Play Reading Club: Becky Nurse of Salem
2024-10-28 19:00 - 20:30 (America/Chicago) | The Understudy Coffee and Books, 5531 N Clark St, Chicago, IL, 60640, United States
Each month, we gather to discuss a new, exciting or confounding play that has caught our attention. This month: Becky Nurse of Salem

Join our monthly play reading club! Each month, we gather to discuss a new, exciting or confounding play that has caught our attention. This month, we’re reading BECKY NURSE OF SALEM by Sarah Ruhl
Whether you’re a bona fide theatre nerd, or exploring anew genre for the first time, this club is an excellent opportunity to dive deep into a great piece of writing. Everyone is welcome! Just arrive having already read the play, and our conversation will unfold from there.
Order Your Copy Here
ABOUT THE PLAY
Becky Nurse is an outspoken, sharp-witted tour guide at the Salem Museum of Witchcraft who’s just trying to get by in post-Obama America. She’s also the descendant of Rebecca Nurse, who was infamously executed for witchcraft in 1692—but things have changed for women since then…haven’t they? After losing her job for calling out The Crucible in front of schoolkids, Becky visits a local witch for help. One spell leads to another, and then everything really goes off the rails. A darkly comic play about a woman coming to terms with her family’s legacy and finding her voice in the “lock her up” era.
Order Your Copy Here
ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT
Sarah Ruhl is a playwright, poet, and essayist. Her plays include In the Next Room or the Vibrator Play (Pulitzer Prize finalist); The Clean House (Pulitzer Prize finalist, Susan Smith Blackburn Prize); Passion Play (PEN/Laura Pels Award); Letters from Max (based on the book of the same title, with Max Ritvo); and Eurydice, named one of the best productions of the last twenty-five years by the New York Times, and made into an opera for The Metropolitan Opera. Her books include Smile: A Memoir, 100 Essays I Don’t Have Time to Write, and Love Poems in Quarantine. She is the recipient of a MacArthur “Genius” Grant. She currently teaches at the Geffen School of Drama at Yale University. She lives in Brooklyn with her family.

Kokandy Book Club Presents: CARRIE
2024-10-29 19:30 - 21:00
We’ll unpack the horror and the hilarity of Stephen King’s best-selling book, the Oscar-nominated film, AND the notorious Broadway flop.

Kokandy Book Club Presents
CARRIE
Join The Understudy and our friends from Kokandy Productions for the latest installment of our series BOOK CLUB.
Our October Book Club is pouring out a little pig’s blood for everyone’s favorite prom queen, CARRIE. Stephen King’s best-selling book became both an Oscar-nominated film AND a notorious Broadway musical flop? Attention must be paid! We’ll unpack the horror and the hilarity as we get into the Halloween spirit. Curated by Kokandy Producing Artistic Director Derek Van Barham, with musical accompaniment by Nick Sula, our book club performers will be announced soon!
Kokandy Book Club is an intimate salon series celebrating theatre, music and community. Each meeting will focus on a well known play or musical—investigating the plot, themes and relevant tangents through a mix of musical theatre and pop/rock performance. Have a sit, have a sip and honor the ritual of talking about good plays and having a good ole fashion jam session.
Note: This is not a reading, concert or performance of the book, screenplay or musical. Tis rather a musical celebration of the telekinetic tale in ALL of its forms.
Doors open at 7 PM for a 7:30 PM performance.
The Understudy Cafe will be open for refreshments.

A Conversation with Kimberly Senior: WHAT WOULD A PERSON DO?
2024-11-04 19:30 - 21:00
Award-winning theater director Kimberly Senior discusses her new book WHAT WOULD A PERSON DO? with Tribune critic Chris Jones.

Don’t miss this wide ranging discussion on Kimberly Senior’s career, craft, and writing, following the launch of their new book What Would A Person Do? Thoughts on Directing and Living.

About the Book
What Would a Person Do? by award-winning theater director Kimberly Senior is a sharp, spirited collection of reflections brimming with heart & wisdom that bridge the gap between life and art. Senior offers a practical guide to effective theater-making, leadership, teaching, and personhood. From Chekhov to tennis, she shares profound and playful insights that inspire you to think deeply, act boldly, and create with purpose—onstage and off.
Warm and witty, this book is a fresh roadmap for anyone looking to live and lead with intention.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kimberly Senior is a freelance director whose award winning work has been seen in 15 states in over 200 productions. She directed the Broadway production of the Pulitzer Prize, Tony ominated Disgraced by Ayad Akhtar. Kimberly directed the HBO special Chris Gethard: Career Suicide and her work in audio has ranged from Marvel’s The Wastelanders to C13’s Ghostwriter.
She is a member of the Goodman Theatre’s Artistic Collective and has taught at a number of universities. She is a proud union member of SDC and even prouder mother of Noah and Delaney. This is her first book.

Chris Jones is editorial page editor, as well as chief theater critic for the Chicago Tribune. He also serves as Broadway critic for the New York Daily News. His latest book is Rise Up! Broadway and American Society from ‘Angels in America’ to ‘Hamilton.'” He has a Ph.D. from Ohio State and lives in Chicago with his wife and sons.

