Read 30 short works inspired and ripped from today’s headlines in our online script library.
Back by demand and in our 15th year, we’re thrilled to celebrate these writers and short plays during the entire month of June. Come back each week to read the latest offerings from local and national playwrights.
JUNE 1, 2023
“How could the sky do something so magical?”
Article inspiration here
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KEIKO GREEN is a playwright, screenwriter, and performer based in Los Angeles and Seattle. Her plays have been developed and/or produced by the Old Globe, the O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, Atlantic Theatre Company, Ensemble Studio Theatre, the Kennedy Center, and the National New Play Network, among others.
JUNE 2, 2023
“I can’t sing This and so my crying is my song – “
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JAISEY BATES is an autistic poet playwright singular plurality. Awards include Marin Theatre Company’s Emerging American Playwright Prize. Selections include the Bay Area Playwrights Festival, Clamour, Cutting Ball, Native Voices at the Autry and Vagrancy theater festivals. Finalist recognitions include NPC and the Princess Grace and American Blues Theater Blue Ink awards. newplayexchange.org/users/6451/jaisey-bates and the-peoplehood.com
JUNE 3, 2023
“Welcome to the dark side, Comrade.”
Article inspiration here
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MARCUS SCOTT is a dramatist & journalist. His full-length work includes Tumbleweed (finalist: 2017 BAPF & the 2017 Festival of New American Plays at Austin Playhouse; semifinalist: 2022 O’Neill NPC, 2022 Blue Ink Award & 2017 New Dramatists Princess Grace Fellowship Award), Sibling Rivalries (finalist: 2021 Seven Devils Playwrights Conference & 2021 ATHE-KCACTF Judith Royer Excellence In Playwriting Award; semi-finalist: 2022 Lanford Wilson New American Play Festival, 2021 Blue Ink Award & 2021 New Dramatists Princess Grace Fellowship Award; long-listed: 2020 Theatre503 International Playwriting Award), There Goes The Neighborhood (finalist: 2023 Blue Ink Award, the 2019 Bushwick Starr Reading Series) and Cherry Bomb (recipient of the 2017 Drama League First Stage Artist-In-Residence). He was commissioned by Heartbeat Opera to adapt Beethoven’s Fidelio (Librettist/Co-writer; The Met Museum; NYT Critic’s Pick). Scott is the recipient of the WTP Rosalind Ayres-Williams Memorial Scholarship (2022-2024), a 2021 NYSAF Founders’ Award finalist and a 2021 Doric Wilson Independent Playwright Award semi-finalist. His articles appeared in Architectural Digest, Time Out New York, American Theatre Magazine, Playbill, Elle, Out, Essence, The Brooklyn Rail, among others. MFA: GMTWP, NYU Tisch.
JUNE 4, 2023
“Because feelings are for reading, not for beading.”
Article inspiration here, here, here, & here
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ALLISON FRADKIN (she/her) creates satirically scintillating stories that (sur)pass the Bechdel Test and enlist their characters in a caricature of the idiocies and intricacies of insidious isms. An enthusiast of inclusivity and accessibility, Fradkin serves as Co-Artistic Director of Violet Surprise Theatre, curating new works that validate queer women, trans women, and non-binary folx; Artistic Director of Mosaic Players, presenting historical plays that champion social justice and human rights; and Dramatist for Special Gifts Theatre, adapting scripts that celebrate actors of all abilities.
JUNE 5, 2023
“I would say, ‘Srinivas, give Vishnu your weakness, and they will always give you great strength…'”
Article inspiration here
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RAJENDRA RAMOON MAHARAJ is a multi-disciplinary American Theater Artist, Administrator, and Cultural Activist who investigates the complexities of narrative, perception, identity, political, social, and community storytelling, through research driven work that explores BIPOC narratives that have been historically bypassed in the American Theatre. Twice hailed in The New York Times as a Critics Pick. Eugene O’Neill National Playwrights Conference finalist. Recipient: Negro Ensemble Company Cutting Edge Playhouse Playwriting Residency.
