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| Chopin Theatre is a private arts center celebrating its 15th
anniversary in 2005. We are in the process of redesigning our website.
Below you will find a partial season 2003 to the present. |
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Jan 3rd Quest Theatre Ensemble brings its annual holiday production of
Blue Nativity -- the greatest story ever told featuring visually
arresting, large-scale puppetry, soaring music, from folk to American
Shapenote. “We present the story of Christmas in a new way
so guests may view the story again for the first time,” says
Quest Theatre Ensemble Director Andrew Park. “Blue Nativity
speaks to everyone and is a reminder ‘that simple light may
rise out of complicated darkness.’” Jan 8th Nina Corwin hosts another season of the infamous Word Gourmet.
This installment features performance poet Joel Chmara. Joel is
a Professor of Speech Communication at Illinois State University
and a member of Uptown Poetry Slam Troupe (a traveling poetry group
created by Marc Smith), member of The Bullhorn Collective (a poetry
group that features at universities across the country), and a
member of the Wicker Park Traveling Poetry Squad. He performed
comedy for The Noble Fool Theater Company in "The Fool's Court",
wrote and perforfmed poetry and comedy for "The Danny Bonaduce
Show" on the Loop (97.9 FM), and has participated in numerous
National Poetry Slams as an individual, part of a team and as a
coach. His poetry is infused with humor and promises to entertain.
Jan 9th – 26th Jan 12th – Feb 23rd Eloise and Ray is the story of the kind of thing you hear about on the news, but that’s not the case when a sixteen year old girl searching for love or to be loved then finds it in a twenty eight year old man who just gets out of prison. Living without a mother with whom she can't communicate with about these type of "things" and without a brother who left Eloise behind has left her with almost no one except for her father with whom she doesn't have much of a relationship. She turns to Ray, a man living in poverty who happens to be an old friend of Eloise's brother and falls in love, despite the difference in their ages. Neither one of them really knows how to express how they feel about each other. Yet, they still know that there are feelings between them. This is a "coming of age" story, dealing with love, emotions, sorrow, and many memories. This play proves that you can come from two different worlds and still have passionate connections. Jan 15th Women who'have recently served time in prison give voice to the injustices they experienced and find meaning in their pain through Beyondmedia's performance "Echoes of a Caged Soul" by Pamela Thomas. It is the latest piece of the performance "30 Days of Art and Education on Women's Incarceration". Echoes of a Caged Soul draws on forbidden and unspoken truths about the realities of prison, delicately and creatively shared by women who have experienced first-hand the trauma behind and beyond the wall. A panel discussion with the audience led by vvomen former prisoners follows the reading. More info: www.guildcomplex.org Jan 22nd Dialogue, exits, scene structure, plot devices. Perhaps these are tools you'd like to better understand. Tonight the Guild Complex gives you thechance to not only preview two brand new one act plays by a few of Chicago's favorites, you get to talk to them about it. What are the tricks of the playwrightlng trade? What choices do you make? Joe Meno and James Vickery tell all. College professor and director Carey Friedman moderates. Joe Meno is a lucky man living an outer Space dream. His novels, Tender as Hellfire, [St. Martin's Press,1999) and How the Hula GirI Sings (HarperCollins,2001) were widely reviewed and acclaimed. He has written four plays produced throughout Chicago. Tonight's play, Haunted Trails, follows Gretchen, a punk rock girl attending high school on the south side of a racially-segregated Chicago, as she struggles with issues of race, class, and sex, in developing an identity. In James Vickery's Astronomy For Losers follows a clueless, star loving high school kid. The kid has to turn to his older, not much wiser brother to learn how to woo a Jehovah's Witness girl, while at home the guys have another strange dilemma to deal with. More info: www.guildcomplex.org Jan 26th Harriet "Sue Ying" Peery died on December 23, 2002.
She was a veteran of the revolutionary movement, having joined
the Provisional Organizing Committee in 1958. Sue Ying was a founding
member of the California Communist League, the Communist League,
the Communist Labor Party, the National Organizing Committee and
the League of Revolutionaries for a New America. She was a propagandist;
her arena was culture, and her tools were her art and education.
Sue loved the working class, and expressed this in her art. On
these pages, we honor her spirit and her contribution, and we honor
them further by carrying on the struggle for the liberation of
humanity to which Sue devoted her life. Jan
29th Exploring America in Change investigates the post September 11
world with an artistic lens. The last of a three part serles, this
event focuses on communities often overlooked by the media, elected
officials and mainstream America. Diane Glancy and Luisa Igloria
represent "other" in many ways, as women, as writers. Diane
Glancy was born in 1941 in Kansas City, Missouri, of a Cherokee father
and an English/ German mother. She is a poet, fiction writer, playvvright
and essayist and an Associate Professor at Macalaster College in
Minnesota where she teaches Native American Literature and Creative
Writing. Her books include, The Relief of America (Tia Chucha Press,
2000), Stone Heart: A Novel of Sacajavvea (Overlook Press, 2003),
and The Shadow's Horse (University of Arizona Press, 2003). Glancy's
work articulates the edge between two disparate cultures and the
challenges of living in both. Luisa Igloria is a prolific poet, fiction
writer and essayist. She previously published five books under the
name Maria Luisa A. Carino: Cordiilera Tales (New Day 1990), Cartography
(Anvil 1992), Encanto (Anvil,1994), In the Garden of the Three Islands
(Moyer Bell/Asphodel,1995) and Blood Sacrifice (University of the
Philippines Press, 1997). Her most recent book, Songs for the Beginning
of the Millennium (Manila, Philippines, 1999), is published under
her maiden name Maria Luisa B. Aguilar. Originaily from Baguio in
the Philippines, Luisa Igloria is in search of the words that sponsor
life. Feb 2nd Bhavum" captures the struggle of consciousness of a young
urban couple upon the arrival of the wife’s mysterious sister.
