Loading Events

Back to All Events

  • This event has passed.

ECHO’S INFERNO by Juliet Kang Huneke

April 22 @ 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm

It’s 1884, and Echo really doesn’t get along with her brothers. Or anyone. Then, the devil offers her a chance to skip forward and start over. Will she take it? Will it matter? With biting humor and irreverent logic, ECHO’S INFERNO explores girlhood, rage, ambition, and connection.

Production Team:
Juliet Kang Huneke – Playwright
Daira Rodriguez – Director
Emma Durbin – Dramaturg

Cast:
Kandace Mack – Echo
Sharon Pasia – Satan
Andie Muriel – Lola
Bennett Petersen – Wilbur and John Lennon
Rick Hilscher – Orvile and Lill Davie
Sunnie Eraso – Stage Directions

Freshly Brewed Team:
Emma Durbin – Co-Artistic Producer
Joel Willison – Co-Artistic Producer
Magdalena Dalzell – Literary Committee Coordinator
Danny Fender – The Understudy Co-Owner
Adam Crawford – The Understudy Co-Owner

About Freshly Brewed
Freshly Brewed seeks to invest in Chicago’s emerging playwrights and theatre artists in keeping with The Understudy’s commitment to Community, Collaboration, and Discovery. The series features monthly readings of new plays in various stages of development. Each artist conrtibuting– playwrights, directors, and actors– will receive a stipend underwritten by the series’ anonymous donor.

Freshly Brewed also marks the inaugural collaboration between The Understudy and its neighbor, Edgewater’s Raven Theatre, who is thrilled to support The Understudy as their fiscal sponsor for this series. Click here to make a tax-deductible donation to Freshly Brewed.

Other Events

BOTH by Paloma Nozicka

May 13 @ 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm

Join us for a peek into the process of a new play by Paloma Nozicka. Presented as the first collaboration between Teatro Vista Productions and The Understudy. BOTH A woman’s life is thrown into chaos when her missing twin suddenly reappears. This play currently in development as part of the Geffen Playhouse 2023/2024 Writers Room residency. Doors open at 7pm. Performance Begins at 7:30pm. The cafe will be open for refreshments.

RSVP NOW
BOTH by Paloma Nozicka
May 13 @ 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm

A Taste of RED with A Red Orchid Theatre

May 14 @ 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm

Hang out with our friends from A Red Orchid Theatre on May 14th for the latest installment of their series A Taste of Red. A Red Orchid Theatre invites you to take a peek behind the curtain and see how their team goes about exploring a play. What gets their ensemble excited about a script? How do actors, directors, playwrights, and designers all approach the same text differently? What defines a quintessential A Red Orchid production? THE CAVE by Ensemble…

RSVP NOW
A Taste of RED with A Red Orchid Theatre
May 14 @ 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm

ISLAND OF LOVE by Felicia Oduh

May 20 @ 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm

A batch of romantic hopefuls compete for a chance to win love and a large cash prize on the UK’s hottest summer reality dating series. Though everyone has come on the show for the same reasons, one contestant soon learns that not everyone will have the same experience. Positioning the audience as the camera and including all of your favorite elements of reality TV — confessionals, drama, and surprise eliminations — Island of Love dives deep into the various forms…

RSVP NOW
ISLAND OF LOVE by Felicia Oduh
May 20 @ 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm

I Can’t, I Have Trivia

May 22 @ 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm

Theatre nerds, your time has come! Join us for another round of trivia at 7:30 on May 22nd. We recommend playing with a team of four. Hosted by our friend Patrick Zakem, each round will test your knowledge of a different facet of theatre history, current events, or culture. Think you’ve got what it takes to triumph? Don’t miss it! No need to RSVP, just bring your team on the 7th!

RSVP NOW
I Can’t, I Have Trivia
May 22 @ 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm

THE DRAG by Mae West presented by Gerber Hart Library

May 25 @ 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm

Join us for a community reading of “The Drag” presented by the Gerber/Hart Library and Archives. Written by the iconic Mae West, this 1927 drama about a closeted socialite and the morality of homosexuality was banned from theatres and torn to shreds in the press. No acting experience required! This is a reading with the goal of getting this text out into the world. By doing this as well as providing historical context and archival materials, we are recentering text…

RSVP NOW
THE DRAG by Mae West presented by Gerber Hart Library
May 25 @ 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm

Next Draft Series: How to Kill a Rodent

June 1 @ 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm

How to Kill a Rodent By Eleanor McCaughey Canadians Guy and Carrie take a road trip to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania only days before Groundhog Day, in an effort to assassinate Punxsutawney Phil on live television. Cast: Peter Ferneding Stephanie Fongheiser Madison Kiernan Playwright: Eleanor McCaughey Director: Maddy Brown Dramaturg: Zoe Sjogerman CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS This reading is presented as part of Avalanche Theatre‘s Next Draft Series The Next Draft Series is Avalanche Theatre’s ongoing new play incubator. ​Over the course…

RSVP NOW
Next Draft Series: How to Kill a Rodent
June 1 @ 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm

TGNC Theatre Maker’s Meetup

June 2 @ 7:00 pm - 10:00 pm

🏳️‍⚧️MEETUP🏳️‍⚧️ Trans and gender non-conforming theatre makers, Join us June 2nd for an evening of community and connection. We’re hanging out 7pm to 10pm and keeping the cafe open for refreshments. BYOB also welcomed. Don’t miss this!

RSVP NOW
TGNC Theatre Maker’s Meetup
June 2 @ 7:00 pm - 10:00 pm

Next Draft Series: How to Kill a Rodent

June 3 @ 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm

How to Kill a Rodent By Eleanor McCaughey Canadians Guy and Carrie take a road trip to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania only days before Groundhog Day, in an effort to assassinate Punxsutawney Phil on live television. Cast: Peter Ferneding Stephanie Fongheiser Madison Kiernan Playwright: Eleanor McCaughey Director: Maddy Brown Dramaturg: Zoe Sjogerman CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS This reading is presented as part of Avalanche Theatre‘s Next Draft Series The Next Draft Series is Avalanche Theatre’s ongoing new play incubator. ​Over the course…

RSVP NOW
Next Draft Series: How to Kill a Rodent
June 3 @ 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm

Next Draft Series: Infinity Burns

June 8 @ 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm

Infinity Burns By Felix Abidor Giordano Bruno, a 16th-century monk, is sentenced to death for his radical beliefs in an infinite universe. Cast: Peter Ferneding Stephanie Fongheiser Madison Kiernan Playwright: Eleanor McCaughey Director: Maddy Brown Dramaturg: Zoe Sjogerman CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS This reading is presented as part of Avalanche Theatre‘s Next Draft Series The Next Draft Series is Avalanche Theatre’s ongoing new play incubator. ​Over the course of 3-4 months, Avalanche develops new work by emerging Chicago playwrights through…

RSVP NOW
Next Draft Series: Infinity Burns
June 8 @ 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm