Out the Box Festival (Fall 2020)

Out the Box!

Come enjoy and celebrate these break-out, identity-challenging, boundary-pushing new plays in our first annual Out The Box Festival! These readings will happen every Saturday in October at 2pm CST.

October 3rd: Round Table Discussions
On October 3rd we'll be streaming three round table discussions with some of Chicago Dramatists' fabulous playwrights and board members:​​

• Afro-Futurism & the Avant-Gaurd with:
  • Resident Playwright Kristiana Rae Colón, Resident Playwright Derek McPhatter, & Board Member Branson Rideaux
• Putting You, Your Experience, & Your Art Practice First During Critical Times with the Sister, Soldier, Self-Preserver Class of 2020:
  • Network Playwright Tocarra Castleman, Playwright Tyler Brockington, Playwright Sandra A. Daley-Sharif, Playwright Clarke Smith, Playwright Meghan Swaby, & Playwright Celeste Williams

October 10th: 3 Short Plays by Network Playwrights
On October 10th we'll be streaming 3 new short plays by some of our fabulous Network Playwrights:

• Sita Burning by Ajitha Reddy; directed by Katherine Tanner-Silverman
• Soldier's Heart by Cherie Lockett; directed by Deidre Searcy
• Hiding Who We Are by Jasmine Delgado; directed by Branson Rideaux

October 17th: Miguk Saram by Resident Playwright & Board Member Sue Pak 
On October 17th we'll be streaming Miguk Saram by Sue Pak, directed by Patrizia Accera and presented by IVP - International Theatre Project In Chicago, IL:

• A highly ambitious, Korean American teen will stop at nothing to get into his dream university. However, his plans are suddenly derailed when he is seduced by a social justice warrior, as well as an alt-right extremist. Will he make the right choice?

October 24th: Hundred and Hundreds of Stars by Resident Playwright Sandra Delgado 
On October 24th we'll be streaming Hundreds and Hundreds of Stars by Sandra Delgado, directed by Laurie Woolery and presented by The Local Theatre Company in Boulder, CO:

• Clara is a single mother who is also the primary caretaker for her father. She came to the United States as a young girl from an unspecified Latin American country, and though she entered the country legally and has permanent resident status, she chose to never become a citizen. Until now.  Little does she know that her decision to become a citizen on paper will bring back past demons and land her in the black hole of immigration courts. Unexpectedly faced with deportation, she struggles to hang on to her family and the only country she has ever called home. 

October 31st: The Kasha of  Kaimuki by Resident Playwright Hannah Ii-Epstein 
Closing out 2020's Out the Box Festival on October 31st we'll be streaming The Kasha of Kaimuki by Hannah Ii-Epstein, directed by Anna Rose Ii-Epstein and presented by Kumu Kahua Theatre in Honolulu, HI:

• Based off of Hawai’i’s most famous and terrifying haunted house comes the triller play, The Kasha of Kaimuki. Sam and Amanda are a lesbian couple who recently moved into the Kaimuki house with a new roommate, Emily. With their friend Joseph, they find the Kasha, a ghost from Japanese folklore who has an insatiable hunger for blood and corpses. Will these four friends survive or die like the others?
  • Warning:  This play contains strong language, sexual content, physical violence, mentions of mental illnesses and suicide, and flashing lights.