see Sydney
The 15th Annual Living Newspaper Festival
A DROP IN THE BUCKET
by Ireon Roach
Directed by Sydney Charles
A play in not e’en ha’f a act in which Sumwea, Sumha, sum Browk comes together through a dive into the psyche of sacred sweat while a baby searches for healing in Grandfather’s breath.
Inspired by "A tribe in Maine is using opioid settlement funds on a sweat lodge to treat addiction” - NPR News, May 12, 2024
The 2024 Festival Includes Five World Premiere One-Act Plays Inspired by Recent News Headlines
Welcome to Matteson
WELCOME TO MATTESON! follows two Black couples throughout a dinner party; one couple has lived in the Chicago suburb of Matteson for years, and the other has just moved in after being forcibly relocated from the Cabrini-Green housing projects. A uniquely Chicago story, the play explores universal themes of gentrification, housing justice, and inter-class relationships.
ROLLING WORLD PREMIERE
SEPTEMBER 6 - OCTOBER 1, 2023
Northwestern University Chicago Campus - Abbott Hall Wirtz Theatre
710 N DuSable Lake Shore Dr.
Last Night and the Night Before
Monique and her daughter Sam are on the run. From what, they will not say. Showing up on their family’s doorstep in Brooklyn, the surprise visit raises more questions than it answers. As the specter of their abandoned life in Georgia creeps back into focus, the family is forced to consider what must be sacrificed to raise a child in an often-cruel world. Donnetta Lavinia Grays’s heartbreaking and poetic portrait of love–Black, queer, familial–is a bold tribute to the enduring promise of tomorrow.
“MOON HAPPY TONIGHT. LIT UP ALMOST LIKE DAYTIME. SHININ’ FAH YOU, GIRL.”
Lake Song
It’s 2098 and the Republic of Chicago has what the world needs: fresh water. But with new opportunities come new threats, especially for a pair of siblings on the South Side. Can the people
Lake Song is the joint creation of seven multidisciplinary Chicagoans. Combining sci-fi and music, politics and poetry, it’s a collective response to our times, and a shared dream of our future.
Make-Believe Association, the award-winning, nationally acclaimed audio storytelling company, has unveiled its latest and most ambitious project: Lake Song, an epic audio-drama series set in the distant future of the company’s home city.
Lake Song is an official selection of the Tribeca Festival's Audio Premieres showcase.
The Most Spectacularly Lamentable Trial of Miz Martha Washington
The recently widowed “Mother of America” lies alone in her Mount Vernon bed, ravaged by illness and attended to by the enslaved people who will be free the moment she dies. This uproarious form-shifting fever dream takes us deep into the ramifications of one of America's original sins. Dizzying and fantastical, this Chicago premiere from Pulitzer winner James Ijames boldly remixes this country's dark history with a delicate balance of truth and humor.
THE MOST SPECTACULARLY LAMENTABLE TRIAL OF MIZ MARTHA WASHINGTON
SEPTEMBER 01 - OCTOBER 09, 2022
by James Ijames
Directed by Whitney White
cullud wattah
“An important political stance shapes the narrative, characters, and resolution the playwright creates…[into] a theatrically vibrant, significant challenge to instances of environmental racism, of which the Flint crisis is only one.” -MV Times
Regional Premiere : Jun 15 – Jul 17, 2022 at Victory Gardens Theater
By Erika Dickerson-Despenza
Directed by Lili-Anne Brown
Gem of the Ocean
Jan 22 - Feb 27, 2022 in Goodman's Albert Theatre
Around 3 hours and 15 minutes with intermission
A major revival of the play that begins August Wilson’s epic 10-play American Century Cycle—on the stage where it premiered in 2003.
Her Honor Jane Byrne
“A screamingly necessary show, executed masterfully” - Rescripted
“A deeply moving portrait of systemic failure and human resilience.” -Chicago Tribune
“A well-argued, passionately delivered piece of Chicago history.” -New City
“A stunning world premiere.” - Chicago Reader
November 11 - December 19, 2021
Written and Directed by
Ensemble Member and Mellon Playwright in Residence J. Nicole Brooks
I Hate it Here
Acclaimed playwright-and-director duo Ike Holter and Lili-Anne Brown (Lottery Day) rejoin forces for the Chicago premiere of his newest work.
Part of the Goodman LIVE Series
Streaming July 15 - 18, 2021
Around 70 minutes with no intermission
Duchess! Duchess! Duchess!
DUCHESS! DUCHESS! DUCHESS!
A FILMED PLAY
By Vivian J.O. Barnes
Directed by Weyni Mengesha
Featuring ensemble member Celeste M. Cooper with Sydney Charles
Streaming March 10, 2021
Run time: 35 minutes
Steppenwolf Theatre Company
Now Streaming until August 2021
Theatre For One: Here We Are
While Theatre For One: Here We Are is inspired by the pandemic; the 100th Anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment; and the Black Lives Matter, We See You WAT, and other movements fighting racism, the Here We Are writers have contributed works that span a spectrum of ideas and points of view. Theatre For One elevates a vibrant chorus of voices creating deeply personal works that resonate in this shared moment.
SCHEDULE: February 18 – March 14, 2021
Thursday and Friday at 7:30pm
Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday at 2:00pm and 7:30pm
Court Theatre
February 2021 - March 2021
I Hate It Here
An anthem for our time, I Hate it Here looks at the ways people do (and don’t) deal with a world on the brink of explosion. Commissioned by Studio to create an audio work, award-winning Chicago writer Ike Holter brings his sharp humor to the complexities of stepping into a new decade with the odds already stacked against your favor.
Studio Theatre - DC
Streaming December 2020 - March 2020
Wally World
A TWO-ACT RADIO PLAY
By Isaac Gómez
Co-directed by Isaac Gómez and Lili-Anne Brown
Featuring ensemble members Cliff Chamberlain, Audrey Francis, Sandra Marquez and Karen Rodriguez with Danny Bernardo, Sydney Charles, Kevin Curtis, Leslie Sophia Perez, Marvin Quijada and Jacqueline Williams
Streaming December 16, 2020
Run time: 2 hours and 20 minutes
Steppenwolf Theatre Company
Streaming begins December 2020
