Goodman’s free series of readings to feature Chicago playwrights
The next installment of Goodman Theatre's annual series of free, staged readings (called New Stages) will feature two up-and-coming Chicago playwrights, Playbill reports. Mia McCullough's Household Spirits and Sean Graney's Without both made the cut this year.
McCullough, an adjunct professor at Northwestern University, has had her work produced at numerous theaters in Chicago and is currently preparing for a production of her play Since Africa at The Old Globe in San Diego. Her featured script at Goodman, Household Spirits, takes place during a newly blended family’s first Christmas/Hanukkah. But the holiday can't weather the kids’ homecomings: Rox’s college professor has been coming on to her, and Erik may be starting to show signs of the same mental illness that led his mother to kill herself. On top of all that, the patriarch has just confessed to being an alcoholic. McCullough said she wasn’t sure she wanted to write the play: “Rich white people are probably my least favorite subjects, but these people would not get out of my head. While this is probably the most traditional play I've written, in some senses, it's also one of the most outrageous. Sometime in the last year, the gloves came off and any veneer of politeness that I may have previously filtered my writing through is gone.” The play, directed by Meghan Beals McCarthy, will be read Sunday, Sept. 14 at 7 p.m.
Graney’s Without, the product of a recent commission from the Goodman, delves into decidedly weirder territory. Graney is the Artistic Director of The Hypocrites, an 11-year old Chicago company famous for deconstructing and demystifying classic plays. Graney’s recent direction of August Strindberg’s Miss Julie, for instance, had the audience standing for the duration of the show, and filtered a post-sex chat through walkie-talkies. Graney has written and directed two of his own full-length plays – Porno and The 4th Graders Present An Unnamed Love-Suicide – as well as numerous shorts. Set in an outer-space-themed bar, his new play addresses a reunion between a former boyfriend and girlfriend (Rocketman and White White) who have been apart for 15 years. Rocketman is now in a wheelchair. White White offers him a chance for retribution, but her old paramour isn’t sure he can do what she asks. The play will be read Friday, Sept. 19 at 7 p.m.
McCullough, an adjunct professor at Northwestern University, has had her work produced at numerous theaters in Chicago and is currently preparing for a production of her play Since Africa at The Old Globe in San Diego. Her featured script at Goodman, Household Spirits, takes place during a newly blended family’s first Christmas/Hanukkah. But the holiday can't weather the kids’ homecomings: Rox’s college professor has been coming on to her, and Erik may be starting to show signs of the same mental illness that led his mother to kill herself. On top of all that, the patriarch has just confessed to being an alcoholic. McCullough said she wasn’t sure she wanted to write the play: “Rich white people are probably my least favorite subjects, but these people would not get out of my head. While this is probably the most traditional play I've written, in some senses, it's also one of the most outrageous. Sometime in the last year, the gloves came off and any veneer of politeness that I may have previously filtered my writing through is gone.” The play, directed by Meghan Beals McCarthy, will be read Sunday, Sept. 14 at 7 p.m.
Graney’s Without, the product of a recent commission from the Goodman, delves into decidedly weirder territory. Graney is the Artistic Director of The Hypocrites, an 11-year old Chicago company famous for deconstructing and demystifying classic plays. Graney’s recent direction of August Strindberg’s Miss Julie, for instance, had the audience standing for the duration of the show, and filtered a post-sex chat through walkie-talkies. Graney has written and directed two of his own full-length plays – Porno and The 4th Graders Present An Unnamed Love-Suicide – as well as numerous shorts. Set in an outer-space-themed bar, his new play addresses a reunion between a former boyfriend and girlfriend (Rocketman and White White) who have been apart for 15 years. Rocketman is now in a wheelchair. White White offers him a chance for retribution, but her old paramour isn’t sure he can do what she asks. The play will be read Friday, Sept. 19 at 7 p.m.