Their struggle, seeking to reconcile their desires with various
realities and truths, results in the gradual deterioration of their
relationship. Their evolving relationship plays out as a metaphor
for a society that is growing apart intellectually and emotionally
in an environment where the effects of globalization – mainly
manifesting in avid consumerism - and the influence of media as
a tool for proliferating propaganda have taken root. This irreconcilable
wedge precipitates in the gradual disintegration of relationships
inevitably resulting in degradation and chaos. Feb 5th This event promises to be a night of hot fun with the wildly diverse
Cave Canem poets. Cave Canem is a national community of emerging
and established black poets, a family of writers who create, publish,
perform, teach, and study poetry. Community members laugh while
arguing our way into developing new forms and honing philosophical
theories. Feb 12th The spirit of Cave Canem continues with one of the most loved
Guild Complex series. Writers Across the Generations features an
established artist whose work has inspired an emerging artist.
The mentor and mentee share the stage to read and discuss their
work. Feb 19th Who doesn’t like to listen to a great story? The University of Illinois at Chicago and The School of The Art Institute are known for having talented writers in their graduate programs. Tonight we will feature graduate candidades from each school in
a similar fashion to the College Poetry Showcase las fall. Come
out and listen to these up-and-comming fiction writers. This is
a perfect opportunity for those considering graduate school to
learn more about the programs as well. Feb 26th The likes of James baldwin, Audrie Lorde, and Countee Cullen have made enormous contributions to 20th century literature despite having worked within a sexual and racially discriminatory society. Dr. Dwight McBride, C.C. Carter and Dr. Sharon Hollander convene tonight to discuss the contributions of LGBT African Americans to the 2-th century literary canon. The night bbegins with an OPP (Open Mic participants perform Other Peoples Poetry) Open Mic followed by a discussion. Dwight A McBride is chair of African-American Studies and associate professor of African-American Studies and Eniglish at Northwestern University. He is author of Impossible Witnesses: Truth, Abolitionism, and Slave Testimony (New York University Press, 1999). Most recently he co-edited Black Life Us: A Century of Lesbian, Gay, and Bi-Sexual Fiction (Cleis Press, 2002). Sharon P. Holland us Dorector of Graduate Studies (Department of English) and an associate professor of Eniglish and African-American Studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She is the autor of Raising the Dead: Readings of Death and (Black) Subjectivitiy (Duke University Press, 2000), which has been awarded the Lora Romero First Book Prize by the Association of American Studies. She is currently at work on a number of projects including a second monograph (Between Fabrication and Generation: Telling the Story of a Woman), a novel (How Bubba the Socrates Got to be Neither) and a play (Killing Martha) C.C. Carter earned her M.A. in Creative Writing form Queens College
in New York and recieved her B.A. in English Literature from Spelman
College in Atlanta. In addition to her recent release Body Language
(Kings Crossing Publishing) C.C. is the author of a chapbook, Letters
to My Love. She was the winner of the 5th annual Gwendolyn Brooks
Open Mic Poetry Award. March 5th Michael C. Watson is a Chicago poet, producer and host of "Wordslingers" on
Loyola Universities 88.7 WLUW, former curator for Around the Coyote
and part of the editorial team for Poetry Center of Chicago's Hands
on Stanzas 2001-2002 Anthology of Poetry. His work attempts to
marry, or at best create libertine affairs, between seemingly disparate
categories such as myth and democracy, intellect and pop culture,
science and philosophy angels and addicts. Nina Corwin hosts; WordJam
follows the reading. Mar 11th – April 26th The comedic drama chronicles the spacecraft Harmony 114 as its inhabitants, two abandoned cosmonauts, orbiting above the intertwined lives of a disjointed Scottish couple, a Norwegian World Bank negotiator, a young Russian stripper, a french UFO researcher and a pregnant policewoman. The play features ambient "surround-sound" music and real satellite image video projections. In the face of many current realities, threat of war, globalization,
cultural isolationism, corporate and electronic everything, The
Cosmonaut's Last Message speaks of the need and struggle for harmony
in our everyday lives. The complexities of the characers and their
attempts to connect and communicate are juxtaposed to the cosmonaut's
simply magnificent perspective of earth from never-ending orbit" -
A Mosely, Director March 12th The first in a three-part series, War Affects addresses the impact of war on the local community, specifically veterans, their families and artists. This event includes a dicussion with community members reguarding the historical impact of war as well as the affect of war on our communities today. The esteemed panelists address the affect of war on immigrant rights, the economy and the role of the media in politics. Audience members are encouraged to participate by sharing experiances, stories and opinions. More info: www.guildcomplex.org March 19th Started in 2000 be Menat Graffiti's Krystal Ashe out of a women's open mic at MadBarco-hosted with Mars Caulton-Savage, Women OutLoud is a monthly all women's open mic. Hosts have included Tara Betts, Andia Esguerra, Andi Strickland and Lucy Anderton. This years hosts Nikki Patin, Kelly Tsai and Selly Thaim collaborate with Tara to continue the supportive and sometimes bawdy forum for women writers, from first-time open-micers to seasoned veterans. Reading Tonight: Krystal Ashe, Nikki Patin, Kelly Tsai, and Selly Thiam Mars Caulton-Savage, Anida Esguerra and Tara Betts. Nikki Patin is a vocalist and spoken word artist who represented Chicago in the National Poetry Slam. Kelly Tsai is a founding member of Sirenzand a member of Mango Tribe. Fiction writer Sally Thiam, winner of a 2000 Hurston/Wright Writers Award, also works as a queer youth organizer and educator. Tara Betts is the Gwendolyn Brooks Open Mic Award winner and Cave Canem fellow. Anida Esguerra is a member of I Was Born with Two Tounges, and co-founder of Mango Tribe. Mars Caulton-Savage is a poet and educator, and Krystal Ashe is a co-host of Mental Graffiti and a spoken word artist. More info: www.guildcomplex.org March 26th Young Women's Leadership Charter Schools Performing Arts Collective debuts its latest piece, "In A Girl's World". In the piece the young women respnd to the media's treatment of fame, beauty, and success. The Performing Arts Collective brings together young women from
the YWCLS Poetry Slam Team, PCW (Poetry & Creative Writing
Workshop), the Gospel Soul Sisters, Total Praise Dancers & the
Nocturnal Eclipse Dance Company. The performance is part of an
ongoing partnership between the YWLCS, the Guild Complex and the
Girl's Best Friend Foundation. April 9th Chicago is home to a strong community of talented young writers. Tonights reading features young peopl from three organizations that service youth through the written and spoken word. Poets and writers from Young Chicago Authors, Young Asians with
Power (YAWP), and Gallery 37 gather at the guild to read their
latest work. YWAP formed in the summer of 2002 to address the need
for a conscious, multi-disciplinary, for-youth-by-youth arts program
for the Asian/Pacific Islander American (APIA) teens in the Chicagoland
area. The students from Lake View High School serve as apprentice
authors in Gallery 37's after-school job training program inder
the direction of writers Keturah Shaw-Poulos and Rachel Webster.
