Frida Kahlo and the Bravest Girl in the World
Music by Joe Illick
Libretto by Mark Campbell
Spanish translation by Arlene Martínez-Vázquez
A story about facing your fears, learning new things, and the power of friendship. Based on the acclaimed book by author and illustrator Laurence Anholt, the story follows the real-life friendship of Mariana, a young girl living in the heart of Mexico City, and Frida Kahlo, the famed artist. When Mariana plucks up her courage to meet Frida, a friendship blossoms between them.
Lyric Unlimited 2024/25 Opera in the Neighborhoods | The Backstage Pass! is a family-friendly introduction to the world of opera and this production of Frida Kahlo and the Bravest Girl in the World. Filled with insights, information, and activities — the Backstage Pass! is a wonderful way to enhance your performance experience.
2024, Chicago Illinois, Lyric Opera of ChicagoHer Father’s Daughter
by Iona McGregor
Photos by Matthew Eshaya
On the weekend of a very important book launch, Penny navigates her identity as an educated free willed woman under centuries of pressure. Class, wealth, and her father's complicated legacy force her to examine her familial and social relationships. Secrets, lies, and painful truths lurk in the shadows of her family estate, and dare her to dig deeper.
2024, Chicago Illinois, The Theatre School at DePaul University
Re/Generation Studio is About Face Theatre’s invitation to build the future of queer theatre together. This welcoming series of public workshops is shaped as a collective dreaming space for connecting with each other, learning about new plays, world-building, and exploring new production models. Learn more about these workshops and events... All workshops are free and open to the public. We recommend you RSVP early, as workshops and events may reach capacity. Workshops are recommended for ages 12 and older.
Building the future of queer theatre together
2023, Chicago Illinois, About Face Theatre at The Den TheatreBOCA A BOCA
The Kissing Game or Boca a Boca is written by Rhiannon Collett,
translated into Spanish by River Coello and directed by Denise Yvette Serna.
"Boca a Boca", interpretada por Daniel Suarez enteramente en español, es una pieza solista que cuenta la historia de Sam, una joven de 16 años. Su vida es un desastre; sus padres están peleando, su hermano es un fastidio y ella es demasiado punk para la secundaria. Ella no habla con nadie (como regla), pero cuando Kate se muda a la ciudad con su hermana mayor Frankie, Sam queda inmediatamente cautivada. Kate es genial e inteligente y no se deja intimidar por nadie.
Sam se sumerge en su amistad. Pero cuando la hermana de Kate cae víctima de un acto de violencia, Sam se ve envuelta en algo que está completamente fuera de su control. Kate está determinada a llevar al perpetrador ante la justicia, pero sus acciones tienen consecuencias extrañas y las chicas se quedan preguntándose: "¿Cuál es el costo de la venganza? ¿Somos realmente dignos de perdón?"
"Boca a Boca" es una fantasía urbana que explora el amor, la traición, la amistad y la identidad queer.
2023, Chicago Illinois, Teatro Vista at Steppenwolf Theatre COmpanyComposer Tim Phillips and playwright Carl Grose reunite for this new musical. Tim is co-Artistic Director of Filter Theatre Company and works extensively in film and TV composition. Carl is an actor, writer and former co-Artistic Director of Kneehigh Theatre. Their production of The Grinning Man from Bristol Old Vic transferred to the West End in 2019.
Candlewood Lake had a 6 week developmental residency at Sheridan College in Fall 2023.
Are We Alone?
Candlewood Lake is an exploration of strength in community and the lengths we go to find meaning and belonging.
Inspired by the real Candlewood Lake in the Hudson Valley, a hotbed of UFO activity in the 1980s. This musical follows a UFO-obsessed Cindii who moves to Candlewood Lake, the famed epicentre of mass UFO sightings. Under the watchful eye of a sceptical community, she is in search of a reason to stay in town.
