CURRENT EVENTS BLOG
July 7, 2023 - Upcoming Event! by David Knoell (Media Manager)
ELT CHICAGO will be celebrating playwright Lisa Dellagiarino Feriend and the recent ALL ACCESS award-winning play, Come Again.
Please join us at the Schwartz Stage at Raven Theatre on September 18, 2023 at 7:30pm. Email us at eltchicago@gmail.com for more details.
May 31, 2022 - Seasonal Newsletter by President Carrie Lee Patterson
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March 22, 2022 - All Access Finalists
We are pleased to announce the All Access Reading Series 2022 Finalists.
The Madonna of Logan Square by Katie Coleman
Come Again by Lisa Dellagiarino Feriend
Los Pobladores by Sophie Brion Neely
The Odyssey of Tyrell James by LaDarrion Williams
Congratulations and thank you to the over 100 playwrights who submitted work.
January 4, 2022 - All Access 2022 Submission Guidelines
Equity Library Theatre Chicago is seeking submissions of new, full-length plays. One script will be selected and produced as a staged reading with an experienced director and an all-Equity cast; the playwright will also be awarded $300.*
Because this reading will be part of our ongoing All Access Series, in addition to overall excellence, we will give preference to plays with protagonists who are femme, BIPOC, people with disabilities, and/or LGBTQIA+.
Plays previously selected and performed as part of All Access are IN THE END, by Sharai Bohannon; HE DID IT, by Rachel Lynett; HAZARDOUS MATERIALS, by Beth Kander; THE NAMES, by Paul Lewis; FLYING, by Sheila Cowley; THE UDMURTS, by David Zellnik; and COME BACK, by Neil Haven.
You may submit a script via email, as a PDF or Word document, with the play’s title in the subject line, to ELTChicago@gmail.com January 5th - February 5th, 2022.
Please include a brief synopsis, character breakdown, development history, and contact information. We will accept scripts that have been submitted in past years. No submission fee.
*ELTC aims to produce the winning play's staged reading in 2022, but Covid precautions must be taken into consideration. The staged reading may occur in a variety of different ways - an outdoor venue in the summer of 2022, an indoor venue in the fall of 2022 if the state of affairs allows, or as part of a festival to be paired with the 2023 winner and performed in the summer or fall of that year. As it stands now, we are committed to the winning play receiving a live, in-person performance, and not a digital presentation, so we hope to be able to present it as soon as it is safe to do so. PLEASE NOTE: The $300 is attached to the selection of the play and not the performance.
SEPTEMEBER 20, 2021 - David Knoell, Interim Treasurer
We wish to thank the following people for their support of Equity Library Theatre Chicago and our mission:
Pam Behr
Jenny Weaver Barbieri
Will Bennett
Chris Calabro
Shannon Cameron
Valerie Cole
Diane Dorsey
Sean Grosshans
Jack Hickey
Jennifer Holm
Bryan Howard
Billy Jones
Megan Kraft
Veronica Patterson
Rick Peeples
Madison Smith
SEPTEMBER 14, 2021 - From the ELT President
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AUGUST 23, 2021 - IN MEMORIAM
Today we remember Robert W. Behr, long-time member and for many years Treasurer of the Equity Library Theatre Chicago Board of Directors. We celebrate his decades of dedicated service, careful direction, creative collaboration, and abounding friendship.
In addition to his service on the board, Bob brought life to our work on stage as an actor, director, and stage manager; most recently, he directed The Names for our All Access Reading Series. We will honor his memory by carrying forward with our mission.
With our sympathies -
Board of Directors, Equity Library Theatre Chicago
MAY 11, 2020 - ELT CHICAGO AND COVID-19
Like much of the world, we have hit the "pause" button on our activities for the time being. Unlike many of our friends and contemporaries, Equity Library Theater is not facing the type of financial burden that threatens our very existence.
When it is safe, and the public begins returning to the theatres, we will be back and continuing our mission to bring new voices to the stage.
