New stages festival professionals weekend 2024

DECEMBER 13 – 15, 2024

You’re invited to Professionals Weekend of our recently announced New Stages Festival! New Stages, now in its 20th year, is a celebration of innovative new work, often ground-breaking and form-defying, presented for its first audience in our Owen Theatre.

At the heart of this unique celebration of new plays-in-process are five works from among our most exciting emerging and established writers that are inspiring, trenchant, provocative, hilarious, and beautiful. Connect with other industry professions during social events and take in an array of exhilarating new works before they premiere on stages across the country. Full line-up below.

Most offerings in this year’s Festival contain mature themes. Please email literary@goodmantheatre.org for questions.

VIEW THE FULL PROFESSIONALS WEEKEND GUIDE HERE.

PROFESSIONALS WEEKEND SCHEDULE:

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 13

KICK-OFF COCKTAIL PARTY
Clifford Family Lobby & Baskes Rotunda
Alice Center
Friday, December 13 at 6pm

Launch this weekend of exciting new work at a casual mixer with complimentary beer, wine and light fare.

Broken Eggs

Book and Lyrics by Eduardo Machado and Music by Jacinta Clusellas
Directed by Henry Godinez
Goodman’s Owen Theatre
Based on Broken Eggs and Fabiola by Eduardo Machado

You can’t make an omelet without shattering a few cherished family illusions… especially when your family won’t let go of their idyllic memories of pre-Revolutionary Cuba.

It’s 29 years after Sonia’s fairy tale wedding in Havana, and now it’s her turn to be the Mother of the Bride. But her husband has left her for a younger woman, her son is perpetually high, and her daughter just wants to be American. In Broken Eggs, composer Jacinta Clusellas teams up with legendary Cuban playwright Eduardo Machado to adapt his 1984 hit play into a new musical about love, loss, and learning to let go.

Tickets are Free; reservations are required.

Friday, December 13 at 7:30pm

POST-SHOW SALON
Clifford Family Lobby & Baskes Rotunda
Alice Center
Friday, December 13 at 9:30pm

Join fellow playwrights, dramaturgs, directors, actors and other industry professionals for relaxed late-night festivity with complimentary food, beer and wine.

SaturdAY, DECEMBER 14

Ashland Avenue

Written by Lee Kirk
Directed by Susan V. Booth
Goodman’s Owen Theatre

“Sometimes I sit here, store’s empty, and I think, how is this the same place where there used to be a line around the corner? I’m busy taking care of my customers, same routine, day by day, year by year… until suddenly one day I’m drowning.”

Pete was never a Chicago legend… but as the owner of an iconic local chain of TV shops, he was the next best thing. Now there’s just one store left, and he’s struggling to keep it afloat. Playwright and director Lee Kirk presents Ashland Avenue, a stunning new play that explores dying dreams, new beginnings, and the inevitability of change.

Tickets are Free; reservations are required.

Saturday, December 14 at 10am

INDUSTRY LUNCH WITH BREAKOUT ROOMS
Clifford Family Lobby & Baskes Rotunda
Alice Center
Saturday, December 14 at 12pm

Join fellow industry professionals for lunch, with the option of joining several breakout lunch tables centered on industry roles and identities.

George Washington’s Mexican Birthday

Written by Dolores Díaz
Directed by Gabrielle Randle-Bent
Goodman’s Owen Theatre

“American Indian or Alaskan Native. Asian. Black or African American. Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander. White.” These are the five categories U.S inhabitants must navigate on the U.S. census. How does the box you check inform your national identity?

Playwright Dolores Díaz explores the intersection of identity for Latine-Americans for whom checking the “right” demographic box can make all the difference. Viewed through the month-long George Washington’s Birthday Celebration in Laredo, Texas, the play explores community, radicalization, and the past, present, and future of fluid identities in the United States.

Tickets are Free; reservations are required.

Saturday, December 14 at 2pm

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

Written by Marco Antonio Rodriguez
Based on the novel The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz
Directed by Wendy Mateo
Goodman’s Owen Theatre

“I have heard from a reliable source that no Dominican male has ever died a virgin. I shall be the first.”

Oscar knows that a nerdy Dominican freshman isn’t anyone’s idea of a romantic hero. But with the encouragement of his new college roommate, Yunior, Oscar is going to give love another chance… and then another… and then another. There’s just one problem: his family is cursed. A new stage adaptation based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Junot Díaz.

Tickets are Free; reservations are required.

Saturday, December 14 at 7:30pm

SundAY, DECEMBER 15

NEW STAGES PANEL DISCUSSION
Baskes Rotunda, Alice Center
Sunday, December 15 at 9:30am

A casual and candid discussion featuring playwrights from the Goodman’s New Stages Festival and Residency.

PROFESSIONALS BREAKFAST
Alice Center
Sunday, December 15 at 10:30am

Enjoy a hearty breakfast before diving into this final day of New Stages readings.

Blood Memory

Written by Dael Orlandersmith
Directed by Neel Keller
Goodman’s Owen Theatre

What are you scared to say?  What does free speech mean when what you say can cost you your reputation, your livelihood, and your place in the world?

In her brand-new piece, Blood Memory, Goodman favorite and Pulitzer Prize finalist Dael Orlandersmith wrestles with whether it is possible to speak truth in a world in which people are unwilling to examine their own beliefs and where a speaker’s intent counts for less than the hearer’s perception. In her signature poetic style, playwright and performer Orlandersmith asks us to reconsider the ideas we’re reluctant to engage with, and why that matters.

Tickets are Free; reservations are required.

Sunday, December 15 at 11:30am