JUNE 6, 2023
“Will SOMEBODY please tell me what the hell is an AUDIENCE VOTE…”
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WANDACHRISTINE As a proud American Blues Ensemble member, it has been my pleasure to contribute as a playwright to our noted Ripped Festival each year for the past seven years. When I’m not sitting behind my computer writing, I’m in my Voice Over booth each morning sending out morning messages on my Podcast… “Mornings with Ms. Wandachristine” it’s my way of finding humor each day in this chaotic world that we live in and making sure we all remember that… “It’s good to be alive”. So if you’d care to join in visit my website Wandachristine.com and send me a message that you’d like to be included as a morning listener.
JUNE 7, 2023
“Either they’ll hate you or you’ll hate yourself.”
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ADA CHENG An educator-turned artist, storyteller, and creator, Dr. Ada Cheng has utilized storytelling to illustrate structural inequities, raise critical awareness, and build intimate communities. Committed to amplifying and uplifting marginalized voices, she has created numerous storytelling platforms for BIPOC and LGBTQIA community members to tell difficult and vulnerable stories. Dr. Cheng has been a speaker for Illinois Humanities Road Scholars Speakers Bureau since 2019. She has been named 2023-24 Lund-Gill Chair in the Rosary College of Arts and Sciences at Dominican University. Her interests encompass academia, storytelling/performance, and advocacy.
JUNE 8, 2023
“This little freak show is all anyone can talk about.”
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JERICO BLEU is an actor/playwright originally from East Tennessee. His written work has been seen at The Barrow Group, Naked Angels, MPAACT, and Emerald Theatre Company. Recently, Jerico was a part of the Jackalope Theatre Playwright’s LAB, while his short film Hissy Fits won Best LGBTQ short at the San Francisco Indie Short Film Festival. This summer his 1980s-Horror Comedy The Christian Ethics Committee will be a part of Chain Theatre’s One Act Play Festival in New York. www.jericobleu.com
JUNE 9, 2023
“Like, you would find her face on a billboard, you wouldn’t find mine.”
Article inspiration here
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GLORIA MAJULE is a playwright from Dodoma, Tanzania presently residing in Seattle, WA. She seeks to tell stories that bring multiple black voices together from across the world, and are accessible to black audiences no matter where they are. She writes plays about Africans and the African diaspora. Gloria is an inaugural recipient of Atlantic Theater Company’s Judith Champion Launch Commission. She graduated summa cum laude from Cornell University with a BA in Performing & Media Arts and Spanish, and holds an MFA in Playwriting from Yale School of Drama.
JUNE 10, 2023
“We look at the sometime sea for answers.”
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CARIDAD SVICH received the 2023 Flora Roberts Award from The Dramatists Guild, and is also recipient of an Obie for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre. They have written many plays, among them 12 Ophelias, Iphigenia Crash Land Falls… and Red Bike. They are also Artistic Director of New Play Development at the Lucille Lortel Theater in New York City and an Editor at Contemporary Theatre Review for Routledge UK. Her book Toward a Future Theatre is published by Methuen Drama.
JUNE 11, 2023
“Well what an uncommon place for us all to meet again!”
Article inspiration here
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HEATHER MEYERS is a proud ensemble member of American Blues Theater since 1996. Heather is a stage manager, director, writer and lifelong lover of reading. Thanks to family & friends for providing love and inspiration every day.
**BONUS STUDENT SCRIPT – JUNE 11, 2023**
“Just cuz it’s not your house doesn’t mean it’s not important.”
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LILY WESTON Meet Lily Ray, a 9-year-old in Virginia who is passionate about nature and all its creatures, especially bats! After school, she enjoys singing, making jewelry, riding her scooter, and playing outside with friends. Her favorite vacation spot is North Carolina, to visit with family and play all day. To unwind, Lily and her mom go to restaurants, play video games or watch Harry Potter movies together.