MUFFED by Zack Peercy
2024-12-07 19:30 - 21:00
The Meaningful Action Theatre Company comes to The Understudy for Chester Greenwood Day! Never heard of Chester Greenwood Day? Oh, you will.

Join us on Chester Greenwood Day (December 7th at 7:30PM for those not in the know) for a one-night-only presentation of The Meaningful Action Theatre Company Presents A Workshop Reading Of:

Muffed: A Recounting of Farmington, Maine’s 43rd Annual Chester Greenwood Day” Devised By The Members Of The Meaningful Action Theatre Company

written by Zack Peercy and directed by Kayla Menz
Need we say more?
The cast includes:
Reggie Hemphill, Karly Solon, Mersedez Hoover, Josh Philoon, Evin McQuistion, Jaycey Carlson, Izis Mollinedo, Liz Falstreau, with Jordan Rawlings reading Stage Directions
Doors open at 7pm for a 7:30pm Performance
The Understudy cafe will be open for refreshments before the performance.

Anyone Who Had A Heart - A Trans Voices Cabaret
2025-02-14 19:45 - 21:00
CALLING ALL LOVERS! Trans Voices Cabaret is elated to be back in action with Anyone Who Had A Heart, a Valentine’s Day Show! Hosted by producer John-Payne, and featuring some of Chicago’s most unique and powerhouse theatre performers, this TVC is sure to be fun, intentional and a celebration of queer/trans love, as it falls on Feb 14! ♥️

We know tix cost money honey! So tickets are pay-what-you-can and QR codes will be provided in the space to tip/support both TVC and our stunning performers :)💋
Click Here for Tickets

THE PILON by Zach Barr
2025-02-17 19:30 - 21:00
In a Seattle sports card shop, a schism is brewing between those who collect for sentimental reasons and those who look only for high-dollar cards to resell. When a potential goldmine card is found by a trans teenager, the resulting scramble to sell it forces the store’s co-owners, and their regular customers, to re-evaluate how they define themselves as collectors – and, furthermore, as male.

Playwright: Zach Barr
Director: Kidany Camilo
Dramaturg: Cori Lang
Rhonda: Lisa Antonia Cruz
Corbin: Rio Ragazzone
Lex: Harsh Gagoomal
Marc: Kevin Aoussou
Griffey: AC Rakotoniaina
Stage Directions: David Goodloe
Freshly Brewed Team:
Nadya Naumaan – Co-Artistic Producer
Emma Durbin – Co-Artistic Producer
Joel Willison – Co-Artistic Producer
Magdalena Dalzell – Literary Committee Coordinator
Danny Fender – The Understudy Co-Owner
Adam Crawford – The Understudy Co-Owner
About Freshly Brewed
Freshly Brewed seeks to invest in Chicago’s emerging playwrights and theatre artists in keeping with The Understudy’s commitment to Community, Collaboration, and Discovery. The series features monthly readings of new plays in various stages of development. Each artist conrtibuting– playwrights, directors, and actors– will receive a stipend underwritten by the series’ anonymous donor.
Freshly Brewed also marks the inaugural collaboration between The Understudy and its neighbor, Edgewater’s Raven Theatre, who is thrilled to support The Understudy as their fiscal sponsor for this series. Click here to make a tax-deductible donation to Freshly Brewed.

That Black Ass Show Hosted by Rachel Slurrz
2025-02-28 19:30 - 21:00
Ready to close out Black History Month with a SICKENING SHOW?!? ‼️‼️‼️Join Rachel Slurrz as she hosts “That Black Ass Show” featuring some Chicago drag faves: Luv Ami Stoole, Trisha Can, and TiKi Vonté. You DONT want to miss this. Admission is Free but bring some coin to tip these baddies🔥 Hope to see you there! – Muah💋
Doors open at 7:00PM
Show begins at 7:30PM
Attendance is free!

A Conversation with the Authors:THE DANCE AND OPERA STAGE MANAGER'S TOOLKIT
2025-03-10 19:30 - 21:00
Don’t miss this in-depth discussion on the experiences of seasoned stage managers Sue Fenty and Michele Kay following the launch of their new book The Dance and Opera Stage Manager’s Toolkit: Protocols, Practical Considerations, and Templates.

