THE FINE PRINT
Theatre Company

Current Season

Welcome

Fostering the development of playwrights in Chicago; bringing new, socially and politically relevant theatre to life through the intimate stories of regular people affected by the history-making events of our time.

We are The Fine Print Theatre Company.
Join us in revealing the stories within the fine print.

Your support makes our mission possible.
Thank you for helping to create thought-provoking live theatre in Chicago.

Where You Can See Us Next - The Citizen's Play Festival
Citizen's Play Festival.

DETAILS

10 playwrights compete for a spot in the 2012-13 Season. Playwrights will choose a newspaper article that inspires them and write a 20 minute piece loosely based on the article. The piece need not have a beginning, middle & end as it is written with full-length development in mind. It could start and end in the middle of a story, but must be based on a physical newspaper article and not excerpted from an existing piece.

On alternating nights, 5 of the ten pieces will be performed for a live audience. Audience members will have the opportunity to cast their vote for the piece they would most like to see developed into a full-length play. The winner will receive assistance with development and a feature spot in the 2012-13 Season!

ACTOR AUDITIONS

Auditions for Citizens' Play Festival at The Fine Print Theatre will be held at the Second City Training Center (1616 N. Wells St.) in Room 410 on Friday, May 18th from 3-6:30pm and in Room 403 on Sunday, May 20th from 12-3pm.

Rehearsals begin late May. Shows run June 12 - July 1st at Stage 773.

Seeking male & female non-Equity actors of all ages and ethnicities. African-American actors of all ages particularly encouraged to audition.

To schedule an audition please send headshot/resume to auditions@thefineprinttheatre.org and respond to the auto-reply message with your preferred appointment time.

Send Your Headshot/Resume
Citizen's Play Festival auditions

PLAYWRIGHTS

Thank you to everyone for the great submissions.
We have made our decision and the playwrights selected to compete in the Citizen's Play Festival are (in no particular order)...

Steven Peterson

Steven PetersonSteven Peterson (TWO BALD GUYS) is a Chicago-based playwright whose recent productions include THE INVASION OF SKOKIE in 2010 at Chicago Dramatists, the 10-minute plays THREE BALLS, TWO STRIKES and THAT'S NOT WHAT YOU THINK in the past two season of The Second City Training Center's "Best of the Tens" show, and the upcoming MOTHER'S HOUSE as a workshop production of Raven Theatre in August. His new play PARIS TIME appeared at Cleveland Play House in May as part of their New Ground Theatre Festival and was the winner of the 2012 Dorothy Silver Playwriting Competition. Steve is a Resident Playwright alumnus at Chicago Dramatists and currently a Senior Network Playwright there. He is a member of The Dramatists Guild.

Joe Janes & Pete Ficht

Joe JanesPete FichtJoe Janes is a teacher, actor, director and playwright. His written works include Metaluna and the Amazing Science of the Mind Revue, Always Never, A Hard Day's Journey Into Night, 365 Sketches and 50 Plays. He teaches at Columbia College and The Second City. He is a founding member of The WNEP Theater Foundation, Robot vs. Dinosaur and Teatro Bastardo. He received an Emmy for his written work on Club 19, a children's show in Cincinnati. You can find out more about him at biteandsmile.blogspot.com.

Pete Ficht is a musician and writer. He received an MFA in Directing from Tulane University in New Orleans. His first band, the House Levelers, recorded an album in Memphis, TN with the late, legendary producer Jim Dickinson (Big Star, The Replacements) in 1991. Good luck finding it. He was last in Chicago in 1992, when the Levelers played the late, legendary Lounge Axe. A resident of Portland, Oregon since 1995, he has played in a series of bands you've never heard of, except perhaps King Black Acid and the State Flowers. His music has appeared in the films The Mothman Prophecies and Rabbit Hash. He currently plays with Wild Bells: www.facebook.com/WildBells.

David Himmel

David HimmelDavid Himmel has written and produced several comedies, which have played at various stages throughout the city. He concurrently serves as the managing editor of Chicago Health magazine and principal of the creative firm Himmel, Ink. His book, A Camp Story was published in May. Visit himmelink.com.

