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New Stages Residency 2026

A red neon "GOODMAN" vertical sign is lit on the exterior of a theater building at dusk, with modern office buildings in the background.

July 20 and September 17

Goodman Theatre - Healy Rehearsal Room

170 N Dearborn Street, Chicago, IL 60601 - View on Google Maps

Join us for live readings of new works by The Goodman’s 2026 New Stages Residency playwrights.

The Goodman’s New Stages Residency is a year-long program for Chicago-area generative artists. Each season, the New Stages Residency commissions original works of theatre from local artists and presents in-process readings of early drafts to Goodman audiences.

Established in 2010, the program supports multiple writers each season, offering tailored developmental support for works-in-progress and fostering close connections between Goodman staff and Chicago artists. Residency writers are embedded in The Goodman’s artistic staff for the season, with writing space at the theatre and invitations to Goodman artistic meetings, events, rehearsals, and more. Residency pieces are strongly considered for further development and production in future seasons.

In recent years, audiences have seen Residency works in the Owen Theatre such as Andrew Hinderaker’s The Magic Play, Seth Bockley’s Ask Aunt Susan, Kristiana Rae Colón’s florissant & canfield, Martín Zimmerman’s The Solid Sand Below, Ricardo Gamboa’s The Wizards, Nancy García Loza’s Rust, Omer Abbas Salem’s Modern Women, and Dolores Díaz’s George Washington’s Mexican Birthday.

Readings

A person wearing glasses, a baseball cap, and a jacket is smiling outdoors at night with blurred lights in the background.

THE LAST TIME WE SAW THEM

By William Glick
Directed by Jessica Fisch

Monday, July 20 at 7:30pm
Healy Rehearsal Hall

In 1983, Tess, Sasha, and Amelia are young writers hoping to make their marks on Ronald Reagan’s Washington.  As the years pass, their lives—and the Conservative Movement that brought them to power—are made unrecognizable by wars abroad and division at home. Spanning four turbulent decades, from the fall of the Berlin Wall to the beginning of the second Trump administration, The Last Time We Saw Them tells the story of three exceptional women whose ideals, rivalries, and love of country and each other help forge the America of the 2020s.

Tickets are free; reservations are required.

RESERVE TICKETS

A woman with her mouth open.

BLACK EYED PEAS AND COLLARD GREENS

By Lachrisa Grandberry
Directed by J. Nicole Brooks

Dramaturgy by Melissa DuPrey

Thursday, September 17 at 7:00 p.m.

Walter Family Lab 1

In a West Side Chicago apartment building, three families prepare to welcome the New Year with the beliefs, strategies, and secrets they’ve relied upon for generations. But what happens when our traditions no longer align with our reality? Black Eyed Peas & Collard Greens is a multi-generational ensemble dramedy about inheritance and what happens when those inherited truths stop serving us. Funny, heartfelt, and deeply human, Lachrisa Grandberry’s newest play explores how tradition comforts us, when it confines us, and what remains when we’re finally brave enough to choose something new.

Tickets for this reading are free and will be available in late August.

ARTISTS

A man with glasses and a cap smiles at the camera at night. He is wearing a brown jacket over a patterned shirt. The background is dark with blurred lights.

William Glick

Playwright, The Last Time We Saw Them

A woman with long, brown dreadlocks smiles widely at the camera. She is wearing a colorful top and large earrings, with a blurred gray background.

Lachrisa Grandberry

Playwright, Black Eyed Peas and Collard Greens

Jessica Fisch

Director, The Last Time We Saw Them

A woman with short, curly dark hair wearing a black sleeveless top stands against a plain light background, looking directly at the camera.

J. Nicole Brooks

Director, Black Eyed Peas and Collard Greens

Woman with curly hair wearing a teal leather jacket looks directly at the camera against a dark, textured background.

Melissa Francesca DuPrey

Dramaturg, Black Eyed Peas and Collard Greens