However, other beloved theatres in our community may not be so lucky. And we encourage you to support these entities in any way you can during these hardships. Choose to give directly to companies if you can, but we also recommend The Curtain Up fund launched by the Actors' Equity Association.
Stay safe, and stay healthy (mentally and physically!)
NOVEMBER 17, 2019 - 2019 ALL ACCESS ARTISTS
HANNAH RUWE - ACTOR (playing Bridget)
Hannah Ruwe is a recent transplant to Chicago from Seattle, WA and excited to be working with Equity Library Theatre. Recent credits include The Diary of Anne Frank (Indiana Repertory Theatre and Seattle Children's Theatre, a Co-Pro), Ibsen in Chicago (World Premiere, Seattle Repertory Theatre), Grand Concourse (Seattle Public Theatre), The Cherry Orchard (ACT), On Clover Road (Seattle Public Theatre), Things You Can Do (World Premiere, ACT and Live Girls!), The Tall Girls (Washington Ensemble Theatre) and more. She is a graduate of the University of Washington and represented by Gray Talent Group.
NOVEMBER 16, 2019 - 2019 ALL ACCESS ARTISTS
BRIAN KEYS - ACTORS (playing Jamie)
Brian Keys is an actor, singer and multi-instrument musician born and raised in the Englewood neighborhood on the Southside of Chicago. Most recently, Brian was last seen on stage in The Recommendation at Windy City Playhouse (Chicago,IL). For his role in The Recommendation, Brian was awarded both the Equity Jeff Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Play and the BTA Ossie Davis Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play. Some other theatre credits include: Last Stop On Market Street (Chicago Children’s Theatre), Edward Tulane (First Stage Theatre), Pirates of Penzance & The Mikado (Olney Theatre Center), All The Way (Asolo Rep Theatre), The City of Conversation (Northlight Theatre), Hobo King (Congo Square Theatre), American Idiot (The Hypocrites Theatre), Royal Society of Antarctica (The Gift Theatre), Ruined (Eclipse Theatre), Seven Guitars (Court Theatre), A Soldier's Play (Raven Theatre). Television Credits include: Empire (Fox Television Studios), Chicago Fire (NBC Universal), Chicago Justice (NBC Universal), A.P.B. (FOX Television Studios) and Project Afterlife (Discovery Networks). Brian will be seen next in Joshua Safran’s new musical drama SOUNDTRACK coming to NETFLIX December 18, 2019.
NOVEMBER 15, 2019 - 2019 ALL ACCESS ARTISTS
LESLIE ANN SHEPPARD - ACTOR (playing Sarah)
Leslie Ann Sheppard is excited to support new plays! Chicago theatre credits: Short Shakes! Macbeth (Chicago Shakespeare Theatre), Harriet Jacobs (Steppenwolf), The Legend of Georgia McBrideand Eclipsed (Northlight Theatre), Cinderella (the Hypocrites), Mr. Burns: A Post-electric Play (Theater Wit), Tree, Lost Boys of Sudan, and The Snow Queen (Victory Gardens), The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show, Frederick, Jabari Dreams of Freedom and The Hundred Dresses (Chicago Children’s Theatre), and House with No Walls (TimeLine). Regional and international credits: The Illinois Shakespeare Festival, As You Like It (First Folio Theatre), Fall of the House (Theatre Squared), Gershwin’s Magic Key (Classical Kids Live!/Kennedy Center), Pirates of Penzance (the Hypocrites/Pasadena Playhouse), Pirates of Penzance/HMS Pinafore (the Hypocrites/Olney Theatre Center). TV credits: Chicago Fire and Mob Doctor. A member of Actors’ Equity and SAG-AFTRA, she is an alum of Illinois State University, represented by Gray Talent Group, and thanks God, family, friends and YOU for support and inspiration to love, create, and strive for excellence!