Lynne McMahon

Lynne McMahonLynne McMahon, the recipient of an Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, has received a Guggenheim Foundation Grant and an Ingram Merrill Award. Her play Half Irish was a finalist the Heideman Award (Actors Theatre of Louisville); her one-act play The Bird Sanctuary was a finalist for the Tennessee Williams One-Act Play Competition; her full-length plays Anonymity and Admit Impediment were semi-finalists for the Eugene O'Neill Playwrights Conference. McMahon's play The Party was produced by the Manhattan Theatre Source Estrogenius Festival. The Bird Sanctuary received staged readings in both Chicago and Ann Arbor, Michigan, and had a full production at the Side Project, Chicago, April-May, 2009, under the direction of Adam Webster. Grief won the first place prize at the Durango Arts Festival and received a full production at their festival in September, 2011.

Erik Gernand

Erik GernandErik Gernand is a writer and filmmaker. His films have screened at more than 100 film festivals around the world, including SXSW, Palm Springs International Shortfest, and Chicago International Film Festival, as well as been broadcast on IFC, PBS, and The Logo Channel (MTV Networks). His plays have been produced at City Theatre of Miami, American Theater Company in Chicago, and Mercury Players Theatre Co. in Madison, WI, and his short play "It's A Girl" was a Heideman Award finalist in 2008. He has an MFA in Writing for the Screen and Stage from Northwestern University where he is currently a lecturer in Radio-TV-Film.

M T Cozzola

MT CozzolaMT is a Chicago-based writer and performer. Her plays include Infernal (part of the 2012 Women's Theatre Alliance New Play Development Festival), the musical Earth to Margaret (premiered at the Acorn Theatre, Three Oaks, MI), and The Picture of Dorian Gray (an adaptation commissioned for Flying Leap Radio Theater). You can find her first feature film, Eye of the Sandman (Split Pillow Films) on www.amazon.com, and read her upcoming story "Grey Seal" in the July issue of Hippocampus Magazine. She keeps a story blog at www.midwesternrobot.com and is a member of Courier 12 Collective. Some things she loves are the color orange, a fully committed clash of context, and really, no kidding, the kindness of strangers.

A J Miller

AJ MillerA.J. Miller is thrilled to be a part of The Citizens' Play Festival! This experience is quite harrowing for A.J. being that it is his first attempt at creating a theatrical script on his own. As a former student of theater and communications at Central Michigan University A.J.has worked in almost every aspect of the theater world; from constructing sets, to directing, and most often acting. Last December he was a writer and actor for the Fine Print's holiday musical sketch revue "Christmas in Chicago" which was lauded for its sharp and witty humor. A.J. is a graduate of the Second City Conservatory, and has helped devise and perform in Brain Surgeon Theater's "And He Flew Over the Forest." Most recently A.J. performed at the Phoenix Improv Festival and played Guildenstern in (Re)Discover Theatre's "The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke". Thanks to Pat and Heather for all their support, and of course Shannon.

Chuck O'Connor

Chuck O'ConnorChuck O'Connor is a Network Playwright with Chicago Dramatists Theater where he studies under the guidance of Resident Playwright Will Dunne. O'Connor's recent writing credits; "High Hard Ones" (Playwright) – Official Selection Festival of One-Act Plays – Chicago Dramatists, Route 66, 2012 Heideman Award Finalist – National Ten-Minute Play Festival – Actor's Theater of Louisville; "Date of Admission" (Playwright) Official Selection Fireside Festival of New Plays – Performance Network Theater, Ann Arbor, Michigan; "Miracles in the Fall" (Playwright) Official Selection Sceneshop Showcase – Chicago Dramatists Theater; "The Vanishing Point" (Screenwriter) – Official Festival Selection "Dances with Films" Mann's Chinese Theatre Hollywood, California; HowlRound Theater Commons at Emerson College/Arena Stage (Essayist). Chuck's past playwriting roles include Resident Playwright for Meadowbrook Theater and member of the Playwright's Laboratory with Jeff Daniels's Purple Rose Theater Company. He has been an Artist-in-Residence with the Detroit and Flint Public Schools using theater as a literacy tool and was a founding Artistic Associate of the Internationally Recognized Mosaic Youth Theater of Detroit. Chuck holds a Bachelor's Degree in Liberal Arts from Michigan State University and a Master's Degree from Loyola University-Chicago. He currently works as VP, Group Planning Director where he leads global communications strategy for the Diversified Agency Service division of Omnicom Communications. O'Connor would like to thank his wife the choreographer Jackie Brenner, for her support, love and inspiration and his son Griffin Patrick for keeping him alive with joy.