The cast of Theatre Sheridan, Pemberley Productions, PW Productions, and Karl Sydow's Candlewood Lake
Written by Carl Grose and Tim Phillips
Director: Denise Yvette Serna
Music Director: Oli Jackson
Photographer: Sandro Pehar (@maybesandro)
2023, Ontario Canada, Pemberley Productions at Sheridan College
Regional Premiere
“Who does the American dream belong to?” Alma and her daughter, Angel, made 16 wishes long ago: good health, love, carne asada every day, perfect SAT scores, and a spot at UC Davis to name a few. Now that Angel is 17 and she’s got a different vision for her future than her immigrant single mom’s. This poetic, funny, and timely piece was developed at the Denver Center Theatre Company’s New Play Summit in 2020.
2023, Denver Colorado, Curious Theatre Company
When Iris, a professional alpinist, is diagnosed with a heart condition that may prevent her from ever climbing again, she reluctantly turns to a therapist who specializes in supporting elite adventure athletes. But Iris begins unpacking a whole lot more than she bargained for as her therapist pushes her to unfurl a tragic accident that changed her life forever. Simultaneously moving forward and backward in time, Last Ascent investigates grief, chronic illness, imperialism, and the ecological devastation wreaking havoc on our planet and on our bodies.
2022, Chicago Illinois, The New Coordinates at The Den Theatre
SOMEWHERE
In a potentially parallel timeline where a climate apocalypse has wiped out animals and insects, an entomologist and her brother follow a migration of monarch butterflies to what they hope is the last viable place on earth. Their encounter with a young group that fled the city to a truffle farm leads to earnest realizations and interpersonal conflict about acclimating beyond the world they once knew. With wit, whimsy, and the forces of nature, Marisela Treviño Orta’s Somewhere speculates on climate refugee migration, science vs the supernatural, environmental sustainability, and how shifts in the globe make changes in ourselves.
2022, Chicago Illinois, Loyola University DFPA at Newhart Family TheatreBLOOD OF MY MOTHER’S
SEMI-FINALIST FOR THE 2022 BLUE INK AWARDS
On Christmas Eve 1997, pregnant Marina fled to her older sister's Lillian’s house in the middle of the night with the biggest problem she ever faced: an unwanted pregnancy. After giving birth, Marina abandons the baby Egg in her sister's care, much to the concern of Lillian's husband, Richard. Now sixteen years later, Egg has gone missing and no one seems to care but her sister/cousin Deanna. The search for the truth turns this Filipino-American family's world upside as they are forced to face their inner demons. Because sometimes, the place you run to for safety turns out to be the most dangerous place of all.
Originally launched in 2004, Rivendell has long cultivated the notion that thoughtfully planting new artistic seeds wields the richest harvest. Fresh Produce series is known for risky, innovative, and compelling new work. During each series, exciting new projects with women at the core are curated and nurtured through an intensive, developmental workshop process.
Each project culminates in a public reading that features the opportunity for a moderated dialogue between artists and audience.
2022, Chicago Illinois, Rivendell Theatre EnsembleSOMEWHERE OVER THE BORDER
Book, Lyrics and Music by Emmy-Nominated Artist Brian Quijada
WORLD Premiere
Inspired by the real life journey of the author’s mother (Reina Quijada) from El Salvador to the US and by L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Somewhere Over the Border embraces the factual and the fantastical in its depiction of one young girl’s pursuit of the American dream. As Reina travels north to the Mexican border, she gathers friends, faces down dangers, and holds tight to the memory of the little boy she left behind. Set in the 1970s and propelled by Cumbia, Mexican Mariachi Boleros, American Rock and Hip Hop, this new musical is both fable and family history—and a testament to the determination born of love.
2022, Chicago Illinois, Teatro Vista at Windy City PlayhouseLA FUENTE DE CASCABELES
When their eldest sister helps them to migrate from El Salvador to the U.S., Olga and Iris unexpectedly find themselves at her mercy as her desire for financial security stands in the way of their freedom. Exal Iraheta’s new play examines the darker side of pursuing the American dream, as inflicted on some of society’s most vulnerable.