NOVEMBER 14, 2019 - 2019 ALL ACCESS ARTISTS
GABRIELLE ANNE GARZA - ACTOR (playing Faith/Macy)
Gabrielle Anne Garza is thrilled to be a part of the Equity Library Theatre's All Access Reading Series. She has previously toured in the first national tour of Spring Awakening as Anna and was a swing for the Deaf West Spring Awakening Production at the Wallis Annenberg Center for Performing Arts in LA. NY Workshops include Dogfight, directed by Joe Mantello. BFA from Emerson College. Naperville native, she is happy to call Chicago home again. Much love to my family for their unconditional love and support and the crew at Shirley Hamilton!
NOVEMBER 13, 2019 - 2019 ALL ACCESS ARTISTS
RASHADA DAWAN - ACTOR (playing Emmy)
Rashada is so excited to be a part of this project! Previous works include: Caroline or Change, Djembe, Elf, Nutcracker, Madagascar and Disney’s Lion King. She would like to thank her family for all of their support and is sending much love to her two amazing daughters, Genesis and Journey.
NOVEMBER 12, 2019 - 2019 ALL ACCESS ARTISTS
DIRECTOR - TOMICA S. JENKINS
Tomica S. Jenkins is thrilled to be working with Equity Library Theatre. As a director, her favorite productions include The Gospel at Colonus (ACT-Seattle) where she worked as assistant to Lee Breuer, Fourth Date (Chicago Dramatists), the world premiere of Lovin’ You Ain’t Easy (Attic Theatre-LA), and Clybourne Park (Concordia University). Last seen onstage in Boy Gets Girl (Beck) with Saltbox Theatre Collective, her favorite performances include Diva Battle: The Last Audition – a self-penned, cabaret duo act, at Davenport’s Piano Bar & Cabaret. Professional credits include Early Edition, Family Matters, Moesha and Undercover Brother: The Animated Series. Tomica earned her Bachelor of Arts degree with a double major in theater and radio/television from Bradley University and an M.F.A. in directing from the University of Southern California School of Dramatic Arts.
NOVEMBER 11, 2019 - 2019 ALL ACCESS ARTISTS
PLAYWRIGHT - SHARAI BOHANNON
Sharai Bohannon has had work produced in Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Texas, and London, England. Her script, The Great Steven Stravinsky, a ten-minute play about an 11 year-old wannabe magician who learns the magic behind the baffling first crush/kiss and the joys of being an older sibling was published by Applause Books in 10-minute Plays for Kids (2015 Edition). Her full-length play, Craigslisted, has had 3 collegiate productions, a community theatre production at The Lantern Theatre in Conway, Arkansas, received a concert reading at KCACTF Region 6 in 2016, and received staged readings at The Lorraine Hansberry Theatre in 2016, the Women’s Theatre Festival in Raleigh, North Carolina in 2018, The NOLA Project in 2019, and The Road Theatre in 2019.
SEPTEMBER 24, 2019 - 2019 ALL ACCESS AWARD WINNER
IN THE END
by Sharai Bohannon
Emmy and Bridget continually cross paths during the worst of times. Emmy deviates from her usual routine of comforting dying people to spend more time among humans in hopes of inspiring them to get off of their pre-determined course. Meanwhile, Bridget races the clock to find her missing sister in hopes that she can still be brought home alive.
Sharai Bohannon has had work produced in Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Texas, and London, England. Her script, The Great Steven Stravinsky, a ten-minute play about an 11 year-old wannabe magician who learns the magic behind the baffling first crush/kiss and the joys of being an older sibling was published by Applause Books in 10-minute Plays for Kids(2015 Edition). Her full-length play, Craigslisted, has had 3 collegiate productions, a community theatre production at The Lantern Theatre in Conway, Arkansas, received a concert reading at KCACTF Region 6 in 2016, and received staged readings at The Lorraine Hansberry Theatre in 2016, the Women’s Theatre Festival in Raleigh, North Carolina in 2018, The NOLA Project in 2019, and The Road Theatre in 2019.