Mark Burns

Mark BurnsMark is a Chicago-born playwright and musician. His full-length play Land of the Free was produced as part of the 2008-2009 season for the Babes with Blades Theatre Company. In addition, his play Quarters was selected as part of the staged reading series at the Citadel Theatre Company in Lake Forest, and his ten-minute play Kind of Blue was produced as part of the apprenticeship showcase at Actors Theatre of Louisville. He is a member of Dramatists Guild and is a network playwright at Chicago Dramatists. Mark trained as an actor in the acting apprenticeship program at Actors Theatre of Louisville, and he has appeared onstage as an actor and improv performer in Chicago. He is a member of the local acoustic pop trio The Real Jane Martin. The band has produced two EPs, Simple Math in 2009 and North of Nowhere in 2011. He and his lovely wife Linda live in Berwyn.

David Finney

David FinneyDavid Finney left college and an unfinished degree in the theatre to become "Big Wild Dave", a dj on WOCO country radio in northern Wisconsin. He moved on to television and took a job writing news and field producing at WBBM-TV in Chicago, and then joined WMAQ-TV writing and producing documentaries and a magazine show. He eventually became the creative director for an ad agency in the city knocking out ten years' worth of copy for radio and television commercials. He was awarded a Chicago Emmy for his teleplay Embrace The Stars: A Portrait of Loraine Hansberry, his radio play How Love Came To Louie Polanski has received a broadcast production and his short play The Gorilla King was recently performed at the Magnolia Arts Center in North Carolina.

2011-2012 Season

AT EASE
At Ease Poster
World Premiere
by Heather Bodie & Emily Gann
September 9 - October 2, 2011
Story

In the spring of 2010, Sergeant Kurt Michael Garret was injured in an explosion in Afghanistan. He was driving the lead Humvee of a Marine Regiment on a routine surveillance mission. His vehicle rolled over an IED, which detonated, shattering his leg and killing the Marine seated next to him, Corporal Benjamin Lee Swanson.

Serving together in the U.S. Marine Corps, Ben and Kurt had trusted each other with their lives. As Ben lay dying by the side of the road, he asked Kurt for one last favor and revealed a secret he had kept from his friend. "There is a letter for Arthur, my husband."

Now, a year later, Kurt is at home. Injured and showing signs of PTSD, Kurt has had a hard time adjusting and reconnecting with his wife Claire. Emotionally, he's trapped in that fateful day in Afghanistan.

And he still has the letter. Unable to accept his friend's double-life, Kurt has yet to visit Arthur. Racked with guilt, Kurt knows he is the only one who can deliver the terrible news to Arthur that his partner is gone. There is something else holding Kurt back and forcing him to relive the past, at night in his kitchen.

Ben has followed him home.

Playwrights
Emily Gann

Emily Gann

Heather Bodie

Heather Bodie

Cast
Adam Stephenson

Adam Stephenson

Keith Falconer

Keith Falconer

Robyn Coffin

Robyn Coffin

Carlos Diaz

Carlos Rogelio Diaz

Production Team

Director - Patrick Kenney
Stage Manager - Sydney Ray
Tech Director - Amanda Rozmiarek
Master Electrician - Chris Chapin
Set Designer - Mike Mroch
Lighting Designer - Jarrod Bainter
Costume Designer - Katie Cordts
Props Designer - Cheryl Hinman
Sound Designer - Adam Gramling

