Productions & Events featuring Holly BIrdsong

One of the most acclaimed playwrights to emerge in Chicago in the last decade, Brett Neveu has a reputation for blistering dialogue, complex characters and haunting stories. Described as a “master at establishing mood” (Chicago Sun-Times) and “perhaps the city’s closest equivalent to a young [David] Mamet” (Chicago Tribune), with Harmless, he delivers a gripping three-character drama about a crisis unfolding on a small Midwestern college campus.

A creative writing professor is called to the office of the college president for questioning. What has been going on in his classroom to provoke a growing controversy and attract the attention of the United States military? Is there a real threat, or is it imagined?

Based on the autobiographical writings of Lillian Hellman, Lillian premiered on Broadway in January 1986 starring Tony Award-winner Zoe Caldwell.

The play is set in the waiting room of a New York hospital where Hellman awaits the death of her longtime companion Dashiell Hammett. As she waits, she reflects on her memories — growing up in New Orleans and New York, her successes and failures as an artist, her testimony before the House Un-American Activities Committee and the myriad people and incidents that shaped her life.

Described as “ribald, poignant entertainment” by Time and a “beautifully constructed union of intellect and emotion” by The Washington Post, Lillianis a compelling portrait of an artist and woman who made unforgettable contributions to the worlds of theatre, literature and politics in America.

Ahead of its time when it premiered in 1959 and now often called a neglected masterpiece, Fiorello! is a classic Broadway musical that features heartbreaking ballads (“When Did I Fall in Love”), rousing chorus numbers (“Politics and Poker”) and melodic showstoppers (“Little Tin Box”) to tell the story of one small, honest man’s struggle against corruption in big-city politics.

With guts and perseverance, Fiorello H. LaGuardia put a bright, new shine on “The Big Apple” and became one of the most enduring figures of the 20th century.

Set in the booming 1980s, PRAVDA is the hilarious battle between an unscrupulous newspaper magnate and his idealistic editor over the integrity of the press. After Lambert Le Roux buys up London’s Fleet Street papers, he uses them to serve his political and financial whims, testing Andrew May’s willpower and principles. This hard-hitting satire by two of the most provocative playwrights of our time examines the public’s hunger for sensationalism and the objectivity of our news.