SEPTEMBER 5, 2019 - 2019 ALL ACCESS AWARD WINNER
Our 2019 winner is:
IN THE END
by Sharai Bohannon
Congratulations to all submitting playwrights and finalists and thank you for your work. We look forward to announcing more about the date and venue of this year's reading.
AUGUST 16, 2019 - FINALISTS ANNOUNCEMENTS
We excited to announce four finalists for our 2019 All Access Reading Series. Please join us in congratulating these playwrights, and stay tuned - we will be announcing the winner soon.
2019 All Access Reading Series Finalists:
CONVERTING THE SAVAGES by Bill Daniel
IN THE END by Sharai Bohannon
KISSING CHE by Augusto Federico Amador
A PUNCHLINE by Michael Schwartz
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JUNE 18, 2019 - ALL ACCESS PLAY SUBMISSIONS
Equity Library Theatre Chicago is seeking submissions of new, full-length plays for a 2019 reading. One script will be selected and produced as a staged reading with an experienced director and an all-Equity cast; the playwright will also be awarded $300.
Because this reading will be part of our ongoing All Access Series, in addition to overall excellence, we will give preference to plays with protagonists who are women, people of color, people with disabilities, and/or LGBTQIA+.
Plays previously selected and performed as part of All Access are COME BACK, by Neil Haven; THE UDMURTS, by David Zellnik; FLYING, by Sheila Cowley; THE NAMES, by Paul Lewis; HAZARDOUS MATERIALS, by Beth Kander; and HE DID IT, by Rachel Lynett.
You may submit a script via email, as a PDF or Word document, with the play’s title in the subject line, to ELTChicago@gmail.com June 21-July 21, 2019.
Please include a brief synopsis, character breakdown, development history, and contact information. PLEASE NOTE: We will accept scripts that have been submitted in past years. No submission fee.
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MAY 31, 2019 - FROM DAVID KNOELL
Thanks to all of you who attended our 3rd Annual Theatre Trivia Night.
And thanks again to the Famous Brothers for their musical delights.
It was a successful evening all around. Up next, stay tuned here and our social media pages for information about our 2019 All Access Reading Series play submission deadlines and guidelines.
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MARCH 13, 2019 - FROM DAVID KNOELL, ELT MEDIA MANAGER
Mwhahahaha! I have control of the blog now and nobody can stop me!
My power will be unleashed, my ...
hold on, brb, the pizza i ordered is here.
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Okay, I feel much better now that I've eaten. Where was I?
OH! I wanted to tell everybody about our third annual Theatre Trivia Night at Haymarket Pub in Chicago. This fundraiser has been a lot of fun the past two years, and we are planning to kick things up a notch for this year by adding some live music!
There will be prizes for our trivia and raffle winners, and all sorts of fun along the way. I highly recommend you dust off your old theatre history book and begin studying. But also, don't worry, there will be questions for all ages and knowledge levels. You know that weird piece of knowledge rattling around in your brain? Well, it just might be the winning piece of information for your team. You'll never know if you stay home.
The best part is, all of the night's fun is going to help fund our 2019 All Access Reading Series. Since 2015, this series has worked to promote new plays that give underserved voices a bigger presence on stage. And, in doing so, we come to realize that all the stories of these voices are our stories too. We are all patches on the quilt of life.
Or some sort of metaphor like that. I gotta be honest, I ate a lot of pizza and might slipping into a little food coma.
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NOVEMBER 26, 2018 - FROM LEAH BRENNER, ACTOR
There are no easy ways to discuss our current social climate and the prevalence of sexual assault. There are no easy answers for how to tell the stories, hear the stories, accept the stories, or any of the “right” actions to take in response. Every single instance of assault and abuse involves the heart and soul and experience of at least one very real person who has a very individual and unique relationship with their own story. The steps any of us may then take in telling/listening/accepting/acting on that person’s story may turn out to be sensitive and thoughtful and complete and vindicating… and still in no way signals that the same process will work perfectly with the next story (read: human experience) that we encounter.