They have worked nine hours a week for the last ten weeks writing
poetry and fiction shaped by memory, intelligence and imagination.
The mission of Young Chicago Authors is to use creative writing
as the vehicle to uncover and nurture the abilities of young people,
so they may develop self-confidence, imagination and individuality.
The night will serve as a pre-celebration for the National Youth
Slam taking place in Chicago in April 2003. See "Youth News" for
details about the National Youth Poetry Slam. April 16th Bonafide Rojas is the 2002 SLAM THIS! Champion and a member of
the 2002 New York City Union Square Slam Team. His work can be
found in Bum Rush The Page: A Def Poetry Jam (Three Rivers Press,
2001) Role Call: A Generational Anthology of Social and Political
Black Literature and Art (Third World Press, 2002), The hunter
College "Centro" Journal which is dedicated to the next
generation of Nuyorican poets and Freedom to Speak the first anthology
by Poetry Slam Inc. April 19th – May 25th Heartbreak Waltz examines a girl through
the eyes of the woman she has become. Playing with time, dreams,
movie images and country music, Heartbreak Waltz tests the power
of romance, innocence and age. What would happen if we could
alter the past, or at least consider it? Heartbreak Waltz follows
50 year old Louise as she randomly explores some old photographs
from high school and is thrust into a world of dreams and fantasy.
Louise, struggling to find the answers to her present life, travels
through conversations with her mother, her girlhood friend, and
the two men she dreamt of for a lifetime. Heartbreak Waltz proves
tha,t in order to love others, you must learn to love and accept
yourself. April 20th Fundraiser to support development of Quest Ensemble's newest production " Children
of the Light". Children of the Light provides a dramatic and
inspiring glimpse of the passion story of Jesus Christ through
visually arresting puppetry and intense choral music from The Sacred
Harp. April 23rd This installment of the new Guild Complex series Poetry multiplied features some new and familiar faces that will perform with musical accompaniment by members of the band Funkadessi. Xicanindio elder
poet and human rights activst ra'Irsalinas is the Director of
Resistencia Bookstore/ Casa de Red Salmon Press, a literary venue
and center for aspiring writers in Austin Texas. He is the author
of three book of poetry and two spoken word CDs including, East
of the Freeway, and Un Trip Through the Minds Jail, plus the forthcoming
Indio Trials: AXicano Odyssey through Indian Country (Wings Press).
raulsalinas work with various political movements has earned him
an international reputation as an eloquent spokesperson for jusitce.
He has worked extensivley with the American Indian Movement and
is the co-founder of the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee. This
reading marks his first appearance in Chicago. Dennis Sangmin Kim
was born in 1978 in Fairfax, VA to immigrant Korean parents. He
is currently learning and loving all he can, grieveing for the
world and perpetually touring with panAsian spoken word phenomen
I Was Born With Two Tounges and the feared and respected hip hop
unit Typical Cats. Dennis believes that tweaking attitudes are
no substitute for structural change, and that material progress
without spiritual awakening is a hollow victory. Artist and story
teller Ayisha Knight recognises her art as not only an act of beauty
but also as a political act. As a deaf woman who's primary language
is ASL, her vision of the world is unique. Like Ayisha, her subjects
are unique and unlimited. Members of Funkadesi will provide musical
accompaniment for the poets. Funkadesi has recieved numerous Chicago
Music Awards for their mulit-layered world music sound. This series
is supported in part by a grant from the National Endowment for
the Arts. April 30th The arts can be a powerful force to connect, heal, transfor and reform communities and people living with HIV. This even brings together voices from across the city that find inspiration and strength/ fears of HIV in poetry, prose and photography. Performers include Mary C Lewis, Tuong Nguyen
and Michael McColly. Mary C. Lewis is a writer and educater.
her work incluedes Herstory(African American Images, August 1997)
essays anthologized in Sleeping With One Eye Open and the upcoming
In Praise of Teachers. Tonight she will read from her new memoir
Night Watch. Writer and instructor from Northeastern University
Michael McColly traveled with photographer Tuong Nguyen in Vietnam
as a part of a journey that took him from South Africa, India,
Southeast Asia, and back to his own community in Chicago to chronicle
the work of AIDS activists, doctors, and religious leaders while
reflecting on HIV's transformative political and spiritual power
in these diparate but similarly affected communities. Michael's
essays and reporting on the AIDS pandemic has recently appeared
in Salon, Ascent, The Chronicle of Higher Education, The New York
Times, and Chicago Tribune. He reads with Nguyen's projected photography
to close the evening. The night begins with an open mic for those
who want to give voice to what life is like in the world of positivity.
