Steppenwolf Theatre brings fresh plays to the fore with its seventh annual First Look Repertory of New Work. This year, three scripts receive “developmental” stagings (basically workshops, but with better production values) and another three get staged readings.
First up among the developmentals is Christina Anderson’s Man in Love. Set in a segregated city during the Great Depression, it follows the consequences as black women start turning up dead. Robert O’Hara directs (10/26-11/20). Next is Want, which examines a group of California burnouts undergoing an aggressive form of group therapy. Kimberly Senior directs Zayd Dohrn’s script (10/27-11/20). Then comes Oblivion by Carly Mensch, a story editor for Showtimes’s Weeds. Matthew Miller directs Mensch’s tale of hip parents whose progressive theories slam up hard against their teenager’s bad behavior (10/28-11/20).
Included among the readings are FML: or How Carson McCullers Saved My Life by the talented author of The Kid Thing, Sarah Gubbins (Thu 11/3, 3 PM), Miss Marx, or the Involuntary Side Effects of Living by Philip Dawkins (Fri 11/4, 3 PM), and Mud Blue Sky by Marisa Wegrzyn (Sat 11/5, 11 AM).