About the Book
The Dance and Opera Stage Manager’s Toolkit details unique perspectives and approaches to support stage managers beginning to navigate the fields of dance and opera stage management in live performance.
This book demystifies the genre-specific protocols and vocabularies for stage managers who might be unfamiliar with these fields and discusses common practices. Filled with valuable industry-tested tools, templates, and practical information, The Dance and Opera Stage Manager’s Toolkit is designed to assist stage managers interested in pursuing these performance genres. The book also includes interviews and contributions from a range of professional stage managers working in dance and opera.
From the student stage manager studying in Theatrical Design and Production university programs to the experienced stage manager wanting to broaden their skill set, this book provides resources and advice for a successful transition into these worlds.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Susan Fenty Studham has been stage managing professionally in many genres of theatre for almost four decades. She has stage managed at major performing arts venues including on Broadway, at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, and the Sydney Opera House. Sue began working with dance companies in New York City in 1986 and toured extensively before relocating to Australia, where she was resident stage manager with West Australian Ballet for ten years. During her four-year tenure as Head of the BFA Stage Management Program at DePaul University in Chicago, Sue created a curriculum that introduced students to the unique world of dance stage management. Sue holds a PhD from Edith Cowan University, Australia, and a BFA from Adelphi University, New York. She is a pioneer in doctoral studies in the field of stage management and a published author on topics that explore brave spaces, intimacy and violence protocols in performing arts, supporting language revitalization in performance, and stage managing intercultural theatre.
Michele Kay has been stage managing for over 30 years across all genres, musicals, plays, opera, and dance, in a variety of environments including New York, Chicago, and regionally across the US. She spent several years stage managing opera regionally, including two and a half years as the resident production stage manager at the Virginia Opera. She is an Associate Professor of Stage Management at the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) where she has translated her practical opera knowledge into a curriculum for BFA and MFA stage management students, many of whom have graduated to work at prestigious opera companies across the country. Michele holds a MS in Organizational Leadership and a BA in Theatre from Miami University of Ohio. She is a member of Actors Equity Association, American Guild of Musical Artists, Stage Managers’ Association, and USITT. Most recently, Michele authored the essay “Already Calm, I’m the Stage Manager” for Off Headset: Essays on Stage Management Work, Life, and Career edited by Rafael Jean and Christopher Sadler (Routledge, 2022).

WE SENT HER TO THE SEA by Maddie Powell
2025-03-17 19:30 - 21:00
In eighteenth-century Europe – well, eighteenth-centuryish “Europe” – difficult women are sent to the seaside, where they are kept out of sight and out of mind. Five such women find themselves at The Sea, a remote treatment center spearheaded by the absurd Mr. Doctor (who may or may not have actually studied medicine?). From the melancholic to the homosexually-inclined, the Sea’s newest inpatients quickly become disillusioned with their treatment and decide they want out – but how many hysterical women does it take to screw the patriarchy? Powered by irreverence, hijinx, and a passion for musical improv, Maddie Powell’s new comedy We Sent Her to the Sea explores how we tend the garden of progress, and what we can do when we discover rot in the roots.

Maddie Powell – Playwright
Hershey Suri – Director
Karina Patel – Dramaturg
Sunnie Eraso – Charlotte
Olivia Pryor – Nellie
Hayley O’Toole – Birdie
Juliet Kang Huneke – Beverly
Sonia Goldberg – Leta
Micah Mabey – Mr. Doctor
Zihan Xiong – Stage Directions
Freshly Brewed Team:
Nadya Naumaan – Co-Artistic Producer
Emma Durbin – Co-Artistic Producer
Joel Willison – Co-Artistic Producer
Magdalena Dalzell – Literary Committee Coordinator
Danny Fender – The Understudy Co-Owner
Adam Crawford – The Understudy Co-Owner
About Freshly Brewed
Freshly Brewed seeks to invest in Chicago’s emerging playwrights and theatre artists in keeping with The Understudy’s commitment to Community, Collaboration, and Discovery. The series features monthly readings of new plays in various stages of development. Each artist conrtibuting– playwrights, directors, and actors– will receive a stipend underwritten by the series’ anonymous donor.
Freshly Brewed also marks the inaugural collaboration between The Understudy and its neighbor, Edgewater’s Raven Theatre, who is thrilled to support The Understudy as their fiscal sponsor for this series. Click here to make a tax-deductible donation to Freshly Brewed.

The Making of a Kween: A Conversation with Vichet Chum
2025-05-20 19:30 - 21:00
Celebrate Kween, the acclaimed debut YA novel by playwright and author Vichet Chum,
with a special evening at The Understudy. Hosted by The Midwives Artistic Collective,
the event features a lively conversation facilitated by The Midwives founder and artistic
director Emily Ritger, with Vichet Chum, his creative “midwife” Thomas Murray, and
Khemarey “Khem” Khoeun, advocate, organizer, and the first Cambodian American
woman elected to public office in the United States. Together, they’ll explore the book’s
origins, cultural connections, and the collaborative magic behind its creation.

