The Understudy

CALLING ALL D*KES IN THE CHICAGOLAND AREA! HANG WITH LEZBIAN MINNELLI + JETT PARR TO COMPETE TO SEE WHO’S THE STRONGEST LEZ IN ALL THE LANDBUTCHES! FEMMES! STUDS! GAYS!your fav lesbionic baristas are hosting a LESBIAN ARM WRESTLING COMPETITION at the understudy!✨join us saturday, 11/14 to show off your arm wrestling chops and meet other […]

Two plays along with process essays on the cacophonous world of pop culture, politics, and personal testimony that we call the internet.Join the artists of FAKE FRIENDS to dive into the cacophonous world of pop culture, politics, and personal testimony that we call the internet. We're discussing their newly published plays CIRCLE JERK and THIS […]

Come join the Chicago Audiomakers Collective and The Understudy for a special listening party.Together we’ll listen to Silence Speaks: Writing Visuals, a story about a famous mime in 1960’s Russia. At a time when words were dangerous, he found a way to speak up by using silence. Snap Judgment’s John Fecile wanted to tell his […]

A monthly reading series highlighting plays that have not yet been produced in ChicagoThe 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 […]

A teenage girl confronts her sexual identity, and the conservative adults in her life, while being targeted by an online scandal.Please join us for a staged reading of scenes from Sentiments by Carla Zúñiga M., in a new English-language translation by Susan E. Bowen and Yael Prizant. Set in 2013 Santiago, Chile, Zúñiga’s play considers […]

A play reading of YOGA PLAY by Dipika Guha produced by Exit, Pursued by a Play Reading.Joan has been hired to stabilize Jojomon, a yoga apparel giant, after its CEO is brought down by a fat-shaming scandal. But just as she finds her stride, more trouble surfaces and sales plummet. Joan comes up with a […]

Join us for a night of poetry and live music with Cloud Community College feat. Ikaros EnsembleIkaros Ensemble presents: Book One - Darkness"Through the darkness, there is stillness and breath in the moonlight, a vessel of possibility just before the sun rises over the horizon."Join Chicago-based Ikaros Ensemble with a group of celebrated, local poets […]

A cabaret that pays tribute to the backbone of musical theatre.Join us for a cabaret tribute to the twink ensembles of the past and bravely pave the way for the twink ensembles of the future (featuring songs from Newsies, West Side Story, The Outsiders and more!)For far too long twinks have been relegated to the […]