Music

Music by Adam Gramling

Photos
At Ease At Ease At Ease At Ease At Ease At Ease At Ease At Ease At Ease At Ease At Ease At Ease At Ease At Ease At Ease At Ease At Ease At Ease At Ease At Ease At Ease At Ease At Ease At Ease At Ease At Ease At Ease At Ease At Ease At Ease At Ease At Ease At Ease At Ease At Ease At Ease At Ease At Ease
CHRISTMAS IN CHICAGO

a comedic, musical year-in-review

Christmas In Chicago Poster
World Premiere
by David Himmel & Patrick Kenney
December 9th - 18th, 2011
Chicago Dramatists
1105 W. Chicago Ave.
Story

In Christmas in Chicago, The Fine Print looks back at the year that was. We'll poke fun at recessions and politicians, Occupy protests and GOP hopefuls - and we'll sing some Christmas songs while we do it.

Playwrights
David Himmel

David Himmel

Patrick Kenney

Patrick Kenney

Cast

Tommy Beardmore
Heather Bodie
Amber Gerencher
AJ Miller

Production Team

Director - Aaron Graham
Music Director - Aaron Benham

Schedule
Photos
Christmas In Chicago Christmas In Chicago Christmas In Chicago Christmas In Chicago Christmas In Chicago Christmas In Chicago Christmas In Chicago Christmas In Chicago Christmas In Chicago Christmas In Chicago Christmas In Chicago Christmas In Chicago Christmas In Chicago Christmas In Chicago Christmas In Chicago Christmas In Chicago Christmas In Chicago Christmas In Chicago Christmas In Chicago Christmas In Chicago Christmas In Chicago Christmas In Chicago Christmas In Chicago Christmas In Chicago Christmas In Chicago Christmas In Chicago Christmas In Chicago Christmas In Chicago
Videos
THE XYLOPHONE WEST
The Xylophone West Poster
World Premiere
by Alex Lubischer
March 16 - April 4, 2012
Red Tape Theatre
621 W. Belmont Ave.
Story

An unsettling coming-of-age story for the modern day, The Xylophone West chronicles a young boy's journey into the heart of violence and back again. Set against the backdrop of an insular, rural community in Nebraska, the story ignites with Patrick plotting a flight west to escape an increasingly hostile gang of boys at his high school. When a nightmarish accident nixes his chance of outrunning them, he is forced to confront his aggressors, and himself.

Playwright
Alex Lubischer - Playwright - The Xylophone West

Alex Lubischer

Chicago playwright Alex Lubischer grew up on a farm near Humphrey, Nebraska. Here, rural isolation spurred him to invent faraway worlds and incubated a fervor for storytelling that continues to drive his work.

Following a small town Catholic education for elementary and high school, Lubischer left Nebraska to study theater at the University of Southern California. Soon after arriving at USC, he wrote and produced his first play: Acts of Contrition. The play, which details a Catholic priest's covert affair with a young woman and its subsequent impact on his vocation, went on to win Best Concurrent Play Lab Script at the 2008 Great Plains Theater Conference.

Lubischer graduated college early and moved to Connecticut, where he studied playwriting at The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center. After seeing his one acts staged in the same theater as the National Playwrights Conference, he gained the conviction that he could write professionally. Reading A Long Day's Journey Into Night in the childhood home where Eugene O'Neill set his most personal play, Lubischer adopted the credo that writing required constant, unflinching self-examination.

Upon concluding his time at the O'Neill, Lubischer returned to Los Angeles and struggled through his first stretch of post-grad life: he did extra work on TV shows, waited tables in an Italian restaurant, and wrote constantly.

Seven months later, Lubischer left Los Angeles in search of artistic opportunities elsewhere. As he uprooted his life, he began writing a play that would become The Xylophone West. He continued writing in motels on his cross-country road trip, finished the first draft in his family's Nebraska farmhouse, and revised the play that summer at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, where he returned for an internship.

Encouraged by friend and O'Neill collaborator Director Josh Sobel, Lubischer signed a lease for a Chicago apartment mere weeks before The Fine Print Theatre Company selected The Xylophone West for production. He moved to Chicago in September to work on the script, aid in the production, and create art in a new city.