About the Book
Soma Kear’s verses have gone viral. Trouble is, she didn’t exactly think her slam poetry video through. All she knew was that her rhymes were urgent. On fire. An expression of where she was, and that place…was a hot mess.
Following her Ba’s deportation back to Cambodia, everything’s changed. Her Ma is away trying to help Ba adjust to his new life, and her older sister has taken charge with a new authoritarian tone. Meanwhile, Soma’s trending video pushes her to ask if it’s time to level up. With her school’s spoken word contest looming, Soma must decide: Is she brave enough to put herself out there? To publicly reveal her fears of Ba not returning? To admit that things may never be the same?
With every line she spits, Soma searches for a way to make sense of the world around her. The answers are at the mic.
From debut author Vichet Chum comes a celebration of Khmer identity, queerness, and embracing the complicated histories that shape who we are and want to be.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Vichet Chum (He/Him) is a New York based writer from Dallas, Texas. His plays have been workshopped/produced at Steppenwolf Theatre, Roundabout Theatre Company, the Alley Theatre, Merrimack Repertory Theatre, Ars Nova, Page 73 Productions, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, Cleveland Play House, the Magic Theater, the UCROSS Foundation, Fault Line Theatre, Crowded Outlet, Second Generation Productions, Weston Playhouse, Cleveland Public Theatre, South Carolina New Play Festival and the New Harmony Project. He received the 2023 Lucille Bulger Service Award, 2018 Princess Grace Award in Playwriting with New Dramatists, the 2021 Laurents/Hatcher Award, a 2021 Edgerton Foundation New Play Award for the world premiere of his play Bald Sisters which premiered at Steppenwolf Theatre in 2022, and a special state citation from the Massachusetts House of Representatives for his play KNYUM at Merrimack Repertory Theatre in 2018. He is currently a Roundabout Theatre Company Underground Resident, New York Theatre Workshop Usual Suspect, Sun Valley Writers’ Conference Fellow, New Harmony Project board member, and Obie Award and Tony Award-winning AAPAC (The Asian American Performers Action Coalition) steering committee member. Past notable writers’ groups include: the Resident Working Farm Group at Space on Ryder Farm, the Interstate 73 Writer’s Group at Page 73 and the Ars Nova Play Group. He is currently working on commissions for Audible, Steppenwolf Theatre, People’s Light, and Seattle Children’s Theatre. Vichet’s debut YA novel Kween was released in 2023l with Quill Tree Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. He is a proud graduate of the University of Evansville (BFA) and Brown University/Trinity Repertory Company (MFA) and is represented by WME and CURATE Management. vichetchum.com

Emily Ritger (She/Her) is a director, playwright, teacher, and arts administrator based in Chicago. As a teacher and director developing new work, she has worked for American Theatre Company, Redmoon, Cleveland Public Theatre, Northlight Theatre, ChiArts, The National High School Institute, Carthage College, and Loyola University. Ritger’s training includes ensemble based work, Viola Spolin Theatre Games, Viewpoints, Puppetry, Contact Improv, experimental writing, and various forms of music. She is the founder of The Midwives, an artistic development company serving makers of different disciplines across the country. Her current projects include: Crud, part docudrama, part fantastical music and shadow puppetry, examining a day her family never talks about. Dear Aliza, a memoir of recorded stories following her seven year journey to having a child. Emily received her MFA from Sarah Lawrence College, a BS in Theatre and Philosophy from the University of Evansville, and has trained at La MaMa Umbria in Italy and Paul Sills’ Wisconsin Theatre Game Center. emilyritger.com

Thomas Murray (He/Him) is an applied theatre artist, extending the craft he practiced as an actor and a director to audiences beyond the entertainment industry. He currently serves as Chief Community Officer for Equitech Futures, a global fellowship program, where he teaches communication and creativity to emerging STEM innovators. Previously, Thomas was program director for Storycatchers Theatre, where he guided youth in the Illinois juvenile justice system to share their life stories as works of musical theatre. He co-founded Waltzing Mechanics and Strangeloop Theatre, both dearly departed ensembles of the Chicago storefront theatre scene. Thomas is proud to have spent three terms with The Midwives Artistic Collective as an artist and a creative midwife. He holds a B.A. in theatre directing from Ball State University and an M.F.A. in applied theatre and public dialogue from Virginia Tech.

Khemarey “Khem” Khoeun is the first Cambodian American woman elected to public office in the United States. As the daughter of Cambodian refugees and a lifelong advocate for equity, she has spent her career helping others find and elevate their authentic voices—especially those too often silenced. Khem has served as a Skokie Village Trustee, Skokie Park District Commissioner, and as President of the National Cambodian Heritage Museum and Killing Fields Memorial. With a background in social work and immigrant rights organizing, her work is rooted in community, intergenerational healing, and the belief that storytelling is a powerful tool for justice and transformation.

The Midwives Artistic Collective began in 2017 out of artists’ need for support, accountability, and motivation. The first year began as an experiment: seven artists from across the country, making in different disciplines, who were for the most part strangers. The experiment was led by artist Emily Ritger. Ritger, with a background in new play development, was curious if there was another way to support the creation of new work. What if it was nurtured by peers, in community? What if it was supported by artists specifically outside their field? For example, how would a play be affected and changed if it was supported (or midwived) by a musician or visual artist? What if artists signed up rather than applied? And lastly, what if we believed everyone is an artist, everyone is creative! How would that change not only the work being made, but also our cultural valuing of art The mission of The Midwives is to nurture the public creative spirit. We hope to bring forth new work and new voices by seeing the artist in everyone.
themidwives.org

Writer’s Night with Tori Rego: Fairy Tales, Folktales & Flights of Fancy
2025-08-04 19:00 - 20:30
Calling all writers of whimsy: join us for a writer’s workshop and learn how to write a fairy or folktale with Tori Rego.

