Shannon Pritchard

The global helium shortage puts pressure on the floor staff of a Chicago-area Party City.

Written for American Blues Theater's RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES: Living Newspaper Festival 2019.
Inspired by the Chicago Tribune Article "Party City plans to Close 45 stores..."
https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-party-city-store-closing…

A modern riff on As You Like It, this is a play about fucking around, fucking up, and finding yourself in the forest.

Written for Commission Theatre's @Will: A Short Play Festival, 2017.
Inspired by the line from Shakespeare's Coriolanus:

“I am hushed until our city be afire
and then I’ll speak little”
–Coriolanus, Act 5 Scene 3

After The Field Museum closes at night, the dinosaurs come to life. And they have some shit to work out.

Written for American Blues Theater's RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES: Living Newspaper Festival 2017.
Inspired by the Chicago Tribune Article "Blockbuster 'Jurassic World' exhibition will bring dinosaur park to Field Museum"
http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/museums/ct-jurassic-world-e…

Twenty-two year old Eglantine O’Malley is a promising undergraduate studying psychology at Cornell University in 1967. She is also one of three “mothers” to six-month old Adam Domecon (short for Domestic Economy), a “practice baby.” From the 1920’s to the 1970’s, practice babies, mostly children of unwed mothers, were loaned by local orphanages to prestigious colleges for their home economics programs. In campus apartments, young women would care for these practice children, learning homemaking as a science. A budding feminist, Eglantine has no patience for domesticity in general and children in particular. But as the semester progresses, Eglantine must confront the development of attachment between herself, Adam, and her classmates. As the emotional consequences of the class manifest, Eglantine must make a choice about Adam's future, which is as uncertain as her own, Practice Babies is a story about the challenges of femininity, feminism, and family.

Twenty-something Chicagoan Jenny embarks on a quest after a fateful encounter with charming, mysterious Tom. Fantasy merges with reality as she journeys across the Windy City, and her hazy memories give way to difficult questions. An urban Faerie tale inspired by the Scottish folk ballad Tam Lin.

"A brilliant story, sharp-witted as it is great-hearted, humorous as it is terrifying
and familiar as it is fantastic." - Ben Kemper, Chicago Theatre Review

"Traces is one of the finest world premieres I’ve witnessed in many a moon."
- Tom Williams, Chicago Critic

Kin & Kind is a folk tale of familial violence inspired by the murder ballad “The Twa Sisters.” Set in the Ozarks during the Depression, it’s the story of the Catcher Family, a bluegrass band beset by jealousy, lust, and sisterly rivalry. The wedding day of youngest sister Minnie dawns bright and sunny, but is soon eclipsed by tragedy. As oldest daughter Lee struggles to hold the family together, she is forced to come face to face with the darkness in her family and in herself. An exploration of the casual brutalities that families and communities visit upon one another, Kin & Kind rethinks the romance of sisterhood, love, and simpler times.

Dana and Reggie just want to get into O'Shanahan's Pub and celebrate St. Patrick's Day, but the Irish bouncer Peter has a job to do.

A girl comes home to find her roommate recovering from a Tinder date gone wrong.

A young woman tries to hide her hypochondria from her boyfriend after they move in together, with unexpected consequences.