**BONUS STUDENT SCRIPT – JUNE 11, 2023**
“I have to change this neighborhood so this doesn’t happen to anyone else.”
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IBRAHIM MUGISHA Hello my name is Ibrahim Mugisha. I am an immigrant who came to this country to get a better education and life. It was hard for me to get used to cultural differences of this country but I got used to it and managed to get used to the culture.
**BONUS STUDENT SCRIPT – JUNE 11, 2023**
“Not sure how cool this is gonna be, we’re the only ones on the sheet.”
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RIVER LUNA VIETS-STREL is 11.5 years old and lives in Chicago. They love thrift store shopping and rummage sales where they search for cool clothes for their unique style. They like going to concerts and live theater, outdoor adventures and competing in shot put. And they collect clowns! Not cute clowns, but creepy ones, the kind that make people uncomfortable. River likes writing with American Blues Theater and was honored to be given a young playwright award this year.
JUNE 12, 2023
“Dear Board, Dear Artistic Leadership, Dear employees, Dear cast, Dear crew, Dear donors, Dear theatre community, Dear anyone who will listen,”
Article inspiration here
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BEN F. LOCKE (he/she/they) is a Chicago-based actor, director, writer and teacher. He graduated from Millikin University with a double degree in Theatre and Human Services. He attended the School at Steppenwolf in 2019. He has worked with several companies in the city such as Steppenwolf, Court, Drury Lane, Ardent Dance Company and more, as well as a proud Ensemble member of Bramble Theatre. Ben truly believes that theatre and art have the power to change the world. His plays can be found at the New Play Exchange. “What we do matters. Who sees us matters. If we died today, did we horde ourselves away? Did we keep our resources for ourselves or did we invest in others to take over and grow without us?”
JUNE 13, 2023
“At first he liked that i can speak our mother tongue.”
Article inspiration here
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M.J. KANG is a playwright, actor, director and improvisor. She’s been awarded The Breathe Project 2022 New Play award, Theater J’s Expanding The Canon award (2022-24) and has been commissioned by Portland Playhouse, Shotgun Players, Blyth Festival Theater, Shakespeare in Action and AFO Solo Shorts (twice). Her plays have been produced in Toronto, NYC, and Los Angeles by Tarragon Theater, Theater Passe Muraille, Factory Theater, The Barrow Group, Cahoots Theater Projects, Raising Sun, Son of Semele, Playground-LA, East-West Players, Pan Asian Rep and many others.
JUNE 14, 2023
“I mean, I kinda accidentally googled him.”
Article inspiration here
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GINA FEMIA is an award winning playwright and performer from Brooklyn whose work has been developed all over the country, and whose debut YA novel, Alondra, came out this year. Find out more: www.femiagina.com.
JUNE 15, 2023
“Please give me my ball.”
Article inspiration here and here
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AMANDA L. ANDREI is a playwright, literary translator, theater critic, and community archivist residing in LA by way of Virginia/Washington DC. She writes epic, irreverent plays that center the concealed, wounded places of history and societies from the perspectives of diasporic Filipina women, and she co-translates from Romanian into English with her father. Her play Mama, I Wish I Were Silver won the 2022 Jane Chambers Award for Feminist Playwriting. MA: Georgetown, MFA: USC. www.amandalandrei.com
ARA CHAWDHURY (translator) is an award-winning writer/director, human rights activist, and musician. Her first feature film, “Miss Bulalacao”, premiered at the 2015 Cinema One Originals festival, where it won Best Screenplay. It was also recognized by the Young Critics Circle as Best First Feature of 2015 and premiered internationally at the Seoul International Women’s Film Festival. Ara is currently based in San Francisco and completing her MFA in Film at the Vermont College of Fine Arts.
JUNE 16, 2023
“It looks like you’re on your way to purchase a death weapon.”
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ERIC BERG has acted at Chicago’s Goodman Theater, studied improv under Del Close and at Second City, written a play produced at the Organic Theatre, founded a comedy troupe at Yale, and taught acting at Johns Hopkins University. His latest play, Wayward, was a winner in First Run Theatre’s New Play Contest and will receive its world premiere at the Kranzberg Arts Center in St. Louis later this year.