May 7th Writers Across the Generations features an established artist whose work has either influenced or inspired an emerging artist. The two writers share the stage, often for the first time, to read and discuss their work. Tonight's featured readers, Nick Carbo and
Marlon Esguerra, explore the complex intersection of Filipino
and American cultures by discussing the spiritual, political, and
sometimes comical nature of life through stories and poetry. Tom
Montgomery-Fate moderates. Nick Carbo is the author of two books
of poetry published by Tia Chucha Press, El Groupo McDonald's (1995)
and Secret Asian Man (2000). He is the editor and co-editor of
ground-breaking anthologies of Filipino American writing, Returning
a Borrowed Tounge (Coffee House Press, 1996)and Babaylan (Aunt
Lute Books, 2000). Among his awards are fellowships in poetry from
the National Endowment for the Arts (1997), and the New york Foundation
for the Arts (1999), and residencies at Yaddo, the MacDowell Colony,
Fundacation Valparaiso (Spain), and Le Chateau de Lavingy (Switzerland)
Marlon Unas Esguerra is a second generation Filipino American who
was born and raised in the Wicker Park neighborhood of Chicago.
Individually, and as part of Pan-Asain spoken word troupe, I Was
Born with Two Tounges, Marlon has performed, given workshops, and
lectured in over 100 colleges and universities across the country.
Marlon is a three-time Chicago poetry slam champion and coached
the Brave New Voices 2002 National Youth Poetry Slam Championships.
Vocal against poetry used as a commodity, Marlon rejected an offer
to perform on HBO's Def Poetry Jam. He currently serves as a fourth-year
teacher as well as a program coordinator for Young Chicago Authors.
This Program is made possible in part by a grant from the Illinois
Humanities Council. May 11th – June 20th May 14th It's a night of comedy and theater at the Guild Complex! See not one or two but THREE theater, sketch comedy and stand-up comedy performances that promise to be lively, witty and socially responsible. Theater Oobleck's philosophy can be summed up as follows: New plays. No director. Free if you're broke. Chicago magazine refers to these works as "20th Century parables as told by Hieronymus Bosch." Stir-Friday Night! is an Asian-American sketch comedy troupe. Founded in 1995 by an ensemble of Asian American actors/writers, Stir-Friday Night! uses comedy as a tool to dispel stereotypes and bridge understanding among the various social racial and intergenerational groups. Actor and comedienne Sapna Kumar most recently toured nation-wide as an actor with Chamber Theater Productions of Boston. Kumar's Chicago area theater credits include: A Midsummer Night's Dream with Ivanhoe Arts-Lanes, the young playwright's Festival with Pegasus Players, and Suburbia at the Circle Theater. She has also performed her stand-up act around town at such events as the 2001 International Funny Women Fest, Ladyfest Midwest, All Girl Revue and the Lesbian Arts Festival. This event is part of the festival Creative Movements: Human Rights and Social Justice, (April 25th-May 17th). The festival explores the relationship between contemporary cultural work and social change movements and helps foster a critical dialogue between progressive and cultrual workers, intellectuals and social change activists/organizers. Insight Arts' four-week festival inculdes a visual art exhibition featuring comic art and zines, performances, panels and community discussions. More info: www.guildcomplex.org May 21st This new series that asks the feature to experiment with new work or reworked pieces in a way that gives the audience and writer a new way to see the work. The series takes literay arts and performance to a new level. The open mic is open to writers of all diciplines. Krista Franklin is a poet and visual artist who hails from Dayton,
Ohio and currently resides in Chicago. Her work has appeared in
such literary journals as Nexux Literary and Art Journal, milk,
QBR: The Black Book Review and nocturnes 2: (re)view of the literary
arts. She has also been published in the anthologies The Bust Guide
to the New Girl Order and Bum Rush The Page: A Def Poetry Jam (Three
Rivers Press, 2001) She is a Cave Canem fellow and a resident poet
of ink &image productions, a multimedia artist collective.
She was a featured poet in the 2000 New Voices New Worlds Series
in St. Louis, MO, and has performed in various other cities. Don't
forget to bring your poems for the Open Mic. May 28th Transcendence-we could all use a little bit of it. Let yourself go and become part of the sound, the words, the vibe of Endlessism. Endlessism's work lies somewhere in-between indie/art house experimentation and tradional pop singer/songwriter fare and has been described as "existential break-up music." Tonight's performers include: Jon Monteverde who records sound music with What Now My Love and binary music as XYZR_KX, Warren Laphan who co-founded Ambient Friiends' Network, Sarwat Rumi, The Red Wheelbarrow, Joel Walter on bass and drums and Cien-an Yuan who performs under the monkiers Jienan, Desk, and Jhez/Bone. More info: www.guildcomplex.org May 31st – June 29th A topless bar. A Dancer is dead. Her best friend looks for answers.
Speaking Ring's mission is to recapture the vitality of theatre
by cultivating an artistic process based on creative individuality
and instinctual necessity to tell stores that challenge perceptions
and expections of relationships. June 4th MFA candidate's from Chicago State University present poetry as part of the Chicago Writers Showcase. Poet Audrey Tolliver, creative nonfiction writer Janine Harrison, and ficition writer Marcus Johnson, will be reading from their creative thesis projects. Program faculty
members including Dr. Sandra Jackson-Opoku will be on hand to
read and introduce the student writers. The Master of Fine Arts
in Creative Writing Program was established by Dr. Kelly Norman
Ellis and distinguished professor Haki Madhubti. It is one of the
only two such programs at a black university, and the first to
develop an African-centered approach in creative writing canon
and pedagogy. It was established in the fall of 2001 and will be
producing its very first group of graduates in Spring of 2003.
