Manny 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 MoreCindi Sansone-Braff’s play, To the Zoom and Back, looks at a senior couple’s attempt to try to connect through online dating in the age of Covid. Sansone-Braff is a member of the Dramatist Guild, has a B.F.A. in theatre from UCONN, and is a playwright, author, actor, dancer, producer, director, and the co-founder of Tomorrow’s […]
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 […]
Read MoreActor Nick Dorado made his 2nd Act Players’ debut online last fall in our 60 is the New 40 Play Festival, playing a variety of characters in several short plays. He’ll be returning to our virtual stage this spring in two plays, [Brackets], in which he plays a curmudgeonly editor dealing with the losses Covid […]
Read MoreGermaine Shames’ play, Love in the Time of Covid-19, is a humorous look at what happens to a couple cooped up in an efficiency apartment because of the pandemic. Shames is a Kilroys List playwright and recipient of her state’s Literary Fellowship in Fiction, is author of the award-winning novels, Between Two Deserts and You, […]
Read MoreCraig Gustafson’s play [Brackets] deals with a suburban newspaper editor and his daughter facing some of the worst that the pandemic has to offer, while debating old habits that might not be relevant any longer Graid Gustafson Gustafosn’s plays have been performed locally at Chicago’s Yippiefest, GreenMan Theatre Troupe, Wheaton Drama and Riverfront Playhouse, which […]
Read MoreDonna Latham’s play Lunch Lady was written as a monologue for one actor, but with her agreement, we’ve modified it slightly to include three lunch ladies, all dealing with the challenges of working during the Pandemic. Latham is a feminist playwright from Chicago whose plays have been produced coast to coast and around the world. […]
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Seven award-winning playwrights will chat live with our audiences during the 2nd Act Players’ spring production, Pandemic Stories, 7 short plays about love, life and loss which will stream online from April 23 through May 2. Advance ticket sales have begun, to purchase tickets, simply click here. The playwrights are the winners of the 2nd […]
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