Katherine Gwynn

Ronald Reagan is a demon. Ronald Reagan is a drag queen. Ronald Reagan is here, queer, and ready to eat you alive.

Or: when 3 Chicago queers, a ghost who died in 1989, and a satanic summoning collide in Kore's studio apartment, their demons come out with a knife held to their throats--daring them to survive.

Maire spins the thread, Mara measures the thread, and Moira cuts the thread: these are the sisters' roles and have been since before they knew what memory, or an oat milk latte, was. But when they lose a thread on the way to delivering it to a not yet born Hero, they have to run through space and time and possibility to try to get back on track. Otherwise, they might have to choose their own fates, and well--that's a reality they're not ready to traverse.

A play about sisters, fate, piles of threads, and what it means to tell a story.

Praise-God and Fear-God have accused each other of witchcraft. Praise-God and Fear-God are mother and daughter. Praise-God and Fear-God are awaiting trial in a jail cell, while something dances around a fire in the dark.

A two-hander about witchcraft, demons, motherhood, daughterhood, the cycle of abuse--and breaking the chains that link it.

20 MINUTE: quantum entanglement, a physicist, two tardigrades, and a phone that keeps ringing--or, a play about queer and trans survival, and how to move beyond survival.

commissioned by Jackalope Theatre company for their Living Newspaper Festival 2022

Marian is visited by a Marian Apparition (just call her Mary, thanks) who tells them to write a play about the Blessed Virgin considering an abortion. Miryam is visited by the angel Gavri'el, who tells her she's to bear the son of God. And pomegranates keep fruiting up all around, asking them to choose.

A play about abortion, divine visions, mommy issues, daddy issues, the inherent homoeroticism of Catholic Ritual, iced coffee, and above all--choice.

A group of twenty something actors are trying to perform as a group of abducted teenage girls who are trying to perform as a group of pageant contestants so that one of them can be awarded the crown by their Director--and be set free.

A play about performing womanhood, goodness, and trauma for the male gaze, and the blurred lines between desire and abduction, fantasy and reality, and violence and beauty itself.

10 MINUTE: A Bold New Brave Ensemble tries to put on a Russian Play to show what American Theatre is all about--now, more than ever.

A medieval scriptorium in the 14th century. A girl who has visions who wants to read Sappho. A boy with a secret who wants to make books. Two monks who spend their days among words but can't seem to talk straight to one another . A wealthy widow who wants to build something that outlasts her. And an Abbott who likes to kneel.

A play about faith as an act of creation, creation as an act of faith, and building the life you want out of the margins.

Lily Schuttman is in her dressing room, preparing for her first taped comedy special, when her friend Erin Li comes in demanding answers. See, Erin’s wondering why Lily spoke to the Times defending Joe Ainsley. Joe's a self-identified male feminist, comedy mentor to Lily—and the man Erin’s accused of sexually assaulting her. After a tense fight that goes nowhere, Erin gets ready to walk out of Lily's life for good. And then the Rape Joke Lily was going to tell on-stage springs to life, trapping them all in the dressing room.

A dark comedy about internalized misogyny, female friendship, white feminism, who gets to be heard, and who gets to be a joke.

Chloe is a black girl who wants to be a wolf biologist when she grows up. Willa is a trans girl who’s trying to learn guitar to pass the time in Wyoming. Paz is a forest ranger, a woman who’s been watching the wolves for decades. The Hunter is a white man who wants to kill a wolf. And Jack is a jackalope who tries not to get shot. All five of them spend a summer in and around Yellowstone, watching the wolves, waiting with bated breath until summer ends—and the wolf hunting season begins.

A play about loneliness, survival, fear, and connection in America.

10 MINUTE: In the near future, a woman orders a sex robot--oh god. Oh no. She's ordered a sex robot.

A woman is brought to shore. She cannot be heard. Her name is not Undine.

In this loose retelling of The Little Mermaid, there is a Selkie who can dance but not speak, a Deaf woman who signs to the sea, a silent chorus, and a Lobsterman who hates being a Lobsterman. Incorporating ASL, shadow-voicing, projection, dance, and music, Skin Song is a play about being silent and voiceless and the difference between love and possession.

It’s the night before Christmas, and three of the four King siblings—Mel, Bailey, and Caleb—are home for the holidays, playing drinking games to Bing Crosby’s dulcet tones while their parents are at midnight mass. But when they find a sorta-semi-maybe suicide note written by their eldest brother, James, who has Down's Syndrome—and a Star and The Angel crash into their living room—all 4 King siblings set off through a journey into the night. In this loose, chaotic, and often times uncomfortable re-imagining of the biblical tale of the Three Magi, the Kings ride camels in gas station parking lots, perform before constellations, and confront their own wounds.

Elaine has lost the ability to cry--but that's the least of her problems. See, there's Quinn, her newborn who won't stop criticizing her. Elaine's (ex) husband Nate is no help either, ever since he moved into the doghouse in the backyard to try to find his inspiration to paint again. Thea, the new nanny and a nude painting recently come to life, brings relief and trouble in equal measure. And Peanut, the family dog, mostly tries to make sure Elaine has a drink in hand. In this absurdist comedy, art, gender, emotional labor, and motherhood are all explored as well as the question: what does it mean to cry for someone?

Ruby is a 13 year-old girl who met something Bad on the way to Memaw’s house. Now her Memaw is a ghost, her Daddy is trying to be a good man, her Mama is dead, and Ruby brings baskets of goodies to something that tried to swallow her whole, hoping for answers. With questions haunting her about blood, shadows, and family, Ruby has to learn what being a monster means--and what exactly she can, and won't, forgive.

All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players—but what does it mean to play? "Merely Players" catches Rosalind in the midst of her epilogue in As You Like It, only to then turn the spotlight on Phebe, the lowly shepherd girl who fell in love with Rosalind in drag as Ganymede. Taking place in a single night, "Merely Players" raises questions about sexuality, sonnets, gender, violence, dead deer, and love. It’s a trunkshow with a trunk that’s more than it seems, a show where the men are played by women, and a chance for Phebe to discover what being a player—and being free—really means.