The 2nd Act Players are scheduling special performances for veterans and for area high school students of its new play, The Institute, Coming of Age during the Vietnam War, which opens Oct. 21 in Evanston. “We have always been about using our plays to start wider discussion on important issues,” explains John N. Frank, 2nd […]
Read MoreFrankie Johnson has been an outsider all his young life and that remains true at The Institute. Come see Matthew J. Lloyd portray Frankie in the 2nd Act Players’ fall production of The Institute, coming fo Age during the Vietnam War, opening Oct. 21. Frankie has no family history at the school, unlike many of […]
Read MoreShamus O’Malley, who will be played by Scott Stockwell in the 2nd Act Players’ upcoming production of The Institute, coming of age during the Vietnam War, is what’s known at the school as a legacy. His family of proud Irish Catholics has been sending young men to the school almost since it’s founding in 1847. For […]
Read MoreThe 2nd Act Players has received an Honorable Mention for the 2016 Mayor’s Award for the Arts in its home city of Evanston, Il. The award came “for exceptional contribution to the arts in Evanston, Il.,” according to the award certificate. “We were overjoyed to be recognized, and to join so many of the other […]
Read MoreThe Institute, coming of age during the Vietnam War doesn’t open until Oct. 21, but already the buzz is building among people who have seen the script and are familiar with the story of four young men who attend a Catholic, military school during the height of the Vietnam War. The story is based on […]
Read MoreIt’s always interesting to see who the early ticket-buyers are for any new production we do. Often its people who know actors in the cast. But for our 2016 world premiere of The Institute, Coming fo Age during the Vietnam War, it’s been a much different phenomenon. Early ticket sales have gone almost exclusively to […]
Read More“We have never challenged a cast in a 2nd Act Players production to show their acting chops like we do with this script,” says 2nd Act Creative Director John N. Frank. He should know, he’s acting in this one himself!
Read MoreFew members of The Institute faculty do more to shape the young men attending that Catholic, military school on the edge of Greenwich Village during the height of the Vietnam War than does Sergeant Major Marny. Sergeant major is the highest enlisted rank in the U.S. army and not one given lightly. Achieving it signifies […]
Read MoreThe Institute is a play about four young men in a military high school during the height of the Vietnam War. But anyone who has served in the armed forces will be able to relate to the choices these young men face as they near high school graduation in 1971. Much as today, young Americans […]
Read MoreThe young men you’ll meet in The Institute, the 2nd Act Players‘ fall world premiere, are shaped by the faculty members they encounter during their four years in the school. A parade of faculty members confronts them during their freshman year and then reappears throughout their turbulent years in the Catholic, military school. Pater Lingua is […]
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