A New Works Festival

The May Play Series is an annual festival that allows Chicagoland playwrights to hear their work read by actors and gain audience feedback. Each Tuesday in May, a new work in development is presented followed by a talkback with the author.

Our 2020 Festival Went Digital

Listen to May Play Podcast on the following platforms:

Episode Library

Let's Kill Daddy by Chirs Vanderark

Aboard the Titanic 5, a pair of newlyweds find themselves in financial trouble. The ship then sinks.

Pizza and Zombies by Brandon Prosek

An original dark comedy that follows an ensemble of strangers who barricaded themselves in a pizza restaurant during the outbreak of the zombie apocalypse. With food, shelter and time on their hands, our characters are trapped in a journey exploring morality and their own sanity in this absurd fantasy.

Kubrickian by Zack Peercy

​Trapped in a white space, three people have a limited time to use their vocal cords before they're forcibly removed by their unseen captor. So, why is it that all they talk about is acclaimed film director Stanley Kubrick?

Euphonia by Conor McShane

In 1846, Joseph Faber is in the midst of exhibiting his "talking machine" to an uncaring public.  When showman P.T. Barnum comes to him with an offer to bring his machine to London, it may be the opportunity he's been waiting for.  A century later, a young woman named Allison grows up, gets married, and begins to push against the constraints the world has put on her.  Euphonia is a time-hopping story of the struggle to chart a course against the current, and the hope that persists in spite of it.