In Chicago, Lubischer continues to write plays, in addition to having taken the reigns as Literary Manager for Route 66 Theatre Company. As a playwright, he finds constant inspiration in the works of Tom Waits, Tennessee Williams, and Cormac McCarthy, as well as his fellow Chicago artists. He continues to craft bold new stories that investigate identity and challenge convention.

Director
Josh Sobel - Director - The Xylophone West

Josh Sobel

Josh attended Brighton High School in Rochester, NY, which was fortunate enough to be blessed with an exciting and challenging arts program that included Shakespeare, the Greeks, Tom Stoppard, Eugene Ionesco, and an annual 24-Hour Plays program. After a particularly emotional theatre-going experience, he decided that he wanted to be a part of that world, seeking to create work that moved people to tears, to laughter, to thoughtfulness – theatre that AFFECTS the audience.

After Brighton, Josh attended Oberlin College in rural Ohio and immersed himself in the theatre community. He served on both student and department run theatre boards and directed highly lauded productions of CABARET and GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS, as well as acted in numerous productions and co-produced a three-week-long festival of student-written work. He graduated with Honors in Directing in 2009.

Inspired by fellow Oberlin alumnus and Chicago artist Taylor Bibat, Josh attended a semester at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center's National Theater Institute (NTI) program. The rigor of this program – from 7:30am to 10:00pm seven days a week – only further fueled his passion, and established his particular love of the written and spoken word (he sometimes refers to himself as a "TEXT-o-phile"). He returned to the O'Neill in 2009 and was soon promoted to Associate Director of "Theatermakers" (the summer NTI program), a position he has held for the last two years and will be returning to this summer.

After the summer of 2009 the question arose of where to set his artistic roots. This was not a difficult question, as Chicago presented a passion, risk-taking, and respect for process that was (and is) difficult to find elsewhere. Chicago is a place where intimate theatre, DIY creativity and ensemble are valued, and that's where he wanted to be. Josh has been privileged to work in Chicago with Victory Gardens Theater, A Red Orchid Theatre, Pavement Group at Steppenwolf's Garage Rep, Bohemian Theatre Ensemble, The State Theatre, and New Leaf Theatre where he serves as Literary Manager. He has had the privilege of working with Avery Brooks (American History X), John de Lancie (Breaking Bad, Star Trek: TNG), and Aaron Tveit (Next to Normal), among others. He is also constantly inspired by the work of Martin McDonagh, Sarah Kane, Mike Daisey, Gregory S. Moss, Idris Goodwin, and OK Go.

Every show Josh works on is dedicated to his Aunt, the acclaimed opera and theatre coach Janet Bookspan, who was his mentor for the early stages of his career. She passed away in the Fall of 2008. Janet's belief in him gave him the confidence to pursue his passion with purpose. Every day (and especially when he is working on a show) he misses their long talks spent picking apart the work. He is eternally grateful for her insight, her challenges and critiques, and her love and support.

Cast

Donny Sheldon
David Weiss
Mandy Walsh
Stephan Cephalu Jr.
Christian Stokes
Chris Daley
Paul Krick
Nate Ross

Production Team

Director - Josh Sobel
Writer - Alex Lubischer
Assistant Director - Alex Huntsberger
Props - Aimee Plant
Stage Manager - Sydney Ray
Assistant Stage Manager - Kate Reed
Fight Choreographer - Mark E. Penzien
Sound Design - Nick Selesky
Set Design - Nick Sieben
Lighting - Valerie Walz
Costumes - Alyssa Fiala
Tech Director - Eli King
Photos - Gretchen Kelley

Schedule

March 16 - April 4, 2011
Thur - Sat @ 8pm
Sun @ 3pm
Mon - Wed April 2-4 @ 8pm

Red Tape Theatre

Photos
The Xylophone West The Xylophone West The Xylophone West The Xylophone West The Xylophone West The Xylophone West The Xylophone West The Xylophone West The Xylophone West The Xylophone West The Xylophone West The Xylophone West The Xylophone West The Xylophone West The Xylophone West The Xylophone West The Xylophone West The Xylophone West The Xylophone West The Xylophone West The Xylophone West The Xylophone West The Xylophone West The Xylophone West The Xylophone West The Xylophone West The Xylophone West The Xylophone West
Videos
CITIZEN'S PLAY
FESTIVAL
10 playwrights compete for a spot in the 2012-13 Season.
Details

10 playwrights compete for a spot in the 2012-13 Season. Playwrights will choose a newspaper article that inspires them and write a 20 minute piece loosely based on the article.

