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DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20200229T160000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20200229T183000
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SUMMARY:2020 FWF - Nina The Hellhound
DESCRIPTION:Three new works that dismantle the patriarchy\, elevate underrepresented voices and (of course) use stage combat!\nThe third annual Fighting Words Festival! \nEach year BWBTC selects three scripts for development.  Each must have the potential to grow into the kinds of plays that fit BWBTC’s mission.  Several of the Fighting Words selections have been seen as full productions with BWBTC\, as well as other theatre companies: most recently 180 Degree Rule\, Patchwork Drifter\, L’Imbecile and Bo Thomas and the Case of the Sky Pirates. \nEach 2019-20 script has undergone two reading-and-feedback sessions with the ensemble and invited guests prior to being introduced to the public (and given the BWBTC treatment of including one staged fight) at the 2020 Festival. \n  \nTickets: FREE ADMISSION! Refreshments and a talkback follow each reading. \nTICKETS Here \n  \nFIGHTING WORDS 2019-2020 SELECTION: \n\nSaturday\, February 29\, 2020 – 4:00pm \nNina The Hellhound \nby Sander Gusinow \nDirector: Angie Forshee\nFight Choreography: Polley Cooney \n\n\nA sleepy town in 1620’s England gets a taste of modernity when gifted fencer Nina Broach begins fighting duels on behalf of mistreated women everywhere.  Appalled by the town”s new liberty\, a vainglorious lord becomes obsessed with Nina’s destruction\, and blackmails a legendary war hero in hopes of bringing her down. \nTo save her city\, her sister\, and herself\, Nina must not only fight for her life\, but confront\, and forgive\, the painful compromises her mother made to see her reach her potential. \nFeaturing ghosts\, sword fights\, romance\, and a goth nun. \n\n  \n* Denotes BWBTC ensemble member \nLearn more about Fighting Words or submit your own script.
URL:https://babeswithblades.org/event/2020-fwf-nina-the-hellhound/
LOCATION:Stage773\, 1225 W Belmont Ave\, Chicago\, IL\, 60657
CATEGORIES:2020,Fighting Words,Performances,Play Development,Readings
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20200229T193000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20200229T220000
DTSTAMP:20260409T081918
CREATED:20200216T171345Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20200224T005323Z
UID:4241-1583004600-1583013600@babeswithblades.org
SUMMARY:2020 FWF - Plaid As Hell
DESCRIPTION:Three new works that dismantle the patriarchy\, elevate underrepresented voices and (of course) use stage combat!\nThe third annual Fighting Words Festival! \nEach year BWBTC selects three scripts for development.  Each must have the potential to grow into the kinds of plays that fit BWBTC’s mission.  Several of the Fighting Words selections have been seen as full productions with BWBTC\, as well as other theatre companies: most recently 180 Degree Rule\, Patchwork Drifter\, L’Imbecile and Bo Thomas and the Case of the Sky Pirates. \nEach 2019-20 script has undergone two reading-and-feedback sessions with the ensemble and invited guests prior to being introduced to the public (and given the BWBTC treatment of including one staged fight) at the 2020 Festival. \n  \nTickets: FREE ADMISSION! Refreshments and a talkback follow each reading. \nTICKETS Here \n  \nFIGHTING WORDS 2019-2020 SELECTION: \n\nSaturday\, February 29\, 2020 – 7:30pm \nPlaid As Hell \nby Cat McKay \nDirector: Christina Casano\nFight Choreography: Maureen Yasko*\n\n\nCass’s annual camping trip is off to a rough start with her best friend Emilie sniping at Cass’s new girlfriend Jess. The serial killer loose in the woods isn’t helping matters\, either.\n\n  \n* Denotes BWBTC ensemble member \nLearn more about Fighting Words or submit your own script.