June 18th This new series that asks the feature to experiment with new work or reworked pieces in a way that gives the audience and writer a new way to see the work. The series takes literay arts and performance to a new level. The open mic is open to writers of all diciplines. Eitan Kadosh has been tearing a hole through the slam nation for
the last six years. Kadosh is a member of the 1999 San Francisco
Slam team and has been called "one of the Sex Pistols of performance
poetry." More recently, he co-founded both Wordcore and the
Bullhorn Collective, two D.I.Y. performance troupes touring colleges
nationwide. He holds a degree from UC Berkeley and is featured
in the book, Slam: The Competitive Art of Performance Poetry (Manic
D Press). He recently filmed segments for HBO's "Def Poetry
Jam," and BET's " The Way We Do It." He is also
the creator of "Too Neurotic! (A One-Jew Show About Love,
Labor, and Jewish Summer Camp)." June 25th Continuing our celebration of the life and legacy of Gwendolyn
Brooks, we are proud to present the 10th annual Gwendolyn Brooks
Open Mic Poetry Awards. After passing an arduous panel of esteemed
community members that selects the best poems, 25 poets will perform
their work to see who wins $500. July 2nd New York native Jackie Sheeler's first collection of poems, The Memory Factory, won the Magellan Prize in 2002. Her second book, Off the Cuffs (2003 Soft Skull Press) is an anthology of police poetry and received rave reviews. She's performed her work on radio and television and has featured at venues throughout the US. The magnanimous Nina Corwin hosts. More info: www.guildcomplex.org July 8th – Aug 16th Set in small town America where teens are dealing with sexual identity, companionship while finding their way in the world. June 9th Celebrate June Jordan's life, words, and teachings on her birthday with an open mic and reading preceded by a FREE writing workshop at 5pm Many writers from the Chicago community have been influenced by June Jordan and will read and discuss her body of work tonight. Open mic participants are encouraged to read from June Jordan's
work as well. Poet and activist June Jordan was born in New York
City in 1936. Her books of poetry include Kissing God Goodbye:
Poems, 1991-1997 (Anchor Books, 1997) Haruko/Love Poems (1994),
and Things That I do in The Dark (1977). She is also the author
of chidren's books, plays, a novel, and an influential guide to
writing, teaching and publishing poetry. She is the recipient of
numerous awards for her work. July 10th – Sep 4th A poor man pretends to be his own servant, Illuzzio, in order to visit the home of the woman he loves. A hilarious pageant of deception and disguises, based on the spirit of Moliere, the Itallian Commedia Dell'Arte, and American vaudeville. July 16th Photography and fiction writers explore the harmony that naturally
exists between photographers and short stories. Featured readers
include participants from the Guild's "Photgraphy and Fiction" workshop
led by Tara Jill Cicarone. The open mic is open to writers of all
disciplines. July 23rd Three Amazing women writers are featured tonight with musical accompaniment. Leticia Hernandez-Linares merges songs based on the musical traditions of Central America with performance art antics to create poetry that crosses genre and geopolitical borders. In 2002 Calaca Press published her first poetry chapbook, Razor Edges of My Tounge. Tammy Gomez is a Chicana poet, performance artist, producer, and activist. Her orignal scripts include titles such as "No Humans Involved" (activist burlesque), and "IndiGenes" (pirating of nature). Ruth Forman is the award winning author of We Are The
Young Magicians (Beacon Press, 1993), which won the prestigious
Barnard New Women Poets Prize and a listing by the American Library
Association. She has read for the United Nations, and PBS's The
United States of Poetry. Hip-hop, funk, rock and sprinklings
of jazz and soul are found in the blend of electronic and live
instrumentation that is Contriband. This series is supported in
part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. July 28th Talented young actress Sarah Moberg will portray Laura Bush in a staged reading of Tony Kushner's brand-new scene, "Only We Who Guard the Mystery Shall Be Unhappy." Event is the First Annual Yes is a World Benefit Fundraiser. Yes is a World is a non profit organization working to promote peace and tolerance through musical diversity and collaboration of young artists. July 30th Dr. Bob Boone runs a private learning center north of Chicago
and directs Young Chicago Authors. His work has appeared in numerous
publications. His upcoming book, Inside Job, A Life of Teaching
chronicles his expieriences since 1964 Former owner of a kosher
deli and the infamous "Bob's Newsstand," Bob Katzenberg's
autobiographical stories detail a rare look at Chicago's past and
present. Selly Thaim's work is situated within the black diaspora
with the literary styling of an innovative, bi cultural, American
Black Queer Women. A Young Chicago Authors teacher, her first novel
