This Happened Once at the Romance Depot off the I-87 in Westchester

By Gina Femia
Directed by Kimberly Senior

December 1 - 18, 2022, running in rotating repertory

Kevin’s days are full of monotony, selling bondage gear and sex toys to ordinary customers. But when schoolteacher Beth blows into Kevin's store in desperate search for a vibrator, it sparks an unlikely relationship that forces them both to confront what they think they know about love, romance and sex. Revealing that nothing, and no one, are what they seem, Gina Femia’s hilarious and intimate new play asks us to re-examine ourselves, our fears, and our dreams.

LEARN MORE

Rust

By Nancy García Loza
Directed by Laura Alcalá Baker

December 4 - 17, 2022, running in rotating repertory

Güera, a young pocha, is trying very hard to be a perfect Mexican daughter and contain her glaring imperfections. The hot Chicago summer has her climbing trees, fighting with her brothers, and melting like a paleta under her parents’ searing gaze. Suddenly, when Abuelo moves in, Güera wonders if she really has to be perfect at all. Why be perfect when you can be free?

LEARN MORE

White Monkey

By Charlie Oh
Directed by Eric Ting

Saturday, December 17 at 10:30 AM

Li runs a "rent-a-foreigner" agency, loaning out white actors to Chinese businesses looking to boost their international prestige. She finally meets an assignment worthy of her creativity and ambition: populate an entire ghost city with white people in order to convince skeptical Chinese buyers to move in. It’s Li’s chance at the Chinese Dream, but what will this exorbitant lie cost her? A sweeping epic that takes us from the factories of Shenzen to the penthouses of the political elite, Charlie Oh's new play is an absurd, high-stakes tale of global hi-jinks with grave consequences.

Fever Dreams (of Animals on the Verge of Extinction)

By Jeffrey Lieber
Directed by Susan V. Booth

Saturday, December 17 at 2 PM

For decades, Adele and Zachary have rendezvoused in a remote cabin in the woods to celebrate their passion and be together. This year, though, something has changed: the place is falling apart, a sense of loss pervades the air, they’re both keeping secrets, and Adele has brought a gun...her long-time husband Miller's gun. This new thriller from Jeffrey Lieber (co-creator of TV’s LOST) is equal parts romance, mystery, and emotional reckoning.

Modern Women

By Omer Abbas Salem
Directed by Lavina Jadhwani

Sunday, December 18 at 10:30 AM

Would you like mehndi, threading, or a blowout? In a beauty salon, nestled in a quiet Skokie strip mall, multiple generations of Arab and Indian friends find comfort and routine. When the owner hires a new esthetician on a whim, they must all negotiate the changing world outside together. Omer Abbas Salem’s new play is a re-imagined American classic, spoken by immigrants and recolored by their love and supremely big feelings.

What Will Happen to All That Beauty?

By Donja R. Love
Directed by Malika Oyetimein

Sunday, December 18 at 1:30 PM

It’s 1986. Max and her husband J.R. are living in Brooklyn, preparing for their first child. But as an epidemic rages, the couple's future is tested. Max spends her time fighting for her husband's life; before she realizes it, so much time has passed, and she now finds herself fighting for her son. Written as an offering to the community of Black people living with HIV/AIDS, Donja R. Love’s new epic explores questions of legacy, family, and healing against the backdrop of the AIDS crisis of the 80s and its imprints today.