The piece need not have a beginning, middle & end as it is written with full-length development in mind. It could start and end in the middle of a story, but must be based on a physical newspaper article and not excerpted from an existing piece.

On alternating nights, 5 of the ten pieces will be performed for a live audience. Audience members will have the opportunity to cast their vote for the piece they would most like to see developed into a full-length play. The winner will receive assistance with development and a feature spot in the 2012-13 Season!

Playwrights

The playwrights selected for the Citizen's Play Festival are... (in no particular order)

Lynne McMahon
Lynne McMahon
Lynne McMahon, the recipient of an Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, has received a Guggenheim Foundation Grant and an Ingram Merrill Award. Her play Half Irish was a finalist the Heideman Award (Actors Theatre of Louisville); her one-act play The Bird Sanctuary was a finalist for the Tennessee Williams One-Act Play Competition; her full-length plays Anonymity and Admit Impediment were semi-finalists for the Eugene O'Neill Playwrights Conference. McMahon's play The Party was produced by the Manhattan Theatre Source Estrogenius Festival. The Bird Sanctuary received staged readings in both Chicago and Ann Arbor, Michigan, and had a full production at the Side Project, Chicago, April-May, 2009, under the direction of Adam Webster. Grief won the first place prize at the Durango Arts Festival and received a full production at their festival in September, 2011.

Erik Gernand
Erik Gernand
Erik Gernand is a writer and filmmaker. His films have screened at more than 100 film festivals around the world, including SXSW, Palm Springs International Shortfest, and Chicago International Film Festival, as well as been broadcast on IFC, PBS, and The Logo Channel (MTV Networks). His plays have been produced at City Theatre of Miami, American Theater Company in Chicago, and Mercury Players Theatre Co. in Madison, WI, and his short play "It's A Girl" was a Heideman Award finalist in 2008. He has an MFA in Writing for the Screen and Stage from Northwestern University where he is currently a lecturer in Radio-TV-Film.

Steven Peterson
Steven Peterson
Steven Peterson (TWO BALD GUYS) is a Chicago-based playwright whose recent productions include THE INVASION OF SKOKIE in 2010 at Chicago Dramatists, the 10-minute plays THREE BALLS, TWO STRIKES and THAT'S NOT WHAT YOU THINK in the past two season of The Second City Training Center's "Best of the Tens" show, and the upcoming MOTHER'S HOUSE as a workshop production of Raven Theatre in August. His new play PARIS TIME appeared at Cleveland Play House in May as part of their New Ground Theatre Festival and was the winner of the 2012 Dorothy Silver Playwriting Competition. Steve is a Resident Playwright alumnus at Chicago Dramatists and currently a Senior Network Playwright there. He is a member of The Dramatists Guild.

Joe Janes & Pete Ficht
Joe JanesPete Ficht

Joe Janes is a teacher, actor, director and playwright. His written works include Metaluna and the Amazing Science of the Mind Revue, Always Never, A Hard Day's Journey Into Night, 365 Sketches and 50 Plays. He teaches at Columbia College and The Second City. He is a founding member of The WNEP Theater Foundation, Robot vs. Dinosaur and Teatro Bastardo. He received an Emmy for his written work on Club 19, a children's show in Cincinnati. You can find out more about him at biteandsmile.blogspot.com.

Pete Ficht is a musician and writer. He received an MFA in Directing from Tulane University in New Orleans. His first band, the House Levelers, recorded an album in Memphis, TN with the late, legendary producer Jim Dickinson (Big Star, The Replacements) in 1991. Good luck finding it. He was last in Chicago in 1992, when the Levelers played the late, legendary Lounge Axe. A resident of Portland, Oregon since 1995, he has played in a series of bands you've never heard of, except perhaps King Black Acid and the State Flowers. His music has appeared in the films The Mothman Prophecies and Rabbit Hash. He currently plays with Wild Bells: www.facebook.com/WildBells.

