The 2nd Act Players spring online production, Pandemic Stories, 7 short plays about life, love and loss in the age of Covid-19, received a three-star review from the website AroundtheTownChicago.com. “From funerals and final messages to the repercussions of the stay-at-home orders, this timely show is an intimate take on the effects of current events […]
Read MoreWe’ve all lived through a year like no other in our lifetimes. What has that done to you, how have you changed? What’s your pandemic truth? Did you…. Worry about the safety of essential workers? Help feed insecure families? Try new online activities? Provide care for a homebound senior? Learn more about your neighbors than […]
Read MoreEACH OF OUR PERFORMANCES THIS WEEKEND AND NEXT WILL BE FOLLOWED BY AN ONLINE DISCUSSION WITH A PLAYWRIGHT AND MEMBERS OF OUR CAST. STAY ONLINE TO ASK QUESTIONS AND GET A REAL BEHIND-THE=SCENE LOOK AT HOW ONLINE THEATER IS CREATED. HERE’S THIS WEEKEND’S LINE-UP OF SPEAKERS: […]
Read MoreWondering if you want to see the 2nd Act Players spring production, Pandemic Stories — seven short plays about life, love and loss in the age of Covid? Let us help you decide. Here are clips from the three dramas included in the Pandemic Stories. We’ve also posted previews from our four comedies, you can […]
Read MoreRex McGregor’s play, The Birds are Feeding Me looks at rising tensions in a condo building as the Covid-19 lockdown goes on. Its characters search for solace in nature, except for one resident who is finding nature a bit too natural for his liking. Here, Rex discusses his play, his writing career and his vision […]
Read MoreThe 2nd Act Players will be streaming seven short plays that make up its Pandemic Stories on April 23, 24, 25, 30, and May 1 and May 2. The stories are short plays that address issues we’ve all been dealing with during the Covid-19 pandemic. They are relatable, emotional, sometimes funny, sometimes sad looks at […]
Read MoreManny Schenk last appeared with the 2nd Act Players in Moving Boxes, a play about caring for an aging parent while trying to rebuild a broken family. Manny also has a long association with the James Downing Theater in the Edison Park section of Chicago. Here, he discusses the challenges of acting online, the choices […]
Read MoreCathrine Goldstein’s play, What Good Did We See Today?, is a very poignant look at the struggles a father and daughter face during the pandemic as his memory slips away and she strives desperately to help him. Goldstein is an award-winning playwright, and a bestselling author of gritty, real-feeling plays, novels, short stories, and poems. […]
Read MoreValerie Gorman last appeared with the 2nd Act Players in its 2019 production of Old Ringers, the last play we did on-stage prior to the pandemic. In Pandemic Stories, she plays a woman trying online dating for the first time in To The Zoom and Back, a West Texas lunch lady in the play Lunch […]
Read MoreJohn Mabey’s play Second Acts, Second Helpings, looks at a couple’s actions and attitudes toward life after the pandemic has finally subsided. Mabey’s plays have been published and produced across the United States and Europe, and this year his work is included in Smith & Kraus Best 10-Minute Plays and Smith & Kraus Best Women’s Monologues. In […]
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