URL:https://babeswithblades.org/event/2020-fwf-plaid-as-hell/
LOCATION:Stage773\, 1225 W Belmont Ave\, Chicago\, IL\, 60657
CATEGORIES:2020,Community,Fighting Words,Performances,Play Development,Readings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20200301T160000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20200301T183000
DTSTAMP:20260409T081918
CREATED:20200216T172000Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20200218T015019Z
UID:4243-1583078400-1583087400@babeswithblades.org
SUMMARY:2020 FWF - Scum
DESCRIPTION:Three new works that dismantle the patriarchy\, elevate underrepresented voices and (of course) use stage combat!\nThe third annual Fighting Words Festival! \nEach year BWBTC selects three scripts for development.  Each must have the potential to grow into the kinds of plays that fit BWBTC’s mission.  Several of the Fighting Words selections have been seen as full productions with BWBTC\, as well as other theatre companies: most recently 180 Degree Rule\, Patchwork Drifter\, L’Imbecile and Bo Thomas and the Case of the Sky Pirates. \nEach 2019-20 script has undergone two reading-and-feedback sessions with the ensemble and invited guests prior to being introduced to the public (and given the BWBTC treatment of including one staged fight) at the 2020 Festival. \n  \nTickets: FREE ADMISSION! Refreshments and a talkback follow each reading. \nTICKETS Here \n  \nFIGHTING WORDS 2019-2020 SELECTION: \n\nSunday\, March 1\, 2020 – 4:00pm \nScum \nby Mia Vera \nDirector: Kathrynne Wolf*\nFight Choreography: Jillian Leff* \n\n\nInspired by Valerie Solanas’s SCUM Manifesto\, three people with wildly different agendas take up art\, activism and potentially arms as they ponder how to dismantle the patriarchy (and cope with a break-up).\n\n  \n* Denotes BWBTC ensemble member \nLearn more about Fighting Words or submit your own script.
URL:https://babeswithblades.org/event/2020-fwf-scum/
LOCATION:Stage773\, 1225 W Belmont Ave\, Chicago\, IL\, 60657
CATEGORIES:2020,Community,Fighting Words,Performances,Play Development,Readings
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20210524T193000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20210524T220000
DTSTAMP:20260409T081918
CREATED:20210428T234804Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210429T014050Z
UID:4398-1621884600-1621893600@babeswithblades.org
SUMMARY:Writing Violence and Intimacy for the Stage
DESCRIPTION:Join writers and designers from Babes With Blades Theatre Company’s ensemble to learn how to best write violence and intimacy for the stage. Lead by playwrights Jillian Leff and Jennifer L. Mickelson\, and Violence & Intimacy designers Samantha Kaufman & Maureen Yasko\, this 1 night workshop will provide tips on how to create compelling action for the stage that is satisfying to the artists performing your play\, as well as the audience watching it. \nThis free\, online workshop is one night only\, Monday\, May 24th at 7:30pm CST \nReserve your slot now at artistic@babeswithblades.org \n  \n Photos by Joe Mazza/BraveLux \n  \nBios: \nSamantha Kaufman (she/her/hers) is an actor and movement director\, specializing in fight direction and intimacy direction.. A Jeff Nominated Fight Choreographer. A Babes with Blades Theatre Ensemble Member. Samantha is an Advanced Actor Combatant with the Society of American Fight Directors and an Intermediate Actor Combatant with Fight Directors Canada. Samantha has also trained and taught with Deutschland Stage Combat. Samantha is a certified Intimacy Director with both Intimacy Directors and Coordinators\, as well as Intimacy Directors International. Regionally\, Samantha has worked with theatres such as Milwaukee Repertory Theatre\, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis\, and Cleveland Play House. In Chicago\, she has worked with theatres such as Lookingglass Theatre\, Steep Theatre\, Babes with Blades Theatre Company\, and Idle Muse. Samantha has an MFA from Florida Atlantic University. SamanthaJKaufman.com \n  \nJillian Leff is a Chicago based playwright and actor. In the city\, her plays have been produced by The New Colony (Small World – co-written with Joe Lino – 2020 Jeff Award Nominee for New Work) The Cuckoo’s Theater Project (Missed Opportunities)\, and The