Our Events
We’ve designed The Understudy from the ground up to support a variety of events. Join us after close for play readings, drag performances, concerts, meetups, and more! The calendar is always updating, so check back often.
We’re always on the lookout for new ways to share our space and bring creative people together. If you have an idea for a new one-off event or series at The Understudy, please fill out the form below. Please note that we give priority to theatre related events, and, though we really want to, we can’t accommodate every request. Let’s chat!
recurring series
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A Conversation with Kimberly Senior: WHAT WOULD A PERSON DO?
November 4 @ 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm
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, […]
A Conversation with Kimberly Senior: WHAT WOULD A PERSON DO?
November 4 @ 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm
Kokandy Book Club Presents: CARRIE
October 29 @ 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm
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 […]
Kokandy Book Club Presents: CARRIE
October 29 @ 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm
Play Reading Club: Becky Nurse of Salem
October 28 @ 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm
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 […]
Play Reading Club: Becky Nurse of Salem
October 28 @ 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm
KAPWA: A Filipino Cabaret
October 25 @ 7:00 pm – 9:30 pm
Fundraising for families in Palestine Join us for a night of music, poetry, and performances from your favorite local Filipino artists! To celebrate Filipino month we have a beautiful […]
KAPWA: A Filipino Cabaret
October 25 @ 7:00 pm – 9:30 pm
GOD HATES FANGS: A Halloween Cabaret
October 24 @ 7:30 pm – 10:30 pm
GOD HATES FANGS is an irreverent celebration of hags, howls, and hauntings. Performed with equal parts chaos and glamour, this cabaret evening is sure to put you in a spooky […]
GOD HATES FANGS: A Halloween Cabaret
October 24 @ 7:30 pm – 10:30 pm
EVERYTHING, DEVOURED by Katherine Gwynn
October 21 @ 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm
Ronald Reagan is a demon. Ronald Reagan is a drag queen. Ronald Reagan is here, queer, and ready to swallow you alive. Or: when 3 Chicago queers, a ghost who […]
EVERYTHING, DEVOURED by Katherine Gwynn
October 21 @ 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm
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[post_content] => 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.
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[post_content] => 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.
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[post_content] => 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.
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[post_content] => Fundraising for families in Palestine
Join us for a night of music, poetry, and performances from your favorite local Filipino artists! To celebrate Filipino month we have a beautiful line up of performances, drinks, and more. Kapwa in Tagalog represents existing in community, togetherness, and belonging. It means looking out for each other. It means supporting our community members; one hundred percent of the ticket sales for our show are going to support Palestinian families who have been subjected to genocide.
The ticket sales will go to our loved community members' family’s gofund me. Click the link for info. https://www.gofundme.com/f/my-family-evacuate-the-crisis-in-gaza
Tickets are LIMITED. Masks will be encouraged, seats are limited, there is also a standing area.
Get ready for a night of cabaret- it’s gonna be cUTE, it’s gonna be QuEER, EMO, and of course, dripping in filipinality. 💅🏽
Please, feel free to reach out to ktmusic.booking@gmail.com <3
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GOD HATES FANGS is an irreverent celebration of hags, howls, and hauntings. Performed with equal parts chaos and glamour, this cabaret evening is sure to put you in a spooky mood.
Doors open at 7pm for a 7:30pm performance.
The Understudy Cafe will be open for refreshments.
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Ronald Reagan is a demon. Ronald Reagan is a drag queen. Ronald Reagan is here, queer, and ready to swallow you alive.
Or: when 3 Chicago queers, a ghost who died in 1989, and a satanic summoning collide in Kore's studio apartment, their demons come out with a knife held to their throats--daring them to survive.
Cast and Creative Team TBA
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.
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