At once playful, frightening, comforting, timeless, and fickle, the genre of fairytale is constantly remaking itself. In this workshop we will explore the genres of fairytale and folktale in short form. Be prepared to play, experiment, reinvent, and get re-acquainted with magic in this fast-moving generative workshop.

Come through and bring whatever you prefer to write with✨
Doors open at 6:45. Workshop starts at 7P. Tickets are pay-as-you-can!

Meet Your Host
Tori Rego is a genre-deviant writer and educator from Charleston, South Carolina. Her work flirts with fairytale and searches for the erotic in the cerebral. She received her MFA from Northern Michigan University. Her writing can be found in Fugue, Miniskirt Review, Waxwing, L’espirit, and elsewhere. She is the co-host of the Chicago local reading series Written on a Napkin and the workshop series Spitball. Her first poetry collection, “Briefly, Gently: Record of an Unreadied Boat” was shortlisted for the Chicago Reader’s Award for Best New Poetry Book By a Chicagoan in 2024. A full list of her published work can be found on her website www.torirego.com

The Artist's Way 12 Week Book Club & Creative Work Space
2025-08-06 19:00 - 22:00, 2025-08-13 19:00 - 22:00, 2025-08-20 19:00 - 22:00, 2025-08-27 19:00 - 22:00, 2025-09-03 19:00 - 22:00, 2025-09-10 19:00 - 22:00, 2025-09-17 19:00 - 22:00, 2025-09-24 19:00 - 22:00 and 1 more date
A 12-Week Book Club for the Artist’s Way and an evening workspace for creatives. Every Wednesday @ The Understudy from 7PM-10PM.

Midsommer Flight presents: Oh These Times! By Catherine the Great
2025-08-12 19:30 - 22:00
A play reading of Catherine the Great’s satirical comedy directed by ensemble member Ebby Offord, translated by Lurana Donnels O’Malley.

A play reading of Catherine the Great’s satirical comedy directed by ensemble member Ebby Offord, translated by Lurana Donnels O’Malley.
If you’re looking for a satirical comedy where every character lives life in the panic lane and practices the opposite of what they preach… consider Catherine the Great’s Oh, These Times!
CAST: TBD
Oh, These Times! is one of the selections from the 2024 Expand the Canon list, which includes 16 short and one-act plays by historic women and gender expansive playwrights. This summer’s staged reading marks Midsommer Flight’s second annual partnership with Expand the Canon.
In this 1772 one-act by famed Russian empress Catherine the Great, a maid attempts to help her naive lady marry the sweet Mr. Milksop, while dodging her grandmother’s fears of lower class social climbers. From catty gossips to sheltered virgins, no one seems happy with their station –– and their schemes and complaints pile up. Preempting Chekhov’s darkly yearning comedic sense by 100 years, Oh, These Times! is a searing reflection of our modern day social anxieties and the farces we put ourselves through to soothe them.
Oh, These Times! is presented by special arrangement with translator Lurana Donnels O’Malley.
Creative Team
Ebby Offord (Director, she/they) is a theatre artist from the South Side of Chicago. Ebby received her BA in Drama from Washington University in St. Louis. Since returning to Chicago, Ebby has been fortunate to have directed and acted across the city. She is a proud Midsommer Flight ensemble member and performed in Romeo and Juliet, Twelfth Night, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Other previous (selected) credits: Evil Perfect (Bramble Theatre Company), ABORT: The Mission and Millennial Church (Director – Bramble Festival of Unfinished Work), Ruined (Director – Reginald Vaughn Theater), Hamlet (Reginald Vaughn Theater), Course Society (Chicago Dramatist’s), and Now More Than Ever (St. Louis Actor’s Studio).
Dr. Lurana Donnels O’Malley (Translator) is a retired Professor of Theatre at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa. O’Malley’s translation of this script from the Russian is available in the following book: Two Comedies by Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia: Oh, These Times! and The Siberian Shaman (1998). O’Malley is also the author of The Dramatic Works of Catherine the Great: Theatre and Politics in Eighteenth-Century Russia (Routledge 2006); her newest book Black Activists Write Wheatley and Washington (Routledge 2025) highlights the contributions of Mary Church Terrell for the 1932 George Washington Bicentennial. Contact: omalley@hawaii.edu
About Expand the Canon
Expand the Canon celebrates classic plays by women & underrepresented genders – and is a call to action to produce them. Our mission is to amplify the voices of historic women and underrepresented writers who have always deserved a place in the theatrical canon, creating a legacy of storytelling with gender equity at its core. We’re changing the narrative by pushing for their work on stages, in classrooms, and in the hearts of audiences. By partnering with theaters, advocacy groups, and educators, we’re creating space for their stories today — and inspiring the storytellers of tomorrow. Our 52 carefully curated titles are timely, relevant, and producible. Featured plays span 1600-1990, 16 countries, 11 languages of origin, cast sizes ranging from 1 to 25+, many styles and topics… but all are excellent. Plays on the Expand the Canon lists have since been seen at major companies like Roundabout Theatre, Repertorio Español, The Classical Theatre of Harlem, Island Shakespeare Festival, The Stratford Festival, Classic Stage Company, and Theatre for a New Audience. The lists have helped shape curricula of universities across the country. Additionally, Expand the Canon has grown their research database to 8,000+ historic plays by women and non-binary writers. To access 52 classic plays, playwright bios, summaries, pitches, producing information, podcast episodes, & more, visit expandthecanon.com.

the quiet part by Keegon Schuett
2025-08-18 19:30 - 21:00
In a shipping warehouse, three coworkers grapple with daily inspirational quotes as the unforgiving holiday season looms.

In a shipping warehouse, three coworkers grapple with daily inspirational quotes as the unforgiving holiday season looms. Breaking her vow of silence, Cate invites Newton and Kyle to her small, cold home for Thanksgiving dinner. After devouring comfort food and binge drinking, they cross professional boundaries to take inventory of their empty lives. Together they unpack uncomfortable existential questions and recognize the power it takes to say something really important.
Keegon Schuett – Playwright
Tyler Struble – Director
Madie Doppelt – Dramaturg
Stephanie Shum -cate
Jasper Johnson – newtorn
Winter Olamina – kyle
Maliha Sayed – Stage Directions

Freshly Brewed Team:
Nadya Naumaan – Co-Artistic Producer
Emma Durbin – Co-Artistic Producer
Joel Willison – Co-Artistic Producer
Mia Rhee – Associate Producer
Kandace Mack – Associate Producer
Magdalena Dalzell – Literary Committee Coordinator
Danny Fender – The Understudy Co-Owner
Adam Crawford – The Understudy Co-Owner
About Freshly Brewed
Freshly Brewed seeks to invest in Chicago’s emerging playwrights and theatre artists in keeping with The Understudy’s commitment to Community, Collaboration, and Discovery. The series features monthly readings of new plays in various stages of development. Each artist conrtibuting– playwrights, directors, and actors– will receive a stipend underwritten by the series’ anonymous donor.
Freshly Brewed also marks the inaugural collaboration between The Understudy and its neighbor, Edgewater’s Raven Theatre, who is thrilled to support The Understudy as their fiscal sponsor for this series. Click here to make a tax-deductible donation to Freshly Brewed.

MIRAGE by Jeffrey Baker
2025-08-25 19:30 - 21:00
In the heart of Death Valley lies an award wining master-planned community. Don’t mind the protestors who come out every once in a while!

Come visit the Oasis! Your next vacation destination or your next home!In the heart of Death Valley, CA lies an award wining master-planned community with a beautiful golf course, gorgeous natural wonders, surreal scenic views, charming boutique shops, and world class dining. Meet the CEO of the Oasis Company, Barbara Bauer, who spearheaded the community’s development from a resort into one of the most coveted real estate spots in the world. Don’t mind the protestors who come out every once in a while against the community’s use of land and resources — you can bet that the community and its spirit aren’t going anywhere!Plan your visit today!

Freshly Brewed Team:
Nadya Naumaan – Co-Artistic Producer
Emma Durbin – Co-Artistic Producer
Joel Willison – Co-Artistic Producer
Mia Rhee – Associate Producer
Kandace Mack – Associate Producer
Magdalena Dalzell – Literary Committee Coordinator
Danny Fender – The Understudy Co-Owner
Adam Crawford – The Understudy Co-Owner
About Freshly Brewed
Freshly Brewed seeks to invest in Chicago’s emerging playwrights and theatre artists in keeping with The Understudy’s commitment to Community, Collaboration, and Discovery. The series features monthly readings of new plays in various stages of development. Each artist conrtibuting– playwrights, directors, and actors– will receive a stipend underwritten by the series’ anonymous donor.
Freshly Brewed also marks the inaugural collaboration between The Understudy and its neighbor, Edgewater’s Raven Theatre, who is thrilled to support The Understudy as their fiscal sponsor for this series. Click here to make a tax-deductible donation to Freshly Brewed.

Common Grounds: Black Artist Affinity Night by Freshly Brewed
2025-09-15 19:00 - 20:30
Calling all Black artists in Chicago! Join us for an affinity night for Black artists to connect, network, and vibe.

The industry we work in doesn’t always allow for spaces for affinity groups to connect. Projects come and go and those relationships can come and go with them. For the first time, Freshly Brewed is hosting an all Black space for Black artists in Chicago to gather and be in community with one another! Join us on Monday September 15th from 6:30-8pm to hang with fellow Black artists and build lasting connections and networks that will foster Black artistry in Chicago. We’ll head to Pizza Lobo after to continue the party!
See you Monday~

Hosted by
Kandace Mack (she/her)
Winter Olamina (they/them)
Keimon Shook (he/him)

The Methuen Drama Book of Trans Plays Vol. II Book Launch Party!
2025-09-22 19:30 - 22:00
A night of celebrating the release of The Methuen Drama Book of Trans Plays Vol. II with Chicago playwrights Shualee Cook and Will Wilhelm

Come join us for a night of celebrating the release of The Methuen Drama Book of Trans Plays Volume II – an anthology that offers eight new plays by trans playwrights. This book is full of plays that center trans characters, trans life, and gender diversity all the while featuring two of Chicago’s very own playwrights Shualee Cook and Will Wilhelm.
There will be readings of excerpts from Cook’s Cercle Hermaphroditos and Wilhelm’s and Murray’s Gender Play, or what you Will followed by a talk back.
Doors open at 7PM. Reading starts at 7:30PM. This event is free.

