Our Events
We’ve designed The Understudy from the ground up to support a variety of events. Join us after close for play readings, drag performances, concerts, meetups, and more! The calendar is always updating, so check back often.
The Understudy believes curiosity is a powerful, generative force for transformation. We seek to feed our collective creative lives by nourishing deep curiosity– whether toward your own vision, or through engaging generously with the work of another. We see curiosity, empathy, and justice as interdependent ideals. Our work seeks to foster deeper connections to our passions, our neighbors, and to contemporary life.
We’re always on the lookout for new ways to share our space and bring creative people together. If you have an idea for a new one-off event or series at The Understudy, please fill out the form below. Please note that we give priority to theatre related events, and, though we really want to, we can’t accommodate every request. Let’s chat!
recurring series
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The Making of a Kween: A Conversation with Vichet Chum
May 20 @ 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm
Celebrate Kween, the acclaimed debut YA novel by playwright and author Vichet Chum, with a special evening at The Understudy. Hosted by The Midwives Artistic Collective, the event features a […]
The Making of a Kween: A Conversation with Vichet Chum
May 20 @ 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm
WE SENT HER TO THE SEA by Maddie Powell
March 17 @ 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm
In eighteenth-century Europe – well, eighteenth-centuryish “Europe” – difficult women are sent to the seaside, where they are kept out of sight and out of mind. Five such women find […]
WE SENT HER TO THE SEA by Maddie Powell
March 17 @ 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm
A Conversation with the Authors:THE DANCE AND OPERA STAGE MANAGER’S TOOLKIT
March 10 @ 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm
Don’t miss this in-depth discussion on the experiences of seasoned stage managers Sue Fenty and Michele Kay following the launch of their new book The Dance and Opera Stage Manager’s […]
A Conversation with the Authors:THE DANCE AND OPERA STAGE MANAGER’S TOOLKIT
March 10 @ 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm
That Black Ass Show Hosted by Rachel Slurrz
February 28 @ 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm
Ready to close out Black History Month with a SICKENING SHOW?!? ‼️‼️‼️Join Rachel Slurrz as she hosts “That Black Ass Show” featuring some Chicago drag faves: Luv Ami Stoole, Trisha […]
That Black Ass Show Hosted by Rachel Slurrz
February 28 @ 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm
THE PILON by Zach Barr
February 17 @ 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm
In a Seattle sports card shop, a schism is brewing between those who collect for sentimental reasons and those who look only for high-dollar cards to resell. When a potential […]
THE PILON by Zach Barr
February 17 @ 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm
Anyone Who Had A Heart – A Trans Voices Cabaret
February 14 @ 7:45 pm – 9:00 pm
CALLING ALL LOVERS! Trans Voices Cabaret is elated to be back in action with Anyone Who Had A Heart, a Valentine’s Day Show! Hosted by producer John-Payne, and featuring some […]
Anyone Who Had A Heart – A Trans Voices Cabaret
February 14 @ 7:45 pm – 9:00 pm
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Celebrate Kween, the acclaimed debut YA novel by playwright and author Vichet Chum,
with a special evening at The Understudy. Hosted by The Midwives Artistic Collective,
the event features a lively conversation facilitated by The Midwives founder and artistic
director Emily Ritger, with Vichet Chum, his creative “midwife” Thomas Murray, and
Khemarey “Khem” Khoeun, advocate, organizer, and the first Cambodian American
woman elected to public office in the United States. Together, they’ll explore the book’s
origins, cultural connections, and the collaborative magic behind its creation.
About the Book
Soma Kear’s verses have gone viral. Trouble is, she didn’t exactly think her slam poetry video through. All she knew was that her rhymes were urgent. On fire. An expression of where she was, and that place...was a hot mess.
Following her Ba’s deportation back to Cambodia, everything’s changed. Her Ma is away trying to help Ba adjust to his new life, and her older sister has taken charge with a new authoritarian tone. Meanwhile, Soma’s trending video pushes her to ask if it’s time to level up. With her school’s spoken word contest looming, Soma must decide: Is she brave enough to put herself out there? To publicly reveal her fears of Ba not returning? To admit that things may never be the same?
With every line she spits, Soma searches for a way to make sense of the world around her. The answers are at the mic.