Right Brain Project ((Non)Fiction)\, while her short plays have been produced by Broken Nose Theatre (All I Really Want)\, Random Acts Chicago (Ms. Chapman)\, Ghostlight Ensemble (Forgetting)\, The Edge Theater at Fight Night (The Mother Load) and Clock Productions (Real Talk). Real Talk was a finalist for the 2015 City Theatre National Award for Short Playwriting\, is published in the City Theatre Anthology 2015\, and has been produced in Indiana\, Florida\, and Illinois. She has a BFA in Acting from Ball State University\, is an Advanced Actor Combatant with the Society of American Fight Directors\, and an Ensemble Member with Babes With Blades Theatre Company. \n  \nJennifer L. Mickelson is the BWBTC Literary Manager and has worked in various capacities including (but not limited to) actor\, intimacy designer\, and playwright. She has been a company member since 2009 and in that time has participated in a LOT of script development. Jen has designed intimacy for Idle Muse (Girl Found\, Equivocation)\, Promethean Theatre Ensemble (BLISS (or Emily Post is Dead!)\, Arcadia)\, and Otherworld (Medusa Undone). Her plays are The Last Daughter of Oedipus (produced by BWBTC in 2010)\, Rites and Sacrifices (Idle Muse\, 2014)\, and Patchwork Drifter (BWBTC\, 2015). She was last seen onstage with Promethean in Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde and as a last-minute understudy in BWBTC’s Othello. She is an SAFD Actor-Combatant and an alum of Illinois State University. \n  \nMaureen Yasko is an ensemble member of BWBTC where she has appeared in Julius Caesar\, Bo Thomas…\, L’Imbecile\, Titus Andronicus\, and The Promise of a Rose Garden. She Fight Directed Women of 4G\, Witch Slap! and assisted with the fights in Titus. Maureen is Resident Intimacy Director/Associate Fight Director of Midsommer Flight\, a Company Member with A Crew of Patches\, and a Conspirator. She also holds the title of Advanced Actor Combatant with the SAFD\, continues to seek intimacy training with IDI\, and holds a BA in Theatre\, Music Minor from AASU in Savannah\, GA. When not in a theatre\, you’ll find her in the studio as a Certified Yoga Instructor.
URL:https://babeswithblades.org/event/writing-violence-and-intimacy-for-the-stage-online-event/
LOCATION:Online Event
CATEGORIES:2021,Play Development,Workshops,Writing
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20211113
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20211115
DTSTAMP:20260409T081918
CREATED:20210922T045712Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230917T234828Z
UID:4422-1636761600-1636934399@babeswithblades.org
SUMMARY:2021 - Fighting Words Festival
DESCRIPTION:Three new scripts that utilize stage combat to tell stories of underrepresented communities and invite audiences to contribute to the plays’ development! \nThe fourth annual Fighting Words Festival (live and streamed online)! \nBWBTC’s 2019-21 season concludes with the Fighting Words Festival\, held on Saturday\, Nov. 13 and Sunday\, Nov. 14\, 2021 at The Factory Theater\, 1623 W. Howard Street in the Rogers Park neighborhood\, as well as streaming online. The Festival\, which is free and open to the public is available online and in person\, features readings of three scripts in the development process. After each reading the audience has an opportunity to provide feedback for the playwright. \nTickets: FREE ADMISSION! And a talkback following each reading. \n\n\nCLICK HERE TO VIEW THE FIGHTING WORDS FESTIVAL PROGRAM\n \n\nCLICK HERE TO FILL OUT THE FWF – TALKBACK RESPONSE FORM\n \nFIGHTING WORDS 2021 SELECTIONS:\n\nSaturday\, November 13\, 2021 – 3:30pm\nPhantom Queens\nby Jessica Johnson \n\nDirected by Angela Forshee\nFight Choreography by Nicky Jasper \n\n\nIris is dragged on a camping trip by her friends in an effort to cheer her up after the loss of her father\, but the whole group ends up face-to-face with death when a storm sends them to a nearby lodge and into the hands of a suspicious group of locals. \n\n\nRSVP -PHANTOM QUEENS (Live)\n\nRSVP – PHANTOM QUEENS (Virtual)\n  \n\nSaturday\, November 13\, 2021 – 7:30pm\nChild’s Play\nby Frank Garland \n \nDirected by Hayley Rice*\nFight Choreography by Kate Lass \n\nA young mother named Alice breaks into the deadly playful kingdom of the fairies to get her child back. But fairy land is only as dangerous as what you bring with you. Dreams come alive there\, and Alice has been having some bad dreams. (WARNING: This script contains descriptions of physical abuse\, including abuse of a child.)