Meet the Playwrights
Shualee Cook (she/her) writes plays and musicals as a way of asking questions and figuring out possible answers within a community. She is the recipient of a 2024 LA New Play Project grant, a 2023 Nancy Dean Lesbian Playwriting Award, the 2021 Chesly/Bumbalo Award, The 2020 RAC Artist Fellowship, and the 2019 Parity Commission. She has been a resident playwright in the Confluence Regional Writers Project, Stage Left Theatre, and Tesseract Theatre. She has also been a finalist for the O’Neill National Playwrights Conference and the Bay Area Playwrights Festival. Her work has been developed by About Face Theatre, Breaking the Binary Festival, The New Coordinates, The Road Theatre, The Idle Muse Athena Festival, Campfire Theatre Festival, National Queer Theatre, After Hours Theater Company, and the St.Louis Shakespeare Festival, among others. Plays receiving public readings or productions include Tempest in a Teapot, And Certain Women, Cercle Hermaphroditos, Choleramusik, Earworm, and An Invitation Out.

Will Wilhelm (they/them) is a trans/non-binary actor, writer, and educator based in Chicago. Will is the co-creator and performer of Gender Play, or what you Will, which premiered with About Face Theatre and garnered the artist two Jeff Award nominations: Best Solo Performance and Best New Work. Gender Play has also been presented by Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Shakespeare Theatre Company/Theater Alliance in DC, Indianapolis Shakespeare Company, and Island Shakespeare Festival in Washington. Gender Play marks their playwriting debut.
A Michigan native, Will became the first openly non-binary company member at Oregon Shakespeare Festival in 2018, where they reimagined genderqueer characters in As You Like It, Macbeth, and Bill Rauch’s queer Oklahoma! Other regional credits include RENT (Portland Center Stage) and Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci (STC). Select Chicago credits include work with Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre, Theater Wit, Oak Park Festival Theatre, and Chicago Children’s Theatre. Will is an Artistic Associate with About Face Theatre.
As an educator, Will has been invited to teach and share work at universities across Chicago, the US, and Europe.
A proud Northwestern graduate, Will is represented by Gray Talent Group.
IG: @mx.willwillhelm www.WillWilhelm.com

Erin Murray (she/her) is passionate about multi-generational stories with a delicious femme center. She is currently Interim Artistic Director at Island Shakespeare Festival. With 20 years of experience as a freelance director, her work has been seen across the Northern Hemisphere.​
Credits of note include: co-creating Gender Play, or what you Will (2023 Joseph Jefferson Best New Work nominee) and directing the world premiere at Chicago’s About Face Theater; adapting and directing Cyrano de Bergerac (Island Shakespeare Festival 2022, Kilroys List 2020), directing Anne Washburn’s The Internationalist (Steppenwolf Garage), and Tour Director for Ireland’s Opera Theater Company. Erin worked with Seattle artivist Ana Maria Campoy to adapt and direct Seattle Shakespeare Company’s first bilingual statewide tours Taming Of The Shrew/La Fierecilla Domada and Twelfth Night/Duodécima Noche.

Good Mourning by Jared Sprowls
2025-10-06 19:30 - 21:30
A staged reading for Jared Sprowls’ one person show: Good Mourning.

Join us at The Understudy for a staged reading of Jared Sprowls’ one person show: Good Mourning. Through dramatized Jewish ritual, he wonders how we best hold onto memories as they only get farther away. Audiences are invited to slow down in this intimate solo show where we take time to remember when it often feels easier to forget. Stick around post-show for drinks and kugel.

Doors open at 7PM. Reading starts at 7:30PM. Tickets are donation based and all proceeds will be going towards those affected in Gaza.

Meet the Playwright
Jared Sprowls (he/him) is a Chicago based playwright and recent graduate of Arizona State University’s MFA in Dramatic Writing Program. Much of his work revolves around Jewish identity on stage, specifically interrogating and reimagining representation of Jewish sexuality, femininity, and queerness. His solo show, Good Mourning, was developed with Upper Jay Arts Center this past December, and he’s thrilled to be bringing it to Chicago with the generous support of The Understudy.

The Art of Letter Writing with Tori Rego
2025-10-07 19:30 - 21:00
A workshop on crafting the perfect letter and possibly sending snail mail to your loved ones and friends~

Your favorite pen scratching—dreams of a loved one far away—a doodle in the corner of the page—the sound of the envelope unsticking—salutations—in our hyper-speed digital world of instant communication, a practice of letter writing invites us to slow down and think carefully about words as a gift to a distant someone.
Writers across genres and times have utilized the epistolary form (letter-writing) to communicate ideas only touched at in their final, published work with loved ones, editors, and readers. In this hands-on workshop we’ll read letters by artists and writers of time’s past. We will apply their literary techniques with a dash of whimsy to create original, handwritten letters. You may even leave this workshop with a new pen-pal or two! Stamps & stationery provided.