From debut author Vichet Chum comes a celebration of Khmer identity, queerness, and embracing the complicated histories that shape who we are and want to be.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Vichet Chum (He/Him) is a New York based writer from Dallas, Texas. His plays have been workshopped/produced at Steppenwolf Theatre, Roundabout Theatre Company, the Alley Theatre, Merrimack Repertory Theatre, Ars Nova, Page 73 Productions, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, Cleveland Play House, the Magic Theater, the UCROSS Foundation, Fault Line Theatre, Crowded Outlet, Second Generation Productions, Weston Playhouse, Cleveland Public Theatre, South Carolina New Play Festival and the New Harmony Project. He received the 2023 Lucille Bulger Service Award, 2018 Princess Grace Award in Playwriting with New Dramatists, the 2021 Laurents/Hatcher Award, a 2021 Edgerton Foundation New Play Award for the world premiere of his play Bald Sisters which premiered at Steppenwolf Theatre in 2022, and a special state citation from the Massachusetts House of Representatives for his play KNYUM at Merrimack Repertory Theatre in 2018. He is currently a Roundabout Theatre Company Underground Resident, New York Theatre Workshop Usual Suspect, Sun Valley Writers’ Conference Fellow, New Harmony Project board member, and Obie Award and Tony Award-winning AAPAC (The Asian American Performers Action Coalition) steering committee member. Past notable writers' groups include: the Resident Working Farm Group at Space on Ryder Farm, the Interstate 73 Writer's Group at Page 73 and the Ars Nova Play Group. He is currently working on commissions for Audible, Steppenwolf Theatre, People’s Light, and Seattle Children's Theatre. Vichet's debut YA novel Kween was released in 2023l with Quill Tree Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. He is a proud graduate of the University of Evansville (BFA) and Brown University/Trinity Repertory Company (MFA) and is represented by WME and CURATE Management. vichetchum.com
Emily Ritger (She/Her) is a director, playwright, teacher, and arts administrator based in Chicago. As a teacher and director developing new work, she has worked for American Theatre Company, Redmoon, Cleveland Public Theatre, Northlight Theatre, ChiArts, The National High School Institute, Carthage College, and Loyola University. Ritger’s training includes ensemble based work, Viola Spolin Theatre Games, Viewpoints, Puppetry, Contact Improv, experimental writing, and various forms of music. She is the founder of The Midwives, an artistic development company serving makers of different disciplines across the country. Her current projects include: Crud, part docudrama, part fantastical music and shadow puppetry, examining a day her family never talks about. Dear Aliza, a memoir of recorded stories following her seven year journey to having a child. Emily received her MFA from Sarah Lawrence College, a BS in Theatre and Philosophy from the University of Evansville, and has trained at La MaMa Umbria in Italy and Paul Sills’ Wisconsin Theatre Game Center. emilyritger.com
Thomas Murray (He/Him) is an applied theatre artist, extending the craft he practiced as an actor and a director to audiences beyond the entertainment industry. He currently serves as Chief Community Officer for Equitech Futures, a global fellowship program, where he teaches communication and creativity to emerging STEM innovators. Previously, Thomas was program director for Storycatchers Theatre, where he guided youth in the Illinois juvenile justice system to share their life stories as works of musical theatre. He co-founded Waltzing Mechanics and Strangeloop Theatre, both dearly departed ensembles of the Chicago storefront theatre scene. Thomas is proud to have spent three terms with The Midwives Artistic Collective as an artist and a creative midwife. He holds a B.A. in theatre directing from Ball State University and an M.F.A. in applied theatre and public dialogue from Virginia Tech.
Khemarey “Khem” Khoeun is the first Cambodian American woman elected to public office in the United States. As the daughter of Cambodian refugees and a lifelong advocate for equity, she has spent her career helping others find and elevate their authentic voices—especially those too often silenced. Khem has served as a Skokie Village Trustee, Skokie Park District Commissioner, and as President of the National Cambodian Heritage Museum and Killing Fields Memorial. With a background in social work and immigrant rights organizing, her work is rooted in community, intergenerational healing, and the belief that storytelling is a powerful tool for justice and transformation.
The Midwives Artistic Collective began in 2017 out of artists’ need for support, accountability, and motivation. The first year began as an experiment: seven artists from across the country, making in different disciplines, who were for the most part strangers. The experiment was led by artist Emily Ritger. Ritger, with a background in new play development, was curious if there was another way to support the creation of new work. What if it was nurtured by peers, in community? What if it was supported by artists specifically outside their field? For example, how would a play be affected and changed if it was supported (or midwived) by a musician or visual artist? What if artists signed up rather than applied? And lastly, what if we believed everyone is an artist, everyone is creative! How would that change not only the work being made, but also our cultural valuing of art The mission of The Midwives is to nurture the public creative spirit. We hope to bring forth new work and new voices by seeing the artist in everyone.
themidwives.org
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In eighteenth-century Europe - well, eighteenth-centuryish “Europe” - difficult women are sent to the seaside, where they are kept out of sight and out of mind. Five such women find themselves at The Sea, a remote treatment center spearheaded by the absurd Mr. Doctor (who may or may not have actually studied medicine?). From the melancholic to the homosexually-inclined, the Sea’s newest inpatients quickly become disillusioned with their treatment and decide they want out - but how many hysterical women does it take to screw the patriarchy? Powered by irreverence, hijinx, and a passion for musical improv, Maddie Powell’s new comedy We Sent Her to the Sea explores how we tend the garden of progress, and what we can do when we discover rot in the roots.