MT Cozzola
MT Cozzola
MT is a Chicago-based writer and performer. Her plays include Infernal (part of the 2012 Women's Theatre Alliance New Play Development Festival), the musical Earth to Margaret (premiered at the Acorn Theatre, Three Oaks, MI), and The Picture of Dorian Gray (an adaptation commissioned for Flying Leap Radio Theater). You can find her first feature film, Eye of the Sandman (Split Pillow Films) on www.amazon.com, and read her upcoming story "Grey Seal" in the July issue of Hippocampus Magazine. She keeps a story blog at www.midwesternrobot.com and is a member of Courier 12 Collective. Some things she loves are the color orange, a fully committed clash of context, and really, no kidding, the kindness of strangers.

AJ Miller
AJ Miller
A.J. Miller is thrilled to be a part of The Citizens' Play Festival! This experience is quite harrowing for A.J. being that it is his first attempt at creating a theatrical script on his own. As a former student of theater and communications at Central Michigan University A.J.has worked in almost every aspect of the theater world; from constructing sets, to directing, and most often acting. Last December he was a writer and actor for the Fine Print's holiday musical sketch revue "Christmas in Chicago" which was lauded for its sharp and witty humor. A.J. is a graduate of the Second City Conservatory, and has helped devise and perform in Brain Surgeon Theater's "And He Flew Over the Forest." Most recently A.J. performed at the Phoenix Improv Festival and played Guildenstern in (Re)Discover Theatre's "The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke". Thanks to Pat and Heather for all their support, and of course Shannon.

David Himmel
David Himmel
David Himmel has written and produced several comedies, which have played at various stages throughout the city. He concurrently serves as the managing editor of Chicago Health magazine and principal of the creative firm Himmel, Ink. His book, A Camp Story was published in May. Visit himmelink.com.

Chuck O'Connor
Chuck O'Connor
Chuck O'Connor is a Network Playwright with Chicago Dramatists Theater where he studies under the guidance of Resident Playwright Will Dunne. O'Connor's recent writing credits; "High Hard Ones" (Playwright) – Official Selection Festival of One-Act Plays – Chicago Dramatists, Route 66, 2012 Heideman Award Finalist – National Ten-Minute Play Festival – Actor's Theater of Louisville; "Date of Admission" (Playwright) Official Selection Fireside Festival of New Plays – Performance Network Theater, Ann Arbor, Michigan; "Miracles in the Fall" (Playwright) Official Selection Sceneshop Showcase – Chicago Dramatists Theater; "The Vanishing Point" (Screenwriter) – Official Festival Selection "Dances with Films" Mann's Chinese Theatre Hollywood, California; HowlRound Theater Commons at Emerson College/Arena Stage (Essayist). Chuck's past playwriting roles include Resident Playwright for Meadowbrook Theater and member of the Playwright's Laboratory with Jeff Daniels's Purple Rose Theater Company. He has been an Artist-in-Residence with the Detroit and Flint Public Schools using theater as a literacy tool and was a founding Artistic Associate of the Internationally Recognized Mosaic Youth Theater of Detroit. Chuck holds a Bachelor's Degree in Liberal Arts from Michigan State University and a Master's Degree from Loyola University-Chicago. He currently works as VP, Group Planning Director where he leads global communications strategy for the Diversified Agency Service division of Omnicom Communications. O'Connor would like to thank his wife the choreographer Jackie Brenner, for her support, love and inspiration and his son Griffin Patrick for keeping him alive with joy.