2021, Chicago Illinois, Goodman TheatrePocoapoco es una organización artística y cultural que utiliza la práctica creativa como un medio para promover la conexión, comunicación y entendimiento entre personas y comunidades para desarrollar diálogos, acciones e impactos más profundos y atractivos entre países, culturas y disciplinas.
Pocoapoco is an arts and cultural organization using creative practice as a means to further connection, communication & understanding between individuals and communities to develop deeper and more engaging dialogue, action and impact across countries, cultures & disciplines.
Creators in Residence August 2021 with GHL Access Coordinator Anna Donnell.
2021, Oaxaca MX, Pocoapoco Residency
How Do We Navigate Space? was an original, devised hybrid of film and theatre. This work explored the experiences of Chicagoans navigating through our current, drastically-changed world. The piece is inspired by surveys submitted by Chicago residents sharing their experiences during 2020. Combining movement, music, visual art and the voices of Chicagoans, the film expresses a non-linear story of our diverse and complex city in the search for connection.
As part of our efforts to support neighboring organizations in the greater Chicago community, Strawdog Theatre shared part of the proceeds from this production with Black Lives Matter Chicago.
Visit Community Kitchen’s website to learn where you can get a free meal in the city.
Content Warning: Sexual themes, strong language, smoking, and strobe lighting effects will be used during this performance.
2021, Chicago Illinois, Strawdog Theatre Company, Digital Release
The words spoken in The (M)others are verbatim excerpts from interviews conducted by Nikki Yeboah with Bay-Area mothers who have lost loved ones at the hands of police. Through their stories, we get closer to understanding the toll police violence takes on families. These are the narratives of those who are left to put back the pieces after their loved ones are gone
The (M)others is written by Nikki Yeboah.
2020, San Jose State University and New College of Florida, Digital Release
Written by, Chloe Johnston, Sharon Greene, Genevra Gallo-‐Bayiates, Bilal Dardai, & Andy Bayiates
SHOW NOW AVAILABLE TO SUBSCRIBERS OF BROADWAY ON DEMAND“A RELENTLESS SKETCH COMEDY FLIPBOOK” – JESSE GREEN’S CRITIC’S PICK IN THE NEW YORK TIMES!“CONSISTENTLY CREATIVE, INVENTIVE AND ADMIRABLY AVOIDANT OF THE PREDICTABLE”– CHRIS JONES, CHICAGO TRIBUNE“…A MARVELOUSLY CREATIVE COMPENDIUM OF 45 PLAYLETS… ‘FIRST LADIES’ IS AS IMMEDIATE AS ANYTHING CAN BE FROM A SOCIAL DISTANCE.” – CATEY SULLIVAN, CHICAGO SUN TIMESWORLD Premiere
45 Plays for America’s First Ladies is a [DIGITAL] companion piece to the past Neo-Futurist production 43 Plays for 43 Presidents [originally produced in 2004, and remounted in 2012 as 44 Plays for 44 Presidents and re-published as 45 Plays for 45 Presidents in 2019]. Focusing this time on the women who served in the role of First lady, this play follows an identical format as its predecessors, with a chronological series of 1-5 minute plays that – in typical Neo style - adopt a variety of shapes, tones, and theatrical conventions. Includes performances by members of the Chicago, New York, and San Francisco Neo-Futurist ensembles.
Featuring performances by:
Brenda Arellano // Performer¹
Hilary Asare // Performer³
Ida Cuttler // Performer⁴
Andie Patterson // Performer²
Robin Virginie // Performer³
Vic Wynter // Performer
¹The Neo-Futurists Alum ²San Francisco Neo-Futurists Ensemble Member ³New York Neo-Futurists Ensemble Member ⁴The Neo-Futurists Ensemble Member (Chicago, Il)
2020, Tri-Coastal, The Neo-Futurists, Digital ReleaseNINE LIVES OF A CAT
Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago and Prop Thtr
Devised for The Storefront Project
The Storefront Project
provides a movable feast of devised theater
The Storefront Project asked six Chicago-based directors to choose anything but a typical play and devise a new project, tailor-made for both the MCA Chicago and Prop Thtr, demonstrating Chicago theater’s uncanny ability to pop up anywhere and bring their performances to both spaces on alternate weekends.