In this time of complicated and nuanced perspectives, Rachel Lynett’s play captures the universe of experiences surrounding just one verified instance of assault. Reading the “facts” on paper, we may all raise a fist and demand immediate and complete justice. Justice for who, though? As mentioned in the previous posts, this play in no way argues whether or not an assault occurred. So, now what?
If simply taking down an aggressor would solve the problem, then sure. Put them away. But these stories of aggression do not happen in a vacuum-- others are involved and affected before, during, and after the event itself (some effects may not even be exclusively negative). And often, because of pre-existing power dynamics, the victims of these events occupy a lower rung on the ladder of status than the aggressor, which automatically means these victims are at a disadvantage no matter which way they turn to address this situation.
The play HE DID IT does not shy away from these complications. Statistically (in addition to the lived experiences of myself and my peers), a group of womxn* (see below) in the entertainment industry will not get as far on their own without the presence of a well-known man on their team. Just by listing our demands in a work environment we are viewed as “bossy” or “difficult” while a man listing identical demands is lauded as “driven” and “a leader.” This isn’t new. Womxn (and any minority folks) have experienced this for years. And even now-- in this climate where (as the leader of our country puts it) it is such a “dangerous time for men”-- while some misogynistic and abusive men may actually be lowered from their position of power… very few non-men have been raised to higher positions of power to replace them.
As an actor taking on this script, I am nervous. I am excited, afraid, and inspired to dive into this complicated conversation. I also feel slightly equipped to ask these questions because these are the exact conversations my community and I are having around our tables at home. We know people on all sides. Sometimes we are the people on all sides. Like in Lynett’s play, I repeatedly learn that I can never assume to know the whole story nor the individual connections from each person in the room to that story. At times in this play, the characters in the script say what I imagine to be the very wrong thing. And at times in my own experience navigating this subject matter, I am ashamed to admit that I also have said what has turned out to be the very wrong thing. But what a waste of hurt if we can’t continue to listen and communicate and grow together.
I admire work that takes the pulse of our very current environment and can put it first onto the page and then onto the stage. The primary reason I remain an actor is how deeply I believe in presenting difficult ideas in a format where an audience can watch, listen, cringe, wonder, and learn from a safe vantage point. Not to say that a play can or should give all the answers, but perhaps folks ARE wondering how to navigate the current social climate? What language exists to discuss it? What stories have occurred on a private level that still inform the greater public context? How would all of this look if done horribly wrong? If done incredibly right?
These are the experiments I want to propose and play out on a stage of any sort. You may be intimidated to sit at my home table and hash out these difficult decisions alongside us. But perhaps I can offer you a seat in the Nox Arca Theatre next Monday and you can see how a few very real and flawed characters might handle it. And then decide for yourself whether or not it works. Or how we can collaborate to enact real change
*In this piece I use the term “womxn” to refer to all the folks who now or at any time have self-identified as female or nonbinary. Essentially, the community outside of cis-gendered males (cis-gendered defined as those whose current gender-identity matches the gender assigned to them at birth).
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NOVEMBER 19, 2018 - FROM CARRIE LEE PATTERSON, ELT-CHICAGO PRESIDENT
This is Carrie Lee Patterson, director of the upcoming reading of Rachel Lynett's play HE DID IT, and I have a confession to make: I was the first of the initial readers to experience the script. I was immediately struck by how real the characters' conversations felt--the speech patterns, the debates, the diversions, the subject matter--as though they had been plucked straight from the rooms where women converge, confide, and confess. I passed it along without comment to the rest of the group, wondering especially how the men would react. They too passed it along to others, who passed it along, and it gathered momentum as it traveled. And thanks to all those readers, I am one of the lucky ones who will get to explore it in the rehearsal room. I have been working with our incredible Casting Director, Emma Gruhl, to cast the reading; it is quite a challenge to cast--the best kind of challenge there is--and I look forward to announcing the actors who will tackle these roles!
