SHOWCASING NEW TALENT
Our mission is to showcase new talent and we routinely have cast members ranging in age from 16 to 60+ as part of that mission. This fall, we’ll be at it again with our newest play, "Moving Boxes."
"This story comes just a few weeks after my second heart surgery in less than five years and is just what I needed to remind me I'm still alive, still here and that I need to get busy for our 2017 season," says Frank.
Winning scripts will be announced in early August with auditions for actors to read them in mid-August and readings done on the evening of Saturday, Sept. 23 and the afternoon of Sunday, Sept. 24.
"Anyone who has cared for an aging parent will relate to this story," says Frank. "So will families that have struggled to achieve the closeness they want with each other. It's also a touching look at how love crosses generations from grandparents to their grandchildren and back."
We're in the midst of again soliciting donations for our Fall 2017 Charity Auction which will take place during our November performances. Show your support for the local arts scene by simply filling out the form below.
The 2nd Act Players has hired Genevieve Fowler to direct its 2017 New Playwrights' Showcase which will take place Saturday, September. 23 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, September 24 at 3 p.m. The festival will feature staged readings of six short scripts selected as winners of the 2017 2nd Act Players New Script Competition. Fowler has ...
John N. Frank, a 2nd Act Players cofounder as well as its creative director and principal playwright, is back on his feet and looking forward to the 2nd Act Players' 2017 season after undergoing an angioplasty In late June to have a 2nd stent placed inside one of his main arteries. "My arteries have been ...
Bryan Jansen played The Whiz Kid in our 2015 production of Boys in the Basement. His character was a relative innocent in a world of male sharks, an innocent who looked at back issues of Playboy on stage every night. Bryan still holds the 2nd Act Players' record for getting hit the hardest on stage ...
For all you Chicago-area playwrights who love writing on deadline, the deadline is here for the 2nd Act Players Short-Script Competition, so send in your entry today! Friday, June 30 at midnight is the last second you can submit an entry. We'll be producing staged readings of six winning scripts on Sept. 23 and Sept. ...
Peter Nerad portrayed a character who was one of my favorites to write, The Player in our 2015 production of Boys in the Basement. Player was the leader of the boys, regaling them nightly with stories of his female conquests. The Player had no shame, and no limits. Aren't there times we've all wished we ...
Julie Mitre has graced the 2nd Act Players' stage twice in the past two years, first in The Institute and then as a dying mother in our early 2017 one-act play Last Days of Wonder. Writing us in late May, Julie tells us today "I am more involved with my role as Artistic Associate with Akvavit ...
Brendan Butkus played one fo the most emotionally distraught characters ever featured in a work when he was The Rookie in our 2015 production of Boys in the Basement. The Rookie attempts suicide as Act One is ending but has a much different Act Two. Today, "I am working on devising a one man show ...
Spring cleaning is an annual ritual in our house, and one we've turned into a great fund-raising opportunity for our 2nd Act Players. If you;re in the midst of cleaning out your closets as well, here's a perfect opportunity to donate your gently used treasures to the 2nd Act Players Annual Yard Sale which will ...
Jean Waller had the challenge in the 2nd Act Players' 2016 production of The Institute of playing the same character, Kathy O'Malley, at two different points in her life, when she was in high school, and in the present day.And she did it masterfully. Today, "The next show I am in is London Assurance, by Irish ...