Nine Lives of A Cat presents moments in the life of Italian painter Antonio Ligabue.
Told through heightened sensory elements, live musical composition, poetry, dance, circus, and live painting, Nince Lives of a Cat explores the experience of an artist whose sensory experience of the world directly impacted the way in which he coped with trauma through art. Multidisciplinary artists used each of their mediums to blanket the stories in color, sound, magic and mystery.
2019, Chicago Illinois, Museum of Contemporary Art and Prop Thtr
“The snake-haired Gorgon gets a narrative makeover in this touring devised piece.”
Medusa is a multidisciplinary performance devised by an international ensemble of artists over one year, in four countries. Medusa celebrates the intersectional feminist revitalization of western mythology, the integration of accessibility design into the generative process, and the way social location affects participation in and interpretation of artistic experiences.
2019, Chicago Illinois, Global Hive Laboratories and Pop Magic Productions at En Las Tablas Performing ArtsDecember
Goodman Theatre Playwrights Unit
by Marisela Treviño Orta
When college poetry instructor Carolina and her student Benjamin first meet, an attraction blossoms, but the possibility of romance is halted by Carolina who cannot overlook the age difference in good conscience. Spanning twenty years, this May-December romance follows Carolina and Benjamin as they meet at three different moments in their lives. December is a meditation on love, poetry, and timing.
2019, Chicago Illinois, Goodman Theatre
A brutal comedic quartet about four very real women who lived boldly in France during the French Revolution’s Reign of Terror.
This grand and dream-tweaked comedy is about violence and legacy, feminism and terrorism, art and how we actually go about changing the world.
It a true story. Or total fiction.
Or a play about a play.
Or a raucous resurrection that ends in a song and a scaffold.
2018, Chicago Illinois, Strawdog Theatre Company 2018 LTC CARNAVAL OF NEW LATINX WORK
(Carnaval 2018: ConeXión!)
Richard & Jane & Dick & Sally by Noah Diaz
The classic “Dick & Jane” characters from the ubiquitous 1950s children’s books are grown-up and struggling to stay afloat in a home fractured by grief. Newly widowed Dick (now going by Richard) is raising his two children, Dick Jr. and Sally, who is deaf, while trying to manage a terminal illness that will inevitably leave them orphans. When he calls home his estranged sister, Jane, the family must reconcile and make peace with their shared and misunderstood histories before it’s time for him to go. A recipient of the Kennedy Center’s Jean Kennedy Smith Playwriting Award, Richard & Jane & Dick & Sally is a dramatic comedy about brothers, sisters, mothers, and fathers, with sign language, talking dogs, picnic tables, and Snickers bars.
2018, Chicago Illinois, Latinx Theatre Commons at The Theatre School - DePaul University
Gaia by Hiro Kanagawa and featuring: Samantha Michelle Nava, Kim Egan, Liam MacDougall
Minor Flood, Major Constellation: Sirius and the Cartographer Map the New World by Lisa Schlesinger and featuring: Leslie Coffman, Athanasia Sawicz, Izzy Tortuga, Kim Egan
Climate Change Theatre Action (CCTA) is a worldwide series of readings and performances of short climate change plays presented biennially in support of the United Nations Conference of the Parties (COP meetings).
CCTA 2017 was a collaboration between the Center for Sustainable Practice in the Arts, NoPassport Theatre Alliance, The Arctic Cycle, Theatre Without Borders, and York University.
The next CCTA will take place in the fall of 2019. For more information about the project, please visit the official website at www.climatechangetheatreaction.com.
