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| Photo: Nicole Radja, Time Out Chicago |
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Philip Dawkins' critically-acclaimed play The Homosexuals received a Joseph Jefferson Nomination for New Work after its world premiere with About Face Theatre in the summer of 2011, under the direction of Bonnie Metzgar. His play Failure: A Love Story premiered at Victory Gardens Theater under the direction of Seth Bockley, with productions slated at Azuka Theatre in Philadelphia and Illinois Shakespeare Festival in Bloomington-Normal in Summer 2013. His play Miss Marx or The Involuntary Side Effect of Living received a staged reading as part of Steppenwolf's 2010 First Look Series. Other credits: Dead Letter Office (Dog and Pony Theatre); Yes To Everything! (Chicago, New York, California, DC); Perfect (The Side Project); Ugly Baby (Chicago Opera Vanguard/Strawdog Theatre Company); A Still Life In Color (T.U.T.A. Company). His plays for young folks are published through Playscripts, Inc. A graduate of Loyola University, Chicago, Mr. Dawkins is an Artistic Associate of About Face Theatre, an Ensemble Playwright at Victory Gardens, and a founding member of Chicago Opera Vanguard. Mr. Dawkins teaches playwriting at Northwestern University and through the Victory Gardens ACCESS Program for writers with disabilities. He also teaches Kung Fu to little Chicago kids through Rising Phoenix Kung Fu. Hi-Yah! |
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Comedy
Short, 40-55 minutes
7 females, 9 males, 14 either
(20-30 actors possible: 7-17 females, 8-18 males)
$35.00 per performance; $7.99 per book
The delightfully devious Edgar and Ellen plague the idyllic town of Nod's Limbs with their pranks in this hilarious adaptation of the popular book and cartoon series. Their reign of terror is threatened, however, with the arrival of renowned "etiquettist" Petunia Rymple, who wants to build a flower garden on their mansion grounds. With the town ready to sign away the deed to the twins' creaky old mansion, Edgar and Ellen must declare a prank war against the cheerful lady in pink and the stuck-up Knightleigh family next door to show everyone who really rules Nod's Limbs.
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Comedy
Full-length, 60-70 minutes
3 females, 10 males, 8 either
(13-35 actors possible: 3-14 females, 10-21 males)
$75.00 per performance; $8.99 per book
IT'S ALIVE! Albert Einstein's brain, that is. Sci-Fi geek and pizza delivery boy Otto must make the most important delivery of all time when the mad scientist Dr. Harvey Thomas gives Otto and his talking dog, Swamp Thing, the task of safely delivering Einstein's brain to a college in Berkeley, where it will be properly studied. Sounds easy, right? Save for a few hilarious distractions (a musical group of preserved body parts, a horde of zombies, and an evil, even madder scientist) it should be a piece of cake! Can Otto and his dog make it to their destination in relatively one piece? Pun intended.
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Rodeo
A Ten Gallon Tale of a Cowgirl in Disguise
by Philip Dawkins |
 
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Comedy
Short, 50-60 minutes
4 females, 13 males, 25 either (16-20 actors possible: 3-20 females, 7-20 males)
$40.00 per performance; $7.99 per book
Rough and tumble cowgirl Cody and her persnickety mule, Sprezzatura, ride into town fixin' to win the annual rodeo. Only one problem: girls aren't allowed to compete. Unwilling to lay down the lasso so easily, Cody and Sprezzatura whip up the perfect plan to disguise themselves as a boy and a horse and sneak their way into the competitors' ring. Western-y and Shakespearean-y shenanigans ensue when a dastardly villain, a slew of singing horses, and an unexpected romance come between Cody and her master plan to win the day in this rootin-tootin' comedy.
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Comedy
Short, 45-60 minutes
9 females, 11 males, 3 either
(12-25 actors possible: 6-25 females, 5-25 males)
$35.00 per performance; $7.99 per book
At the Skokie Detective Charter School, all the students are detectives-in-training, learning firsthand how to follow the facts and find a logical solution. But these future super sleuths are about to encounter their biggest case yet when students start acting strangely, monsters are spotted in the hallway, and their teacher goes missing! These Tiny Private Eyes reconstruct the day's events through four classic story-telling perspectives (film noir, young adult mystery, Edwardian romance, and Spaghetti Western) to solve the mystery in this clever and fast-paced comedy.
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| "Everyone likes a good mystery so it goes to figure that they especially like several mysteries all packed into one... the play offers some juicy and awfully fun roles for its young cast." |
| --Mike Isaacs, Skokie Review |
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