Rachel Lynett was a finalist last year (with a different script--you really want to check out all her work!). She takes on--head on--the most provoking political and personal topics without giving us the righteous play--the one with which we will easily agree, nod vehemently, and leave the theatre high on our own sense of morality. Instead, she gives us the inquiring play--the one that moves us back and forth as we side with one character, then another, and back again--the one that causes us to doubt everyone's motives, including our own--the one that forces us to ask the tough questions not only of the world around us, but of ourselves.
We know he did it. But what do we do next? The answer seems obvious. It's not.
What if he did it a long time ago? Does it mean he'll do it again? What if reporting it won't make any difference? What if it will? What if standing by him hurts the women around him? What if it helps them? What if the choice we make can change the world? What if it can't?
I hope you will attend the reading. And please--if, after hearing the play, you can answer any of its questions with surety, do let me know.
Because I can't.
And that, friends, is why I love it.
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NOVEMBER 12, 2018 - FROM SHARAI BOHANNON, DRAMATURG
Hi Friends! I’m Sharai Bohannon, Dramaturg for ELT’s 2018 All Access Reading. I’ll be sharing my thoughts on Equity Library Theatre, Rachel Lynett, and Rachel’s timely, dark, and clever play HE DID IT.
What I personally love about ELT is that the main mission of the All Access Reading Series is to support new work, “specifically, tales told in underrepresented voices in our culture’s storytelling.” This leads to a selection of work that is strikingly different than what we typically see in the usual theatre canon due to the fact that they're written by people who experience life differently than the playwrights that comprise that list. This is refreshing, exciting, and a necessary step if we want theatre to reflect the world around us. Because of ELT’s commitment to new works and representation, I was over the moon to hear that Rachel Lynett’s newest (at the time of the submission window) play was selected.
I met Rachel at a Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival in 2016. We were both spread thin as we were playwrights, technicians, and general theatre enthusiasts but eventually met and exchanged contact information. We both had readings in that festival and I missed Rachel’s because of scheduling conflicts, but she was gracious enough to let me read her piece after I explained how sad I was that I had to miss it. The play was BREATHE ME IN and it was the first of many times Rachel’s work would leave me speechless and singing her praises to everyone who will listen. Over the years I’ve had the privilege of reading more of her work and following her playwriting adventures via her social media and blog, and am quite often inspired (and envious) of her ability to give us the plays we need when we need them. Rachel can literally see something on the news and process it in a way that allows her to perfectly capture these emotions on the page for the first draft. She then goes back in, reshaping and refining, but never losing sight of the message or lessening the impact of the script, until she finds her next stop on the script’s journey.
I am thrilled to hitch a ride on this specific play’s journey, as I think HE DID IT is a classic Rachel piece that broaches assault from a different angle than we’re used to seeing. This play isn’t about characters figuring out “if” an assault happened, but about characters figuring “how” the assault plays into their lives, goals, ambitions, etc. and “if” they should do something about it. Not only is it an intriguing premise, but each character is smart, witty, flawed, honest, and unapologetically embracing their intersectional experience in a naturalistic way we don’t see often enough.
I’m beyond thrilled to get in the room with our fearless leader, Carrie Lee Patterson, and the cast to talk, and question, and share. However, I’ll leave the cast and rehearsal talk to our next blog - which is penned by our amazing director Carrie Lee Patterson!
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NOVEMBER 5, 2018 - FROM BRYAN HOWARD, LITERARY ASSISTANT FOR ELT.
Hey y’all! This is Bryan Howard, Literary Assistant for ELT’s 2018 All Access Reading. I’m here with part one in a four-part series allll about the behind-the-scenes action leading up to this year’s reading on December 3. I’m going to talk about the initial submission and selection process and what all went into landing on Rachel Lynett’s incredible play HE DID IT. In the weeks following this post, we’ll transition into the more creative side of things and you’ll have a chance to hear from our dramaturg (the first we’ve had since the All Access Reading Series began in 2015—YAY!!) Sharai Bohannon and director Carrie Lee Patterson.
So Many Excellent Scripts
Over the course of our month-long submission window, we received 83 scripts from playwrights around the country and across the globe! We had a remarkable pool of plays that covered a broad range of genres and voices, and it was far from easy to narrow the pool down to just one script.
But before we even put out our request for plays we built...
Spreadsheets for Days
I worked together with Carrie Lee (who’s also the Literary Manager of the Series) to create a database to track all of our submissions and ensure that every script was read and every playwright responded to (because nothing is worse than sending off a play you slaved over and never hearing back). Since Carrie Lee and I were working remotely and at odd hours, we opted to use an online cloud-based spreadsheet so both of us could edit and update as necessary. It worked wonderfully and satisfied my craving for organization and color-coding!
With our database set up, we were ready for our...
Call for Submissions
We kicked this end of the journey off in June, with a call for submissions asking anyone and everyone to send us their plays. We sent out some email blasts and spread the word through social media and among our own networks of friends and collaborators in theater world.
Submissions started rolling in right away, leaving us with...
Words Words Words
As soon as playwrights started sending us their work, our initial reader pool dove in, reading with an eye towards the dual purpose of this series:
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The main mission of the company: Equity Library Theatre-Chicago’s purpose is to
provide AEA members with roles they can sink their teeth into.
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The main mission of the All Access Reading Series: Supporting new work, specifically
tales told in underrepresented voices in our culture’s storytelling. All the scripts that qualify for this reading series must have a protagonist who is a member of at least one of the following groups: women, people of color, LGBTQ+, or disabled.
Finalists
Over the next month-and-a-half, the initial readers narrowed the scripts in consideration down. And then narrowed things down again. There were a few things we found we gravitated towards (note, these were by no means submission requirements, just common threads that our initial readers kept returning to):
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- Original storylines not based on pre-existing work and set in today or the past few decades.
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- Innovative methods of storytelling and play structure that may illuminate stories in new and refreshing ways.
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- Plays that capture character and voice in extraordinarily real ways—like conversations we’ve heard in private for years but have never seen depicted so realistically.
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- Characters from places and in places (physical, metaphorical, emotional) not commonly used. I love a good living room drama as much as anyone, but there are so many other spaces humans inhabit!
In the end we had four phenomenal finalists:
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- HE DID IT by Rachel Lynett
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- MENSTRUATION: A PERIOD PIECE by Miranda Rose Hall
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- SKIN AND THE NOVEMBER SKY by Stephen Spotswood
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- TWISTED DEATHS by Shannon TL Kearns
Now it was time for...
Words Words Words Pt. 2
With finalist scripts in hand, we sent blind copies of the plays to our group of finalist readers (wonderful, beautiful volunteers from a diverse range of backgrounds). After reading through their thoughts and feedback and taking time to deliberate, we were thrilled to land on Rachel’s smart, cutting, fantastic play.
But more on that next time, when you’ll hear from our fabulous dramaturg!
Cheers! Bryan
SEPTEMBER 20, 2018: - READING ANNOUNCEMENT
Save some calendar space for our 2018 All Access Reading
He Did It
by Rachel Lynett
Monday, December 3rd, 2018
7:30 PM
Nox Arca Theatre
4001 N. Ravenswood Ave. #405
Lex, Ada, and Jefferson created a TV series together that is about to be greenlit by a major production company. They're about to get everything they ever wanted. Except that Jefferson has been recently accused of violent crimes that Ada and Lex both know he did. Ada wants to move forward but Lex isn't sure. Lex has to decide what's more important: long-awaited and deserved success or ending a vicious cycle at the cost of her career?
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SEPTEMBER 5, 2018:
Congratulations to Rachel Lynett, her new play HE DID IT has been selected as our 2018 ALL ACCESS prize.
In the coming month, ELT will produce a staged reading of this new play featuring an all Equity cast.
Stay tuned here, or on our social media sites for more information.
AUGUST 24, 2018:
Did you see our story in Equity News?
Click here to read the full article.
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