Steppenwolf’s “First Look” of new writers, new works Nov. 20

STEPPENWOLF PRESENTS its annual “First Look Repertory of New Work,” with three developmental productions – Christina Anderson’s Man in Love, Zayd Dohrn’s Want, and Carly Mensch’s Oblivion – running through Nov. 20.

There are also three readings by up-and-coming Chicago writers – Sarah Gubbins’ FML: or How Carson McCullers Saved My Life (slated for a run in the Theatre for Young Adults program at Steppenwolf in February); Philip Dawkins’ Miss Marx: or the Involuntary Side Effect of Living; and Marisa Wegrzyn’s Mud Blue Sky. Full details are available online.

 
THE BLACK THEATRE ALLIANCE/Ira Aldridge Awards on Oct. 24 honored the best of Chicago-area theater and dance productions in 2011 that addressed African-American life.

Lilli-Anne Brown of "Passing Strange"Bailiwick Chicago’s production of Stew and Heidi Rodewald’s Passing Strange nabbed three awards: Lilli-Anne Brown as best director, Jayson Brooks as best actor in a musical, and Osiris Khepera as best featured actor.

Black Ensemble Theater’s production of Jackie Taylor’s All in Love Is Fair garnered the award for best musical direction, with Katrina V. Miller nabbing best actress in a musical.
 
And Congo Square Theatre Company’s production of Darren Canady’s Brothers of the Dust led the field with awards for best play, best director (Daniel Bryant), best lead actor (James T. Alfred), leading actress (Shanesia Davis), featured actor (Austin Talley), and sound design (Rick Sims). Canady shared the playwriting award with Darlette McAlpin’s script for Field of Souls at ETA Creative Arts Foundation.

Theatre critic Hedy Weiss of the Sun-Times provides a complete list of BTAA winners here.
 
ANOTHER FASCINATING FACET of African American life and culture comes to the stage at the Old Town School of Folk Music. Keep a Song in Your Soul: The Black Roots of Vaudeville, features a collaboration with the Grammy Award-winning string band, the Carolina Chocolate Drops, MacArthur Foundation “genius” honoree and ragtime composer and musician Reginald R. Robinson, and tap legend Reggio “The Hoofer” McLaughlin. They all also perform in this story of a young woman who joins the Great Migration of the early 20th century from the South to the gritty show-biz temptations of Chicago.

The show runs Nov. 3-6. Tickets are $45 at 773/728-6000 or online.
 
MORE MIGRATION: American Theater Company artistic director PJ Paparelli and Danszloop Chicago’s artistic director Paula Frasz team up in creating Escape, an experimental short run of three recently-discovered Tennessee Williams plays combined with modern dance that explore themes of escaping repression in America – racial and familial.

ATC ENSEMBLE MEMBER Patrick Andrews (now appearing in the Goodman production of Red through Sunday) joins Joan Kohn of HGTV and 14 other performers in this developmental presentation, running Nov. 3-6.

Currently, tickets are available for subscribers only, but you can call 773/409-4125 for more information.

WITH THE ANNOUNCEMENT that all American troops will depart Iraq by the end of the year, the timing is good for the Side Project’s current repertory that includes two plays about the ramifications of war:  

Louis Cancelmi’s Through the Middle Ground, in which a returning Iraq vet tries to reconnect with his girlfriend, and An Interrogation Primer, Mike Nowacki’s one-man piece based on his real experiences as a military interrogator in Baghdad.

They join the Midwest premiere of one-time Chicago playwright Brett Neveu’s Twentyone, about a booze-soaked spring break in Mexico.

The trio of works will run in rep through Dec. 18, and the full schedule is available online.
 
Send news of your creative developments to kerryreid@comcast.net.