Maddie Powell - Playwright
Hershey Suri - Director
Karina Patel - Dramaturg
Sunnie Eraso - Charlotte
Olivia Pryor - Nellie
Hayley O'Toole - Birdie
Juliet Kang Huneke - Beverly
Sonia Goldberg - Leta
Micah Mabey - Mr. Doctor
Zihan Xiong - Stage Directions
Freshly Brewed Team:
Nadya Naumaan - Co-Artistic Producer
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.
[post_title] => WE SENT HER TO THE SEA by Maddie Powell
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Don't miss this in-depth discussion on the experiences of seasoned stage managers Sue Fenty and Michele Kay following the launch of their new book The Dance and Opera Stage Manager's Toolkit: Protocols, Practical Considerations, and Templates.
About the Book
The Dance and Opera Stage Manager’s Toolkit details unique perspectives and approaches to support stage managers beginning to navigate the fields of dance and opera stage management in live performance.
This book demystifies the genre-specific protocols and vocabularies for stage managers who might be unfamiliar with these fields and discusses common practices. Filled with valuable industry-tested tools, templates, and practical information, The Dance and Opera Stage Manager’s Toolkit is designed to assist stage managers interested in pursuing these performance genres. The book also includes interviews and contributions from a range of professional stage managers working in dance and opera.
From the student stage manager studying in Theatrical Design and Production university programs to the experienced stage manager wanting to broaden their skill set, this book provides resources and advice for a successful transition into these worlds.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Susan Fenty Studham has been stage managing professionally in many genres of theatre for almost four decades. She has stage managed at major performing arts venues including on Broadway, at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, and the Sydney Opera House. Sue began working with dance companies in New York City in 1986 and toured extensively before relocating to Australia, where she was resident stage manager with West Australian Ballet for ten years. During her four-year tenure as Head of the BFA Stage Management Program at DePaul University in Chicago, Sue created a curriculum that introduced students to the unique world of dance stage management. Sue holds a PhD from Edith Cowan University, Australia, and a BFA from Adelphi University, New York. She is a pioneer in doctoral studies in the field of stage management and a published author on topics that explore brave spaces, intimacy and violence protocols in performing arts, supporting language revitalization in performance, and stage managing intercultural theatre.
Michele Kay has been stage managing for over 30 years across all genres, musicals, plays, opera, and dance, in a variety of environments including New York, Chicago, and regionally across the US. She spent several years stage managing opera regionally, including two and a half years as the resident production stage manager at the Virginia Opera. She is an Associate Professor of Stage Management at the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) where she has translated her practical opera knowledge into a curriculum for BFA and MFA stage management students, many of whom have graduated to work at prestigious opera companies across the country. Michele holds a MS in Organizational Leadership and a BA in Theatre from Miami University of Ohio. She is a member of Actors Equity Association, American Guild of Musical Artists, Stage Managers’ Association, and USITT. Most recently, Michele authored the essay “Already Calm, I’m the Stage Manager” for Off Headset: Essays on Stage Management Work, Life, and Career edited by Rafael Jean and Christopher Sadler (Routledge, 2022).
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[post_content] => Ready to close out Black History Month with a SICKENING SHOW?!? ‼️‼️‼️Join Rachel Slurrz as she hosts “That Black Ass Show” featuring some Chicago drag faves: Luv Ami Stoole, Trisha Can, and TiKi Vonté. You DONT want to miss this. Admission is Free but bring some coin to tip these baddies🔥 Hope to see you there! - Muah💋
Doors open at 7:00PM
Show begins at 7:30PM
Attendance is free!
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[post_content] => In a Seattle sports card shop, a schism is brewing between those who collect for sentimental reasons and those who look only for high-dollar cards to resell. When a potential goldmine card is found by a trans teenager, the resulting scramble to sell it forces the store’s co-owners, and their regular customers, to re-evaluate how they define themselves as collectors – and, furthermore, as male.
Playwright: Zach Barr
Director: Kidany Camilo
Dramaturg: Cori Lang
Rhonda: Lisa Antonia Cruz
Corbin: Rio Ragazzone
Lex: Harsh Gagoomal
Marc: Kevin Aoussou
Griffey: AC Rakotoniaina
Stage Directions: David Goodloe
Freshly Brewed Team:
Nadya Naumaan - Co-Artistic Producer
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.
[post_title] => THE PILON by Zach Barr
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[post_content] => CALLING ALL LOVERS! Trans Voices Cabaret is elated to be back in action with Anyone Who Had A Heart, a Valentine’s Day Show! Hosted by producer John-Payne, and featuring some of Chicago’s most unique and powerhouse theatre performers, this TVC is sure to be fun, intentional and a celebration of queer/trans love, as it falls on Feb 14! ♥️
We know tix cost money honey! So tickets are pay-what-you-can and QR codes will be provided in the space to tip/support both TVC and our stunning performers :)💋
Click Here for Tickets
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