JUNE 17, 2023
“There’s nothing you can say that will convince me my father only wants what’s best for me.”
Article inspiration here
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ZIZI MAJID is a playwright whose plays advocate for a shared humanity. Zizi is the inaugural recipient of the Julia Miles Playwriting Residency at WP Theatre. She is currently a Playwriting Fellow with the Dramatists Guild Foundation and teaches playwriting at Syracuse University. A semi-finalist and a finalist for the Blue Ink Award for playwriting with American Blues Theater, she is thrilled to be part of this year’s Ripped Festival.
JUNE 18, 2023
“But what does that mean – – ‘pretend’???”
Article inspiration here
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JAMES STILL (he/him/his) plays have been produced throughout the U.S., Canada, Europe, Australia, South Africa, China and Japan. Four-time Pulitzer nominee, five-time Emmy nominee, Playwright in Residence at Indiana Repertory Theatre, and proud to be an Artistic Affiliate with American Blues. He lives in Los Angeles.
JUNE 19, 2023
“I tell the children about all the things that books and words and pictures and texts and news and information can do for them.”
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DARREN CANADY is a proud Ensemble member of American Blues Theater. His work has been seen at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center, American Conservatory Theater, Sound Theatre Company, Aurora Theatre, the Alliance Theatre, Horizon Theatre, Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the Fremont Centre Theatre, Congo Square Theatre, the BE Company, American Blues Theater, KC Rep, and London’s Old Vic Theatre. Darren is an alum of Carnegie Mellon University, New York University, and the Juilliard School. He is a former member of Primary Stages’ Dorothy Strelsin New Writers Group, the T.S. Eliot US/UK Exchange, and the America-In-Play theatre collective. He currently teaches playwriting at the University of Kansas.
JUNE 20, 2023
“I wanna talk about skiing.”
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KATARZYNA MÜLLER was born in Poland and grew up on the South Side of Chicago. English is her second language. As an emerging playwright, Kathy writes and workshops plays in Chicago and New York. Most recently, she adapted her 2022 Ripped play, Again, into a screenplay which has been recognized internationally: Best First-Time Screenwriter, Košice International Film Festival (Slovakia); Runner-up, Best Short Screenplay, Polish International Film Festival (Poland); and additional awards in the U.S., U.K., France, and Sweden. BA, PhD, University of Chicago.
JUNE 21, 2023
“In the early 1990s Tulum, the jungle gives way to a sleepy beach town.”
Article inspiration here
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MONET HURST-MENDOZA (she/her) Monet Hurst-Mendoza’s plays have been developed with The Alley Theatre, Rising Circle Theater Collective, Astoria Performing Arts Center, The Flea, Westport Country Playhouse, and Long Wharf Theatre. Alum: Emerging Writers Group at The Public Theater, Civilians R&D Group, Fresh Ground Pepper’s Playground Playgroup, WP Theater Lab, Van Lier Fellow at New Dramatists, and SPACE on Ryder Farm. Monet is a writer/producer for “Law and Order: SVU” and a proud member of The Kilroys, The Dramatist Guild, and WGAE.
JUNE 22, 2023
“I was gonna put down a tablecloth and light some candles and really make something of myself.”
Article inspiration here
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ALYSSA HADDAD-CHIN (she/her) is a playwright, screenwriter, and educator. She was most recently a 2022/23 Writing Fellow at The Playwrights Realm. She is currently a 2023 member of the Moxie Arts Incubator where she will receive a produced staged reading at WP Theater. Her work can be seen at the upcoming ?!: New Works Festival at The Brick. MFA: NYU Tisch. More at alyssahaddad.com
JUNE 23, 2023
“You know who’s been laughing at me?”