2017, Chicago Illinois, Global Hive Laboratories at Pride Arts Centerspark
20% Theatre Company
Written by Caridad Svich, produced in the Pentagon Theatre at Collaboraction Studios.
Three sisters living in the US are caught in the mess of a recent war’s aftermath. When their soldier sister finally returns home, this family of little economic means must find a way to make do and carry on leaning on the strength of their family. A contemporary US story of faith, love, war, trauma, and a bit of healing.
2018, Chicago Illinois, Global Hive Laboratories at Pride Arts CenterLa Chingada
Inappropriate Theatre Company &Crush Dance Collective
La Chingada was an immersive multi-sensory performance in a secret Chicago location. Guests were instructed to find the hashtag #LaChingada2014, and then wait to be led to the space. Upon arrival, they were free to explore and encounter multimedia and performance art. Would you rather smoke hookah and listen to ghost stories? Have a drink at the bar? Sit in a small, windowless room watching investigative reports on women who murdered their children? Perhaps you'd head to the restroom before the show, and notice a serene, ghostly woman filling the bathtub with water, one jar of water at a time. If you were brave, maybe you'd challenge a dark, hooded figure to a game of chess.
This choose-your-own-prologue approach offered guests the opportunity experience the legend of La Llorona in all the ways I had encountered her throughout my life. When the ensemble made their way to the river, depending on what you spent the last hour doing, La Chingada could be a ghost story, fairy tale, heinous crime, or tragedy.
Utilizing found text, Aboriginal folktales, Chicano poetry, liturgical iconography, transcripts from contemporary cases of filicide, and dance, the play investigated the power of oral tradition to obscure truths over time and seeks to reimagine and reclaim not only La Llorona's story, but her Voice.
2014, Chicago Illinois, inappropriate theatre at Transamoeba StudiosAfter Orlando
NoPassport Theatre Alliance & Press and Missing Bolts Productions
After Orlando: an international theatre action. After Orlando was a collective of over seventy playwrights from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Uganda. Women, men, genderqueer playwrights, LGTBQ, Latinx, Latin@, playwrights of many colors and ethnicities. Playwrights from Florida, playwrights who danced in Pulse, playwrights who have never been there but are still profoundly affected and heard the call to create and inspire change.
During the fall of 2016 Readings from the collection were presented at more than thirty theatres and colleges, universities, and high schools across the US and UK in observance of Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando.
The Chicago event featured plays by Cecilia Copeland, Migdalia Cruz, Zac Kline, Neil LaBute, Jessica Litwak, Anders Lustgarten, Jennifer Maisel, Rohina Malik, Tyler McCray, Winter Miller, Viet Nguyen, Ryan Oliveira, Katie Pearl, Darryl Pickett, Lisa Schlesinger, and Ken Urban.
2016, Chicago Illinois, Iris Sowlat, NoPassport Theatre Alliance, and Missing Bolts Productions at Pride Arts Center(the)Forget_Me\Knot
Inappropriate Theatre Company
(the)forget_me\knot was a performance art and multimedia experience in Chicago's West Loop. Utilizing cultural artifacts, live music, and participatory artistic presentations, guests were invited to slip between the roles of muse, patron, and voyeur. Together we explored the power of permanence, and the insatiable desire to be remembered.
2016, Chicago Illinois, inappropriate theatre at Catalyst RanchThe Curious Savage
University Interscholastic League
Raul Yzaguirre Middle School
Mrs. Savage has been left ten million dollars by her husband and wants to make the best use of it, in spite of her grown-up stepchildren’s efforts to get their hands on it. Knowing that the widow’s wealth is now in negotiable securities, and seeing they cannot get hold of the fortune, the stepchildren commit her to a sanatorium hoping to “bring her to her senses.”
