Company in the News Jan-2025

See what PlayGround-Chicago Writers and Company Members are up to this January!

Doctor J’s Magic Spray, a ten minute comedy by Jay Rehak, will be performed at the Fargo Moorhead Community Theatre in Fargo, North Dakota January 17-19 at the annual FMCT 10-Minute Play Festival. Doctor J’s Magic Spray is directed by Craig Roath and features a three person cast of Rikki Walters, Jackson Buckingham, and Reid Strand. Also, Jim Kleinmann, co-founder of the PlayGround, is the featured guest on Jay Rehak’s podcast, “Tell Me What Happened.” On Season 4, Episode 20 of TMWH, Jim tells the story of driving the Staten Island Ferry when he was ten years old, and how that experience has impacted him as an adult.

Charlotte Harris will be playing the role of Sarah in Saint Sebastian Players’ upcoming production of The Man Who Came To Dinner, January 24–February 16, 2025. More information and tickets can be found HERE.

Maria I. Arreola is producing a staged reading of LUMBRADA, a play she co-wrote with Jazmin Mercado Villalobos, scheduled for Monday, January 13th at 7pm. LUMBRADA is a horror comedy in development. Tickets are free-of-charge. All you need to do is RSVP.

Kevin Blair is a playwright in the cohort play development program, Inc.ubator, presented by Pocket Theatre VR and Theatre L’Acadie. His piece, HERAkles, will have an excerpt read on January 22nd at 7pm at Facility Theatre (upstairs space). There is also a presentation of other pairing pieces on January 15th at 7pm.

Katherine Swan is participating in Uncovered, Scenes From Ukraine, a collaborative project that connects residents of Ukraine with playwrights in the U.S. to create new theatrical works about their experience of war, and to raise awareness about three years of conflict against the Ukrainian nation and its people.

Dakota Pariset will be performing in  The Process at Lincoln Lodge on 12/29, an improvised comedy on Acting, reading for Ubu Anew: A Play for Strange People by Jen Silverman and co-curating The Informer, read by The Conspirators, and The Jewish Wife by Bertolt Brecht as a part of A Short Leap Theatre Company’s ” Intimate Anarchy” and returning to 420 Shakespeare’s “Baked Hamlet!” at The Newport Theater on 1/24.

Beth Kander’s debut novel I MADE IT OUT OF CLAY was released on December 10, 2024, and in its first week on-sale became a USA Today best seller! Book is available for purchase from independent bookstores online HERE (or anywhere books are sold!)