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KARISSA MURRELL MYERS (she/her) is a theatre artist based in Chicago, where she works as an actor, playwright, producer, dramaturg, and casting director. She serves as the Artistic Director and Co-Founder of Bramble Theatre Company. As a playwright, her work has been developed and/or produced at Strawdog Theatre, Rivendell Theatre Ensemble, American Blues Theater, The Gift Theatre, A Red Orchid Theatre, Silk Road Rising, Avalanche Theatre, Our Perspective: Asian American Plays, and Bramble. MFA in Performance from University of Hawaii at Manoa, BA in Directing and Acting from Boise State University, and graduate of The School at Steppenwolf 2019. www.kmurrellmyers.com
JUNE 24, 2023
“Why weren’t you at sleepaway camp?”
Article inspiration here
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NIA AKILAH ROBINSON (she/her) is a playwright and actor who reps Harlem with all her might. She is a 2022-2023 Lila Acheson Wallace Playwriting Fellow at Juilliard. She is a 2023 NYSAF Artist-In-Residence, 2023 National Black Theater Soul Series, 2023 Residency at The Pocantico Center through YoungArts, 2023 NYSCA Grant Awardee (CCCADI), 2023 Film & TV Mentorship by Mitzi Miller (Vice President of Warner Bros.). Upcoming: 2023 Workshop at The Hearth.
JUNE 25, 2023
“I told you this would happen.”
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LIBA VAYNBERG (she/her) Described by the New York Times as “wonderfully real and raw,” Liba Vaynberg is the daughter of Ukrainian and Azeri Jews. She studied Molecular Biology at Yale before receiving her MFA at Columbia. Plays: The Matriarchs (Eugene O’Neill Playwrights Conference, Civilians R&D, Theater J Abramson Finalist, Blue Ink finalist), The Gett (Rattlestick, Princess Grace Semi-Finalist, Colorado New Play Festival), Round Table (59E59, Fault Line, Times Square Chronicles 10 Best Plays of 2019), Scheiss Book (United Solo Festival: Best One-Woman Show & Backstage Magazine Audience Choice Award, Dixon Place, Wild Project), The Blue Parts with Dina Vovsi (Working Theater, NYSCA). Performances includeThe Soap Myth (PBS) opposite Ed Asner, Oregon Trail at the Women’s Project, Lost In Yonkers opposite Marsha Mason (CT Critics’ Circle nom.) and Golem of Havana at La Mama. She contributes to Lilith Magazine. libavaynberg.com
JUNE 26, 2023
“I knew when I hired you that you didn’t have a traditional journalism degree.”
Article inspiration here and here and here
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ELAINE ROMERO An award-winning playwright, Romero’s plays have been presented across the U.S. and abroad; she is widely published. Recent critically-acclaimed productions include Like Heaven (Phoenix) and Secret Things (DC). The international RomeroFest featured her with over seventeen separate projects from Arizona Theatre Company to Foro Shakespeare in Mexico City. Romero is an Associate Professor in the School of Theatre, Film, and Television at the University of Arizona.
JUNE 27, 2023
“Did someone crush your face?”
Article inspiration here
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AUDREY CEFALY (she/her) authors the Substack newsletter How To Playwright. Her plays include The Gulf (Edgerton, Lammy, Charles MacArthur Nominee), Alabaster (NNPN Record-Breaking RWP, the Goldman Prize, Kilroys, Calicchio Prize, Pulitzer-Nominated), Maytag Virgin, The Last Wide Open, Tell Me Something Good, Love is a Blue Tick Hound, and Trouble (Blue Ink Featured Finalist). Cefaly is a DGF Traveling Master. She is published by Concord Theatricals and TRW. www.audreycefaly.com
JUNE 28, 2023
“But you were another hid undercover/”
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ZACHARY STEVENSON is a proud Ensemble member at American Blues Theater. He is an award-winning actor, musician and writer. Originally from Vancouver Island, Canada, Zachary has been coined a “dead ringer for dead singers” by the Victoria Times Colonist for his portrayals of Buddy Holly, Hank Williams, Phil Ochs, and roles based on Elvis and Jerry Lee Lewis. In 2018, Zachary won the Jeff Award in Chicago for Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role (Musical) for the Buddy Holly Story, a role he’s honed in more than a dozen productions of across Canada and the United States. Other acting highlights include Hair, Urinetown, Assassins, and Company. Zachary has produced and recorded five independent albums and tours frequency as a musician. He’s been featured as an original artist at countless festivals including the Ottawa Folk Fest, Blue Skies Festival, Summerfolk, Winterfolk (Toronto), Folk Alliance (Memphis, Ottawa and Kansas City), and the Ottawa Blues Festival. He shares a Toronto Virgin Radio songwriting award with songwriting partner, Jeff Bryant, for their song “The Man on Radio”. Zachary is also active as a music director on productions such as Ring of Fire and Million Dollar Quartet. He is currently writing a new one-man show based on the life of folksinger, Phil Ochs entitled Louder Than the Guns.
