New Stages 2022
Dec 1 - 18, 2022 in Goodman's Owen Theatre
A Free Celebration of New Work
Goodman Theatre presents its New Stages Festival, now in its 18th year–an annual celebration of innovative, risky new work by some of the country’s most singular and ambitious playwrights.
Since New Stages’ 2004 inception, over 100 plays have been produced as developmental productions and staged readings. Join us for a first look at these exciting new works. Full line-up below.
The New Stages Festival is recommended for ages 14 and up. For more information contact the box office at 312.443.3800
Please Note: Masks are currently recommended, but not required, while in the theater. Policies may change based on prevailing medical guidance. Learn more about Goodman’s current Health and Safety Protocols at GoodmanTheatre.org/Protocols.
Developmental Productions
Full Stagings of New Plays in Progress
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.
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?
STAGED READINGS
Script-in-Hand Concert Readings
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.
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