Mark Evan Chimsky

As a young queer writer searches for a little Jewish village from the past that he feels mysteriously connected to, he encounters untold truths about lives that history has erased.

In our new musical "Swagger," William Shakespeare is a man who pushes the boundaries -- in art and life. Deciding it's time to set the record straight (ahem) about who he really was, he takes us back to London in the year 1600 to reveal his secret love for Alazar Ya'aqob, an Ethiopian Ambassador and how this dangerous relationship taught him about the soul-crushing pain of loving true and inspired him to write one of his greatest plays.

Time-traveling with Will is current-day Shakespeare fanboy Quinn and they encounter a hardscrabble world filled with over-the-top drama and the rowdiest company of actors in doublets this side of the Globe. Just as Shakespeare becomes a surrogate father to Quinn (whose own father is emotionally distant), Quinn soon becomes a surrogate son to Shakespeare (whose only son Hamnet died at eleven). They learn from each other that their shared humanity can help them transcend cultures and centuries.

As in Elizabethan times, we’d like our musical to be performed on a bare stage with the men in Shakespeare's acting company doubling up to play almost all the secondary roles, including that of a dazzling, no-holds-barred Queen Elizabeth I who knows how to slay a runway ("Yas queen!").

Ultimately, "Swagger" is about standing up to danger and pushing boundaries and how to be -- or not to be -- our own Shakespeare in every day of our lives.

In “The Secret Muse,” three figures from history reveal their untold stories: Ned Shakespeare, who first originated the role of Juliet in 1595; Ned’s brother, the playwright William Shakespeare; and the woman who changed both their lives. After more than 425 years, they set the record straight and as they recollect their shared past, new and unexpected truths emerge. This one-act play had its world premiere in a staged reading at the Wisconsin Shakespeare Festival in July 2024.

When novice writer Nate Crane shows his new short story, set in a small Jewish village in Eastern Europe, to his idol–-the literary lion of Yiddish fiction, Saul Fingerman–-things take an unexpected, disastrous turn.

A short musical with book and lyrics by Mark Evan Chimsky and music by Alexander Zwick about the true-life transgender Civil War soldier Albert Cashier. When Albert is ushered into the Afterlife, the mysterious Translator helps him look back at important incidents in his life, including his bond with his fellow soldiers, the band of brothers of his regiment, and how they fight on his behalf later in life when the gender he was assigned at birth is published in the press and the government tries to deny Albert his military pension.This short play is meant to celebrate and inspire all who fight to live their truth, blazing their own trails despite the obstacles that society puts in their way.

A 10-minute play about the true-life transgender Civil War soldier Albert Cashier. When Albert is ushered into the Afterlife, the mysterious Translator helps him look back at important incidents in his life, including his bond with his fellow soldiers, the band of brothers of his regiment, and how they fight on his behalf later in life when the gender he was assigned at birth is published in the press and the government tries to deny Albert his military pension.This short play is meant to celebrate and inspire all who fight to live their truth, blazing their own trails despite the obstacles that society puts in their way.

“The Death of Juliet” features a reimagining of the life of William Shakespeare’s younger brother Ned. It is a story that has not been told before about the actor who first originated the role of Juliet…

A young writer on a search for his family roots in Poland meets an unexpected figure who reveals truths about himself and the village that once was his home.

When literary agent Trent comes for dinner, his client Christopher is hoping he’ll hear good news about his first novel, a roman à clef about surviving intimate partner violence as the husband of New York City’s first gay mayor. Will Trent’s agency represent the book? Will Christopher finally be able to get his side of the story out in this work of fiction? Trent’s response is not quite what Christopher expects to hear...

When out-of-towner Ted Reilly is the only one who shows up for Allen’s walking tour of historic Portland, Maine, both men are surprised by the lessons they learn.