Creeper will debut in 2004. August 30th Chicago plays homage to the Midwest debut of Floor Wars and Side Circles, a 2-day break dance competition. Floor Wars is a regular event presented in Los Angeles and surrounding areas by the L.A. Breakers, one of the West Coast's oldest break dancing organizations. Sep 1st – Oct 3rd Krzysztof R. Babiracki was born in Walcz, Poland. He studied interior design, painting and drawing at The School of Fine Arts in Poznan (Poland) Mr. Babiracki works with graphite, pastels, oils, acrylics and photography. "True inspiration comes from living nature; when I paint I fill the canvas from my heart. My art is my soul, source of life and love. I explore the power of emotion through the visual beauty". Sep 5th – Sep 7th Phantom Bride is based on the traditional Chinese folk tale of the same name, and follows the story of two lovers facing impossible odds. When a young girl’s father arranges for her marriage to a wealthy suitor, her true love and childhood friend must flee from the village or be haunted by the union forever. As he prepares to leave, a phantom appears to him through the
mist. Through beautiful large scale puppetry and powerful music,
Phantom Bride tries the ancient adage, “love conquers all.” This
production was developed specifically for entrance into several
theater festivals and art fairs around the world. In keeping with
Quest's mission to create non-exclusionary shows for the widest
possible audience, many of the festivals attempt to bring theater
to parts of the world where the arts are otherwise scarce. Sep 1st - Oct 31st
Sep 5th - 7th
Sep 6th - 7pm Sep 10th - 7:30pm Sep 13th - Nov 2nd; Th-Sat 8p; Sun
7pm Sep 17th - 7:30pm Sep 24th - 7:30pm Oct 1st - 7:30pm Oct 8th - 7:30pm Oct 15th - 7:30pm Oct 22nd - 7:30pm Oct 22nd - 7:30pm Nov 7th - Dec 14th
Jan 3rd & 10th 8pm; Jan 4th & 11th 4pm Jan 12th – Feb 29th Jan 14th - 7:30pm Jan 21st - 7:30pm Jan 23rd-24th; Jan 30th-31st at 8pm Jan 25th - 3pm Feb 14th – 8pm Feb 18th - 7:30pm Feb 22nd – 5pm Feb 25th - 7:30pm Feb 27th – 29th, March 5th – 7th Mar 6-7th Mar 10th - 7:30pm Mar 11th – April 12th March 12th - 13th 8pm Mar 23rd - April 4th Mar 24th - 7:30pm Mar 26th Apr 7th - 7:30pm Apr12th – June 6th Apr 18th - June 13th Apr 21st - 7:30pm Apr 24th - May 31st May 5th - 7:30pm May 19th - 7:30pm May 24th Jun 2nd - 7:30pm Jun 3rd - July 4th Jun 15th - 7:30pm Jun 30th - 7:30pm July 14th - 7:30pm Jun 27th – August 21st Jul 30th - 7:30pm Aug 23rd – September 5th Sep 1st - 7:30pm Sep 3rd - 7:30pm Sep 10th – 12th
Sep 10th – 12th
Sep 13th – Sep 19th Sep 15th - 7:30pm Sepr 20th – October 24th Sep 22nd - 7:30pm Oct 4th & 5th – 8pm Oct 6th - 7:30pm Oct 11th – 7pm Oct11th – 8pm Oct 13h - 7:30pm Oct 20th - 7:30pm Oct 30th, Nov 6th – 8pm Nov 3rd – 730pm Nov 10th – 730pm Nov 11th – 21st Sonata for Two Clarinets: by Francis Poulence with accompaniment by clarinetists John Bruch Yeh and Teresa Reilly. Music in this piece captures the flavor of 1920’s Paris. Le Boeuf sure le toit: This avant-garde work has a setting
in a bar somewhere in the U.S. during prohibition. The Nothing Doing
Bar is a slice of life providing a look at the characters that patronize
the bar. Nov 15th – 8pm Nov 26th – Dec 23rd Dec 2nd – 4th
Jan 2nd - Jan 9th “A real gem! An unpretentious story about men and women performed by two humorous, intelligent and skillful actors”- Gazeta, Poland’s largest newspaper “It can make one believe – even if only for the duration of the performance – that “love is the art of life” and that it “gives meaning to it”. – MASKI Festival “Love and erotic relations are the theme ... women dream
of dark suits, masculine strengths and confidence whereas men dream
of women’s underwear, high-heeled shoes... the performance
is a beautiful illustration on the longing for the experience of
the opposite sex, a common longing of all of us - Dialog Jan 6th Jan 13th – Feb 19th Jan 15th – Feb 27th Feb 27th – Mar 27th Mar 9th – April 2nd
Apr 3rd – Apr 10th Apr 29th – May 21st Abound – Sprung Theatre ** WORLD
PREMIERE ** Apr 17th – May 22nd True West – The Hypocrites May 8th – 4pm Soul of a Clone – Upstream Theatre.
May 29th – June 26th Big Love – Experimental Theatre
Chicago June 3rd – 5th Where the Mideast meets the Midwest June 14th – 26th Sketchbook 2005: Thirteen Night
Festival of Theatre, Visual Art and Music June 30th – Aug 7th Hamlet – Velvet Willies All’s Well that Ends Well – Velvet Willies In rotation at Chopin Studio Hamlet: Following the death of his father, Hamlet, prince of Denmark, returns home to find his uncle now occupies the throne and the queen’s bed. Spurred by his father’s ghost and surrounded by spies, Hamlet must avenge his father’s murder. An incisive portrait of a thinking man forced to act under chilling circumstances, Shakespeare’s greatest revenge tragedy is perhaps the most widely read play in Western literature. All’s Well That Ends Well: When Helena cures the King of
France’s chronic maladies, she is granted the hand of any
lord in court. She chooses Bertram, a man she has longed for
since childhood. Believing her to be far beneath his station,
he grudgingly accepts the nuptials but flees his bride for foreign
wars before consecrating their vows. Unwilling to accept her
dismissal, Helena secretly travels the world to win his affection
by any means necessary.