In the sanatorium Mrs. Savage meets various social misfits, men and women who just cannot adjust themselves to life, people who need the help Mrs. Savage can provide. Her friends conspire to get rid of her stepchildren, and through their simple belief in the justice of her cause, they enable Mrs. Savage to carry out her plans to establish a fund to help others realize their hopes and dreams.
2015, San Juan Texas, Raul Yzaguirre Middle School at Pharr-San Juan-Alamo High SchoolOm Swastyastu from London
Institut Seni Indonesia
A production presented by by 10 directors from all over the world.
Performances were devised over 4 weeks of immersion and study in Bali.
Performances featured talented students from Institut Seni Indonesia Denpasar
and SMK Negeri 3 Sukawati (KOKAR).
The Wailing Woman was a devised adaptation of the legend of La Llorona, integrating Balinese mythology and Wayang (shadow puppets). Students from Kokar and I devised the gamelan scoring and all the movement through musical and visual stimulus that I had collected prior to rehearsals, as our ability to communicate in the same language was minimal. Elements of this process and performance were utilized in the creation of my dissertation, La Chingada.
2014, Denpasar Bali, East 15 Acting School at Institut Seni Indonesia DenpasarThe Cover of Life
NeXtage Productions
Tood, Weetsie and Sybil are brides in rural Louisiana in 1943. Each married a Cliffert brother. The men are off to war and a local news story about these young wives keeping the home fires burning intrigues Henry Luce. He decides that they belong on the cover Life Magazine and assigns Kate Miller to the story. Kate spends a week with the Cliffert women and her haughty urban attitude gives way to sympathy as she begins to understand them while coming face to face with her own powerlessness in a man's world. Filled with charm and fun, The Cover of Life is a deeply affecting story about the struggle for self worth.
The profits of this production were be donated in support of the Si-Fi Safe Harbor House in Springfield, OH.
The Safe Harbor House is a communal living discipleship program in Springfield, OH designed to help motivated women choose to flee destructive habits and lifestyles and make healthier and more beneficial life decisions. Through the consistent accountability and encouragement of mentors living in the home, SHH desires to see lasting changes in the lives of women by being vessels of the light of Christ and His truth, piercing the darkness of their past in order to show them eternal hope for their future.
2009, Cedarville Ohio, NeXtage Productions at Alford AuditoriumThe Women of Lockerbie
Cedarville University
A mother from New Jersey roams the hills of Lockerbie Scotland, looking for her son's remains that were lost in the crash of Pan Am 103. She meets the women of Lockerbie, who are fighting the U.S. government to obtain the clothing of the victims found in the plane's wreckage. The women, determined to convert an act of hatred into an act of love, want to wash the clothes of the dead and return them to the victim's families. Loosely inspired by a true story, and written in the structure of a Greek tragedy, it is a poetic drama about the triumph of love over hate. Winner of the silver medal in the Onassis International Playwriting Competition and the Kennedy Center Fund for New American Plays award.
2010, Cedarville Ohio, Alford AuditoriumThe Shadow Box
Michigan Interscholastic Forensic Association
Chelsea High School
In this compelling dramatic triptych, three terminal cancer patients dwell in separate cottages on a hospital's grounds. The three are attended and visited by family and close friends: Agnes and her mother Felicity, estranged further by the latter's dementia; Brian and Beverly, whose marital complications are exacerbated by Brian's new lover, Mark; and Joe and Maggie, unready for the strain of Joe's impending death and its effect on their teenage son.
2011, Chelsea Michigan, Chelsea High SchoolThe Brothers Grimm Spectaculathon
Raul Yzaguirre Middle School
The fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm are turned on their heads in this fast-paced, rollicking ride as two narrators and several actors attempt to combine all 209 stories ranging from classics like Snow White, Cinderella, and Hansel and Gretel to more bizarre, obscure stories like The Devil's Grandmother and The Girl Without Hands. A wild, free-form comedy with lots of audience participation and madcap fun.
2015, San Juan Texas, Raul Yzaguirre Middle School at Pharr-San Juan-Alamo High School