, fluid\, and interpersonal—there’s no one right way to do it.\n“If you can’t talk about sex\, you shouldn’t be having it”: Abstinence lite is unrealistic; talking about sex requires experience\, trial\, and error.\n“Consent will save us”: Consent is a harm-reduction strategy\, not a panacea.\n“Enthusiasm is a requirement for consensual sex”: Utterly unenthusiastic but totally consensual sex happens all the time. It’s fine!\n“Consent is something that men do for women”: It’s a shared\, communal responsibility—and anyone of any gender can violate another’s’ boundaries.\n“Sexuality is always innate and unchangeable”: While honoring the reality that many are “born this way\,” Schachter shares how their own desires and sexuality have been both fluid and actively sculpted.\n\nGrounded in Schachter’s work as an intimacy coordinator and consent educator—and informed by insights from sex workers\, therapists\, kink practitioners\, and community leaders—How to Do Consent (Without Sounding Like a Robot) offers a provocative and bitingly funny alternative to the myths and practices that keep us silent\, confused\, anxious\, and disconnected—and that hold us back from asking for (and discovering) what we really want. \n \nABOUT THE AUTHOR\nMia Schachter is a writer\, multi-media artist and musician\, and the creator of Consent Wizardry\, an online consent school serving over a thousand students seeking more easeful relationships\, clearer boundaries\, and authentic self-expression. Mia also works as an intimacy coordinator for TV\, film\, and theater. They’ve taught and spoken for organizations including Planned Parenthood\, XBiz\, and the Directors Guild’s Women’s Steering Committee. Drawing on a background in philosophy\, gender studies\, ethics\, and neuroscience—as well as their lived experience with chronic illness—Schachter explores consent as a creative\, anti-carceral practice that links body\, desire\, and imagination.
URL:https://theunderstudy.com/event/mia-schachter-how-to-do-consent-without-sounding-like-a-robot/
LOCATION:The Understudy Coffee and Books\, 5531 N. Clark St.\, Chicago\, IL\, 60640\, United States
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://theunderstudy.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/a130fafa6a19bd32b5caa74eed8a89d4-xoP6bT.tmp_.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261013T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261013T193000
DTSTAMP:20260921T183615
CREATED:20260829T041050Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260916T044121Z
UID:10000277-1791914400-1791919800@theunderstudy.com
SUMMARY:Century Cycle Book Club Event 1
DESCRIPTION:Part 1: Intro
URL:https://theunderstudy.com/event/century-cycle-book-club-event-1/
LOCATION:Goodman Theatre\, 170 North Dearborn Street\, Chicago\, IL\, 60601\, United States
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261013T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261013T193000
DTSTAMP:20260921T183615
CREATED:20260829T041051Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260829T041051Z
UID:10000279-1791914400-1791919800@theunderstudy.com
SUMMARY:Century Cycle Book Club Event 1
DESCRIPTION:Part 1: Intro
URL:https://theunderstudy.com/event/century-cycle-book-club-event-1-2/
LOCATION:Goodman Theatre\, 170 North Dearborn Street\, Chicago\, IL\, 60601\, United States
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261022T193000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261022T220000
DTSTAMP:20260921T183615
CREATED:20260918T040716Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260918T042125Z
UID:10000290-1792697400-1792706400@theunderstudy.com
SUMMARY:(X)tra: An Anniversary Cabaret
DESCRIPTION:About This Event\nWe 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. \n(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 do\, and doing it anyway\, in community. \nThis is not a showcase of finished\, polished\, already-approved work. This is a space for artists to bring both their most vibrant ideas and also their most incomplete ones. This is the space to fail and to be bold without apology. \nWhether you’re there to perform or affirm\, (X)tra is an evening to revel in imperfection\, honor each other’s ability to risk loudly\, and celebrate the spirit of creativity. \nWhat to Expect\nAn evening of cabaret performances\, community\, and unabashed celebration\, featuring artists operating at the edge of what they know how to do\, and doing it anyway. Between acts\, the room stays open. This is a gathering as much as it is a show\, and the conversation is part of the programming. \n(X)tra is also a fundraiser for (X) Collective’s second year… because the best way to invest in this community is to be in the room together\, in the very act of it. \n  \nBuy Your Ticket Here!
URL:https://theunderstudy.com/event/xtra-an-anniversary-cabaret/
LOCATION:The Understudy Coffee and Books\, 5531 N. Clark St.\, Chicago\, IL\, 60640\, United States
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://theunderstudy.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/X46Ack6sifwJR2lTfaQkYKRbeHq6OsEnPIBvjjsU.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261109T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261109T203000
DTSTAMP:20260921T183615
CREATED:20260829T041051Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260916T044122Z
UID:10000278-1794250800-1794256200@theunderstudy.com
SUMMARY:Century Cycle Play Club 2
DESCRIPTION:Edition 2
URL:https://theunderstudy.com/event/century-cycle-play-club-2/
LOCATION:The Understudy Coffee and Books\, 5531 N. Clark St.\, Chicago\, IL\, 60640\, United States
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR