Company in the News September 2026

See what PlayGround-Chicago Writers, Company Members, and Alumni are up to this month including: Betsy Dudak, Dana Hall, Alex Kingsley, Kaeli Meno, Leanna Gianoutsos Oliveira, and Tyler Struble.

Leanna Gianoutsos Oliveira is producing What the Constitution Means to Me by Heidi Schreck at Ways & Means Theatre. Directed by Kaeli Meno (a fellow Playground-er!), Heidi Schreck’s Pulitzer finalist, will be staged in an actual American Legion hall where the play was born. Four actors share the title role, a different Heidi every night. Cast TBA. 90 min, no intermission. Use the code INDUSTRY20 for $20 tickets. For more information, click here.

Alex Kingsley’s sci-fi play THE SUIT will be performed as a staged reading at Strawdog Theatre Company on  September 17 & 24 as part of their “Future of Chicago Theatre” series. For tickets Click Here

Dana Hall’s holiday classic, My Kind of Christmas, is officially published and available on Amazon! Looking for a fresh holiday production with a traditional Christmas feel? My Kind of Christmas offers theaters a heartwarming new option with a flexible cast size, making it adaptable for a variety of companies and stages and it’s set in the Chicago suburbs! Check out the script on Amazon, and visit DanaHallCreates.com for more information about performance licensing. Give your audiences something new to love this holiday season, with all the warmth and spirit of a Christmas classic. For tickets, click here

Tyler Struble is directing the Chicago premiere of I’M GONNA MARRY YOU TOBEY MAGUIRE by Samantha Hurley with Refracted Theatre Company running at The Den Theatre from September 18 – October 31. For tickets, click here.

Betsy Dudak’s play, HELLO, OLD FRIEND, was chosen to be part of Chicago Dramatist’s Fall Network 10-minute plays festival. It will be performed on September 5, 2026 at the Russ Tutterow Theatre in Chicago at 2 PM. The play is a re-edited version of a play written for Chicago PlayGround a year ago,, that did not make the cut to be performed but had great bones. For tickets, click here.