Mark Burns
Mark Burns
Mark is a Chicago-born playwright and musician. His full-length play Land of the Free was produced as part of the 2008-2009 season for the Babes with Blades Theatre Company. In addition, his play Quarters was selected as part of the staged reading series at the Citadel Theatre Company in Lake Forest, and his ten-minute play Kind of Blue was produced as part of the apprenticeship showcase at Actors Theatre of Louisville. He is a member of Dramatists Guild and is a network playwright at Chicago Dramatists. Mark trained as an actor in the acting apprenticeship program at Actors Theatre of Louisville, and he has appeared onstage as an actor and improv performer in Chicago. He is a member of the local acoustic pop trio The Real Jane Martin. The band has produced two EPs, Simple Math in 2009 and North of Nowhere in 2011. He and his lovely wife Linda live in Berwyn.

David Finney
David Finney
David Finney left college and an unfinished degree in the theatre to become "Big Wild Dave", a dj on WOCO country radio in northern Wisconsin. He moved on to television and took a job writing news and field producing at WBBM-TV in Chicago, and then joined WMAQ-TV writing and producing documentaries and a magazine show. He eventually became the creative director for an ad agency in the city knocking out ten years' worth of copy for radio and television commercials. He was awarded a Chicago Emmy for his teleplay Embrace The Stars: A Portrait of Loraine Hansberry, his radio play How Love Came To Louie Polanski has received a broadcast production and his short play The Gorilla King was recently performed at the Magnolia Arts Center in North Carolina.

Auditions

Auditions for Citizens' Play Festival at The Fine Print Theatre will be held at the Second City Training Center (1616 N. Wells St.) in Room 410 on Friday, May 18th from 3-6:30pm and in Room 403 on Sunday, May 20th from 12-3pm.

Rehearsals begin late May. Shows run June 12 - July 1st at Stage 773.

Seeking male & female non-Equity actors of all ages and ethnicities. African-American actors of all ages particularly encouraged to audition.

To schedule an audition please send headshot/resume to auditions@thefineprinttheatre.org and respond to the auto-reply message with your preferred appointment time.

About Us

Who Are We?

The Fine Print Theatre Company is a new theatre company in Chicago.

The Fine Print is incorporated as a non-profit corporation in the state of Illinois and working toward federal 501(c)(3) status. We are a proud member of the League of Chicago Theatres. We're working toward an agreement with Actors' Equity Association.

We deeply value the principle of creating high quality art while helping to support the artists' goals of turning passion into profession.

We're working hard to achieve our many goals. If in perusing our website you are excited by our mission and would like to help, please contact us at info@thefineprinttheatre.org.

Our Company

Our company is growing all the time.
So far we are:

Patrick Kenney

Patrick Kenney
Artistic Director

Heather Bodie

Heather Bodie
Executive Director

Jarrod Bainter

Jarrod Bainter
Production Manager

Shannon Weaton

Shannon Weaton
Outreach Coordinator

Caleb McAndrew

Caleb McAndrew
Company Technical
Director

Resident Artists

Emily Gann

Emily Gann
Co-Founder

Amy Sweet

Amy Sweet
Marketing

Associate Artists

Jonah Rubash - Video Production
Gretchen Kelley - Photography
Melissa Mueller - Development
Mark Penzien - Movement
Adam Gramling - Webmaster

Board of Directors

Phil Winkelman - Chairman
Tim Wolfe - Vice Chair
Erin Shelton - Secretary
Rick Kalvin - Treasurer
Jordan Burghardt
Heather Bodie - Ex Officio
Marilou Barden - Honorary

Get Involved

Get Involved Video

Contact Us

Email

info@thefineprinttheatre.org


Play Submissions

Currently accepting submissions for Citizen's Play Festival.

The Fine Print is always looking for new plays. We accept full-length submissions from Chicago area playwrights. Playwrights outside the Chicago area are welcome to submit, but would need to be available for developmental work and rehearsals in the event of production.

Plays must fit The Fine Print's Artistic Mission. They must be full length (not more than 100 pages) and previously unproduced. Past workshops and staged readings with other theatre companies are fine. Preferably, plays should have no more than five characters or multiple characters that can be played by one actor.

Playwrights must be available to be involved in developmental work as well as the rehearsal process.

To have your play considered, email info@thefineprinttheatre.org.

The body of the email should contain your name and contact information and a brief synopsis of the play, including a character list. The play should be attached in pdf format.

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