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| July 23rd – 24th 10a-4p The
Masters Tea Workshop – Tips from experts on successful
publishing and producing July 24th 5pm The Keystone – An evening of Literature & Theatre Aug 6th – Sep 4th Sat 8pm, Sun 4pm La Luna by Teatr Cogitatur
Aug 11th - Sep 4th; Thu-Sat 8p, Sun 3p Waiting for Godot by Signal Ensemble Aug 18th - Sep 3rd Thu-Sat 11pm Dry Hump 4: Get Off Me! Aug 19th – Sep 4th Fri 8pm, Sun 7pm Aztec Hotel by Teatr Cogitatur Sep 9th - 11th
Tickets $7 per performance or $15 for the
entire evening. Sep 16th - Oct 16th; Thu-Fri 8p, Sat 530p and 8p, Sun 4p Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner by Teatro
Vista Sep 20th – Oct 16th Recent Tragic Events – Umalleniay
Productions Oct 5 th – 7pm Centro San Bonifacio – Film Screening & Fundraiser More info: 773-252-9098 or www.sanbonifacio.org Oct 10th - 7pm EMERGENCY – JUNG Film Screening More info: www.emergencyusa.org Oct 12th - 7pm Sound of Silent Film – Accessible Contemporary Music More info: www.acmusic.org Oct 21st Nikifor – Winner of Golden Hugo at Chicago International Film Fest Krzysztof Krauze, winner of the Golden Hugo for Best Film at this year's 41st Chicago International Film Festival will discuss his film Nikifor at Chopin Theatre on Friday ,October 21st at 8.00 p.m. Krauze will be joined by his wife and Nikifor co-screenwriter, Joanna Kos. After the Q & A session, there will be a celebration party. Suggested donation $10. More info: 773-278-1500 Oct 22 nd – Oct 30th I-Fest, Best of European Solo Acts – Chopin Theatre Nov 3 rd – Nov 6 th Chicago Filipino American Film Festival – Filipino American Network Chicago More info: www.cfaff.org Nov 3 rd – Dec 11 th Casanova – Collaboraction Theatre More info: www.collaboraction.org Nov 7 th Zaduski Jazzowe – Krakow Society More info: 773-836-8686 or www.krakusy.us Nov 16 th – Dec 18 th Einstein’s Dream – Clock Productions More info: 773-381-7140 or www.collaboraction.org
Jan 6th – 29th Tango – Chopin Theatre Tickets: $25/18 at 773-278-1500 Jan 12th – Feb 18th Seascape – Signal Ensemble Tickets: $15/10 at 773-347-1350 Feb 7th – Mar 5th Blind Mouth Singing – Teatro Vista Tickets: $22 at 312.494.5767 March 3rd – April 2nd The Skin of our Teeth – Backstage
Theater Company Performances: 8pm Thu-Sat and 3pm Sunday. More information www.backstagetheatrecompany.org Tickets: $12-15 at 312.683.5347 March 17-18th at 8pm; March 19th 4pm
March 31st - April 29th She Stoops to Conquer - Signal Ensemble Schemes and wits abound during the course of an evening at a crumbling country estate. Two fashionable young urbanites, lost in the country, find themselves the targets of trickery at the hands of a mischievous ne’er-do-well. Mistaking the estate as an inn, the two bachelors are shocked to encounter their would-be loves on the premises. In classic farce style, this breakneck comedy skewers social mores, families and old-fashioned courtship. More information: www.signalensemble.com Tickets: $10-20 at 773-347-1350 Click here for photo The Violet Hour – Uma Productions Tickets: $15 at 773-347-1375 Click here for photo Inheritance – CAMP Tickets: $15 at 312-409-1350
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May 12th – June 3 rd Norway.today – Thalatta! Theatre International ** US Premiere ** Tickets: $15-18 at 773-384-0115 May 25 th – June 11 th Bride of Acacias – a new play by Ezzat Goushegir directed by Dana Friedman More info: 773-828-4444 Tickets: $25/$15 at 773-828 June 9th - June 17th The Value of Horses - Nufan Theatre *** Original Work *** More information www.nufanensemble.com Tickets: $10 at 773-282-0344x3 June 15th Juwenalia 2006 - Stowarzyszenie Wiercznych Studentow (SWS) W sztuce pokazywanej w nieistniejcym juz klubie LeMadame , Kwasny swietnie buduje postac zaklamanego inteligenta, który chcialby przewodzic spoleczenstwu, ale nie umie pokierowac nawet wlasnym zyciem. Tresc monodramu posluzyla pozniej jako scenariusz do znakomitego filmu Dzien swira z Markiem Konradem w roli glownej. Po spektaklu spotkanie towarzyskie oraz zabawa do rana w klubie " Four" znajdujacym sie dwa budynki na zachod od Chopin Theatre. Bilety na sztuke teatralna -$15, znizka dla studentow $12. Wstep i pierwszy drink w klubie Four bezplatny po okazaniu programu Artofon-u. Wiecej informacji na www.swschicago.org, www.dziennikakademicki.org lub kathyszczesniak@aol.com. June 24th - July 23rd Medea - Backstage Theatre Chicago More information www.backstagetheatrecompany.org Tickets: $12-15 at 312-683-5347 July 11th Independent America - Film Screening More information: www.localfirstchicago.org. Film tickets: $15/5 at 773.732.1701 July 14th - 29th Last of the Red Hot Lovers - Soul Theater Tickets: $22/$15 at 312-777-1245 August 3rd - September 3rd The Dumb Waiter & The Zoo Story - Signal Theater The Zoo Story (by Edward Albee) depicts a clash of classes as a young vagrant recounts his visit to the zoo to a well-to-do family man and draws the listener into his own primal urges. More information www.signalensemble.com August 10th - 27th Sketchbook 6 - Collaboraction Theatre More information www.collaboraction.org Sept 12th - Oct 22nd The Last Supper - Infusion Theater More information: www.infusiontheater.com Sep 19th - Oct 22nd Another Part of the House - Teatro Vista More information: www.teatrovista.org
Haiku Cut - Japan Information Center and Japan America Society of Chicago More information: www.chicago.us.emb-japan.go.jp/haiku.html Tickets: 312-280-0431
