Monday May 22 @ 7pm
HYPE MAN  (winner of the 2017 Blue Ink Award)
written by Idris Goodwin
directed by Jess McLeod
featuring – Walter Briggs, Rashaad Hall, and Kimberly Michelle Vaughn

HYPE MAN is a story about a controversial police shooting inflaming tensions between an interracial hip hop trio. It is a rhythmically woven drama exploring race, representation, fame and friendship.

Stay for the post-reading discussion with playwright Idris Goodwin.

Performed at Stage 773  (1225 W Belmont)


Tuesday May 23 @ 7pm
FLYING  (featured finalist)
written by Sheila Cowley
directed by Heather Meyers
featuring – Ian Paul Custer, Jazmin Corona, Lisa Herceg, Gary Houston, and Patricia Patton

Susan flew military planes in WWII, so men could go and fight. Now she’s been sent home to get back to normal, while the town waits for her local hero husband to come home.

Performed at American Blues Theater (4809 N Ravenswood)
Admission is free.
Seating is limited; RSVP recommended.
Contact SammieB@AmericanBluesTheater.com or call (773) 654-3103.


Wednesday May 24 @ 7pm
MYNX & SAVAGE  (featured finalist)
written by Rebecca Gorman O’Neill
directed by Elyse Dolan
featuring – Clara Byczkowski, Jennifer Cheung, Jesse Massaro, and Nelson Rodriguez

MYNX & SAVAGE is a tri-level story of a comic book writer, the characters of his superhero story, and the creatures of his “serious” work. When corporate powers start pushing him to produce, he is torn between the comfort of fantasy and the necessary truth.

Performed at American Blues Theater (4809 N Ravenswood)
Admission is free.
Seating is limited; RSVP recommended.
Contact SammieB@AmericanBluesTheater.com or call (773) 654-3103.


Thursday May 25 @ 7pm
THIS THING OF OURS  (featured finalist)
written by Caridad Svich
directed by Isaac Gomez
featuring – Debbie Banos, Andrew Goetten, Rashaad Hall, Priya Mohanty, and Avi Roque

An act of violence struck our city. This has happened before. We say we will put our lives back together. Years will go by. We will grow apart, come together, have children, and some of us, will wonder how to keep going, as we turn to myths and seek lessons there. In our theaters of memory, in our songs of transcendence, perhaps we will find peace.

Performed at American Blues Theater (4809 N Ravenswood)
Admission is free.
Seating is limited; RSVP recommended.
Contact SammieB@AmericanBluesTheater.com or call (773) 654-3103.


 

About the Blue Ink Playwriting Award

The annual Blue Ink Playwriting Award was created in 2010 to support new work. Since inception, American Blues Theater has named 7 Award winners, 35 finalists, and 59 semi-finalists. American Blues awarded more than $5,000 in cash and prizes for 2017.

Idris Goodwin won the 2017 Blue Ink Playwriting Award. Goodwin’s play, HYPE MAN, was selected from a pool 543 submissions. As part of the award, Goodwin receives a $1,000 cash prize and the opportunity to further develop his script with American Blues Theater.

“I am of course honored and grateful, but mostly I am charged up,” said Idris Goodwin.  “I want to use the theatre as a venue to wrestle with our national sicknesses but also a place to nod heads in unison, as we collectively imagine towards liberation. HYPE MAN, this latest entry into my break beat plays series, exemplifies this desire. I can’t wait to further refine the play with the indomitable American Blues Theater, in one of the greatest cities for art.”

“We’re honored to announce Idris Goodwin’s script as the 2017 winner,” notes Producing Artistic Director Gwendolyn Whiteside. “Idris’s script is both heartbreaking and humorous with characters impossible to forget. The themes resonate empathy and a call to action. We’re thrilled to further develop HYPE MAN with Idris.

HYPE MAN is a story about a controversial police shooting inflaming tensions between an interracial hip hop trio. It is a rhythmically woven drama exploring race, representation, fame and friendship.

About Idris Goodwin

Idris Goodwin is a playwright, poet/performer and essayist. His play How We Got On developed at the O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, premiered in Actors Theatre’s 2012 Humana Festival, and is being produced at theatres across the country. It is the first in his “break beat play” series which includes The REALNESS and HYPE MAN. Other plays include Blackademics, This Is Modern Art co-written with Kevin Coval, And in This Corner: Cassius Clay, Bars and Measures, and The Raid. Goodwin is one of seven playwrights featured in the widely presented HANDS UP!, an anthology commissioned by The New Black Fest and published by Samuel French. His one act Black Flag was produced Off Broadway in Summer Shorts Festival at 59E59 Theatre. He’s received support from the NEA and Ford Foundation, and awarded Oregon Shakespeare’s American History Cycle Commission, and InterAct Theater’s 20/20 Prize. He’s had work produced and/or commissioned/developed with Steppenwolf Theatre, The Kennedy Center, Berkeley Rep’s Ground Floor Program, La Jolla Playhouse, The Lark Playwriting Center, The Playwrights’ Center and New Harmony Project. These Are The Breaks (Write Bloody, 2011), his debut collection of essays and poetry, was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Goodwin’s poetry has featured on HBO, The Discovery Channel, Sesame Street and National Public Radio.  Goodwin is an assistant professor in The Department of Theatre and Dance at Colorado College. Find him at www.idrisgoodwin.com

Share This
Skip to content