JUNE 29, 2023
“If I had my watch I’d check how long it took you to get mad already.”
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JOHN KOLVENBACH wrote Stand Up If You’re Here Tonight, which was produced at American Blues in 2022 with Jim Ortlieb and Tania Richard. The show also played at The Harbor Stage in Cape Cod, in LA and Paris and will be at The Huntington Theatre in 2024. Other plays: Love Song (Steppenwolf and The West End, Olivier nomination, Best New Comedy, directed by John Crowley, with Cillian Murphy) and On an Average Day (with Woody Harrelson and Kyle MacLachlan, also directed by Mr. Crowley.) Goldfish (South Coast Repertory, and at the Magic Theatre, directed by Loretta Greco.) Reel to Reel (The Magic) Sister Play (Harbor Stage and The Magic) Fabuloso, (Premiered at WHAT, subsequent productions in San Juan and Zurich, in Spanish and Swiss German) Bank Job (Amphibian Stages) and Marriage Play or Half ‘n Half ‘n Half (Merrimack Rep.)
JUNE 30, 2023
“I think we look the same to people at the time we made an…impression.”
Article inspiration here
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EDITHA ROSARIO-MOORE (she/her) has been an Ensemble Member of American Blues Theater since 2001, and currently serves on the board. She works as an attorney supervisor with the Cook County Public Defender and an adjunct clinical law professor at DePaul. Previously, she worked as a theater artist and educator in Chicago, New York, and New Orleans. Her scholarship explores the relationship between criminal law education and community empowerment.
Chicago’s original – Est. 2009
HISTORY – Our Ripped: The Living Newspaper Project began in 2009 with a series of staged readings of short plays based on the 1930s WPA era program “The Living Newspaper” and Federal Writers’ Project, enabling artists such as Ralph Ellison, Susan Glaspell, Zora Neale Hurston, Eugene O’Neill, Studs Terkel, and Richard Wright. Since our inaugural 2009 launch, we’ve presented 21 events and utilized 610+ artists that feature short plays ripped from today’s headlines.
In 2013, we expanded our staged readings into the sold-out, one-night-only, annual event – The Ripped Festival. All proceeds of these annual events benefit our free arts education program, including “The Lincoln Project” in Chicago Public Schools. In addition, we showcase short plays from CPS students who’ve completed our course.
Due to the 2020-2021 pandemic and industry shutdown of live events, we presented The Ripped Festival as an online library, featuring 30 short plays throughout the month of June. Selected scripts were used during a theater course at the University of California – Berkeley. Due to incredible response, our month long celebration of playwrights and short plays continue!
Our annual festival cultivates new material and allows audiences to discuss topical issues together. American Blues Theater provides community service and raises awareness through creative collaborations. The following organizations have been supported by Ripped events since its inception in 2009: AgrAbility, American Indian Chicago, Chicago Public Schools, Greater Chicago Food Depository, Illinois Farm Bureau, Lincoln Park Community Shelter, NAACP Legal Defense & Education Fund, No Kid Hungry, University of Chicago’s Urban Education Teachers Program, and more.