Nov 2nd - Nov 12th I-Fest/"Ideas in Motion" Nov 3rd - Nov 5th Chicago Filipino American Film Festival - Filipino American Network Chicago Nov 13th Zaduski Jazzowe - Krakow Society Nov 19th - Dec 17th Closer - Signal Theater More information: www.signalensemble.com Nov 25th - Dec 134th; Jan 4th - Jan 6th Bohemian Nights - Westberg-Hancock Productions More information: www.bohemiannightsplay.com
Faith Healer – Uma Productions More information: www.umaproductions.org Feb 17th Encounter Point - a film by Ronit Avni ** Chicago Premiere ** The Thin Man Cabaret 630pm Film Screening with brief discussion Feb 18th Darfur Diaries - a film by Aisha Bain 4pm Film Screening with brief discussion The Weir – Signal Theater More information: www.signalensemble.com The Strangerer – Theater Oobleck ** World Premiere *** More information: 773.347.1041; www.theateroobleck.com Feb 28th 8pm 365 days/365 Plays - Uma Productions More information: www.365chicago.org and www.umaproductions.org Sound of Silent Film - Accessible Contemporary Music An entertaining evening of modern silent films scored by contemporary musicians that play live as the film rolls. Tickets: $7 More information: www.acmusic.org
Sound of Silent Film - Accessible Contemporary Music An entertaining evening of modern silent films scored by contemporary musicians that play live as the film rolls. Tickets: $7 More information: www.acmusic.org
Northwestern University Annual Author & Student Reading announce its annual Author / Student reading featuring faculty mentor Tara Ison (www.taraison.com). Tara Ison's first novel, A Child out of MCW student readers include Heather Dewar, Rosemary Harp, and Andrea Uptmor. Tickets: Free; Open to the public More info: 312-503-4682 or rsvpscs@northwestern.edu
March 31st - April 8th ** 52 films from 25 countries **
April 18th - May 19th
Orange Lemon Egg Canary - Uma Productions *** Great, a renegade magician with a mysterious legacy finds more than meets the eye in his sexy new assistant Trilby, who pursues him for the truth of his past and the truth behind his tricks. This funny, quirky modern love story has plenty of disappearing coins, floating objects, and the infamously dangerous and thrilling "chick-on-a stick." A magical exploration of the cheap tricks, smoke and mirrors and bonds of faith in modern romance Tickets: $15-20 More information: 773.347.1375; www.umaproductions.org April 19th - May 26th
Following the death of his father, Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, returns home to find his uncle now occupies the throne and the queen's bed. Spurred by the ghost of his father and surrounded by spies, Hamlet must avenge his father's murder. An incisive portrait of a thinking man forced to act under chilling circumstances, Shakespeare's greatest revenge tragedy is perhaps the most widely read play in Western literature. Tickets: $15-20 More information: 773.347.1350; www.signalensemble.com
May 15th Cowtown: The Musical Opera - HardArt Groop & Jumpsuit May 21st Brennan Manning @ The Pulse Tickets $10 May 31st - June 23rd Mr. Spacky..the Man Who Was Continously Followed by Wolves - Strange Tree Group Met. However, calamity ensues when her fiancé vanishes leaving Elizabeth to languish in the country cottage of his deviously demented sister, her especially unsettling daughter and the town's only minister, Mr. Spacky, who attempts to murder her behind the manor house. All this against the backdrop of a camp of injured soldiers singing, dancing and retelling the story of Miss Lyonn's humorously horrible journey. Tickets: $20; $10 for Industry on Thursdays June 29th - July 29th A Dream Play - Mill Theatre Tickets: $15-20; 8p Thu-Sat, 5p Sun June 15th - July 8th Tracks - TUTA Theatre ** Back by Popular Demand ** Tickets: $15-20; $12 Industry Thursday and Sunday August 3rd - Sep 2nd Fool For Love - Signal Theater Tickets: $15-20; 8p Thu - Sat, 3p Sun $10 Industry 8/13, 8/27 730p 7 ½ Cinema - "A Tribute to Bergman 1918-2007" organized by Chicago Cinema Forum August 15th - August 19th 7 ½ Cinema - Chicago Underground Film Festival Aug 24th - 26th 7 ½ Cinema presents Post Revolution Blues: Polish Ukrainian Film Festival Although Solidarity and Orange Revolution brought "freedom" and "free market " to Poland and Ukraine, for millions life became even more miserable. They are our festival's heroes. Ukrainian emigrés to Canada "free" of their identity; kids "free" of governmental intervention yet vulnerable to abuse and neglect; unemployed Polish/Ukrainian couple "free" to choose any apartment that they cannot afford; and Chernobyl survivors "free" to leave the land they know and love and "free" to stay and pay for this with their lives. Intense and dark, the films are often uplifting through the actions of some remarkable individuals. Watching them we also have a rare opportunity to witness the true environment of those post revolutionary times of Poland and Ukraine. Aug 31st; Sep 2nd 7 ½ Cinema - "India Matri Bhumi" organized by Chicago Cinema Forum More info www.chicagocinemaforum.org Sep 1st - 2nd 7 ½ Cinema - "Zakazane Piosenki" More info 773-278-1500 Sep 7th - Oct 7th Get Downsized - SILENT tragic-comedy of office revolution More info www.venturetheatreonline.com Sep 12th - Oct 3rd 7 ½ Cinema - "The Disappearance of Daniel Dodger" organized by Split Pillow Productions More info: www.splitpillow.com Sep 27th - Nov 11th Desire Under the Elms - the Hypocrties More info: www.the-hypocrites.com Oct 11th - 14th Around the Coyote Arts Festival More info:www.aroundthecoyote.org Old Wicked Songs - Signal Ensemble Tix: 773-347-1350 $20/15 More info: www.signalensemble.com Nov 24th - Dec 22nd It's Only the End of the World - TUTA Theatre Tix: 847-217-0691 $22/15 More info: www.tutato.com |
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