Doors open at 7PM, the workshop will begin at 7:30PM. See you then✨

🐌 Meet your Host 💌
Tori Rego is a genre-deviant writer and educator from Charleston, South Carolina. Her work flirts with fairytale and searches for the erotic in the cerebral. She received her MFA from Northern Michigan University. Her writing can be found in Fugue, Miniskirt Review, Waxwing, L’espirit, and elsewhere. She is the co-host of the Chicago local reading series Written on a Napkin and the workshop series Spitball. Her first poetry collection, “Briefly, Gently: Record of an Unreadied Boat” was shortlisted for the Chicago Reader’s Award for Best New Poetry Book By a Chicagoan in 2024. A full list of her published work can be found on her website www.torirego.com.

A Conversation with Sarah Ruhl: Lessons from My Teachers
2025-10-08 19:30 - 22:00
A facilitated discussion and Q&A with tony-nominated Chicago playwright Sarah Ruhl on her book, Lessons from My Teachers.

Come join us for a reading and a facilitated discussion on LESSONS FROM MY TEACHERS with Sarah Ruhl!
This is a free event. Doors open at 7P, discussion starts at 7:30. There will be copies of the book available for sale.

ABOUT THE BOOK
In LESSONS FROM MY TEACHERS: From Preschool to the Present (Marysue Rucci Books, on-sale May 6, 2025), acclaimed author Sarah Ruhl—MacArthur genius, two-time Pulitzer finalist, and Tony-nominated playwright—reflects on the transformative wisdom of teachers, both in and beyond the classroom.
According to Sarah Ruhl, great teachers are often those whose teaching cannot be done to scale, whose lessons depend on specificity of place, time, and relationship. Ruhl explores how great teaching is rooted in connection, presence, and relationships, often transcending traditional classrooms to include books, dreams, nature, and everyday interactions. In our digital age, where phones provide facts but not connection, she highlights the enduring power of embodied lessons:

“Teaching that is truly absorbed is composed not of words only, but also the example of the
person doing the teaching… more relation than idiom.”

Based on her popular class at Yale, this masterful, intimate essay collection is a testament to the singular impact of teachers across every stage of our lives. Anchored in stories both personal and universal, drawing on Sarah’s experiences with her parents and children, with schoolteachers, creative influences, and beyond, LESSONS FROM MY TEACHERS offers an uplifting perspective on our basic human need to teach and learn from each other as we navigate the surprising paths that shape our lives.

“Taken together or savored individually, these stories will invite your grad to reflect on the teachers—both formal and informal— who got them where they are and the power of human instruction to get them where they want to go.” – Oprah Daily

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sarah Ruhl is a playwright, essayist, and poet. Her fifteen plays include In the Next Room (or the Vibrator Play), The Clean House, and Eurydice. A two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist, a Tony Award nominee, and the recipient of the MacArthur “genius” Fellowship, her plays have been produced on-and off-Broadway, around the country, internationally, and have been translated into many languages.
Her book 100 Essays I Don’t Have Time to Write was a New York Times Notable Book. She teaches at the Yale School of Drama, and lives in Brooklyn with her husband, Tony Charuvastra, who is a child psychiatrist, and their three children. You can read more about her work at SarahRuhlPlaywright.com.

tranScript productions presents: Is This All This Is by Dave Osmundsen
2025-10-11 19:30 - 22:00
A staged reading of a new work aimed at uplifting trans stories.

Meet tranScript
tranScript productions is a new, Chicago-based production company aimed at uplifting trans artists and voices. By highlighting trans and nonbiary playwrights, actors, and stories – or any combination of the three – tranScript hopes to provide an affirming space for trans artists and challenge the harmful narratives being spun in the world around us.

Play Synopsis
Four characters– Autistic non-binary lesbian Jamie, their transient aunt Theresa, their conservative mother Barb, and Theresa’s Autistic boyfriend Tyson–contemplate where they are in life, where they’ve been, and where they’re going. And, of course, if this is all life is ever going to be for them.

Cast & Crew
Maddy Shilts – Artistic Director
Philip Merrick – Producer
Kaeli Meno – Director
Marley Doakes – Theresa
Marshall Kious – Tyson
Emma Fulmer – Jamie
Carolyn Hu Bradbury – Barb
Nate Davis – Stage Directions

I Can’t… I Have Trivia: an Evening of Theatre Trivia at The Understudy
2025-10-13 19:30 - 22:00
Come join us for a night full of theatre trivia and fabulous prizes! Hosted by Patrick Zakem and Ben Kaye

Aaaaand we are back with another round of trivia at 7:30 on October 13th with new categories, spoopy drinks and fabulous prizes! Hosted by our friend Patrick Zakem, each round will test your knowledge of. A different facet of theatre history, current events, or culture. Think you’ve got what it takes? Come through✨

We recommend playing with a team of four and if you’re thinking of coming alone — no worries! We’ll find a group for you to join :^)