\n\nRSVP -CHILD’S PLAY (Live)\n\nRSVP – CHILD’S PLAY (Virtual)\n  \n\nSunday\, November 14\, 2021 – 3:30pm\nThe Mark\nby Jillian Leff* \n \nDirected by Morgan Manasa*\nFight Choreography by Polley Cooney \n\nIn a dystopian\, classist society\, a young Laborer named Raina is given an unexpected chance to join The Army. As she starts to acclimate to her new position and higher standing in society\, a resistance is brewing among The Laborers. An assassination attempt upends Raina’s life as she becomes caught in the middle of the war between the two classes\, as well as her own battle of discovering who and what she believes in.\n\nRSVP -THE MARK (Live)\n\n\nRSVP – THE MARK (Virtual)\n\n* Denotes BWBTC ensemble member \n\nABOUT JESSICA JOHNSON\, PLAYWRIGHT OF Phantom Queens\n \nJessica Johnson (she/her/hers) is a writer\, dog mom and nerd living in the great city of Chicago. Johnson has written articles\, stories\, poems\, plays\, sketches\, TV scripts and screenplays. She has written about film\, television and the web for Time Out Chicago\, Time Out New York and RogerEbert.com\, as well as appearing on “The Rotten Tomatoes Show.” She also created and co-starred in the web series “2 Redheads.” When not writing and paying the bills\, Johnson enjoys walking her dog Bodhi\, reading comics\, watching lots of TV and movies and volunteering at the dog rescue One Tail at at Time. http://historyofjess.com\nABOUT FRANK GARLAND\, PLAYWRIGHT OF Child’s Play\n \nFrank Garland (he/his/his) is overjoyed to be working with the Babes. His plays have been produced in Seattle\, Cambridge\, Los Angeles and New York. He is a Young Playwrights Inc. award winner and a two time winner of the Blank Theater Young Playwrights Festival. He lives in Seattle with his hands and his feet.\nABOUT JILLIAN LEFF\, PLAYWRIGHT OF The Mark\n\nJillian Leff (she/her/hers) is a Chicago based playwright and actor. In the city\, her plays have been produced by The New Colony (Small World – co-written with Joe Lino)\, The Cuckoo’s Theater Project (Missed Opportunities) and The Right Brain Project ((Non)Fiction)\, while her short plays have been produced by Broken Nose Theatre (All I Really Want)\, Random Acts Chicago (Ms. Chapman)\, Ghostlight Ensemble (Forgetting)\, Edge Theatre at Fight Night (The Mother Load) and Clock Productions (Real Talk). She has a BFA in Acting from Ball State University\, and is an ensemble member with Babes With Blades Theatre Company.\nhttps://newplayexchange.org/users/21210/jillian-leff\nABOUT THE FIGHTING WORDS FESTIVAL\nFighting Words emerged from the very clear need to increase the canon of fighting roles for folks of marginalized genders. By establishing a development series for new works\, BWBTC not only supports the creation of scripts that meet our mission and that we can produce\, but scripts that can go beyond Chicago to increase the visibility of a wide variety of fierce folks on stage. \nEach year since 2005\, BWBTC selects three scripts for development that have the potential to grow into the kinds of plays that fit its mission. Several of the Fighting Words selections have been seen as full productions with BWBTC\, as well as other theatre companies: most recently Women of 4G\, 180 Degree Rule\, Patchwork Drifter\, L’Imbecile\, Promise of a Rose Garden (Jeff Recommended\,) Bo Thomas and the Case of the Sky Pirates and The Lady Demands Satisfaction (Jeff Recommended). \nEach 2020-21 script has undergone two reading-and-feedback sessions with the ensemble and invited guests. BWBTC is presenting the final reading of each script in a festival format: The Fighting Words Festival. \n  \nLearn more about Fighting Words or submit your own script.
URL:https://babeswithblades.org/event/2021-fighting-words-festival/
LOCATION:The Factory Theater\, 1623 W Howard Street\, Chicago\, IL\, 60626
CATEGORIES:2021,Fighting Words,Performances,Play Development,Readings
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://babeswithblades.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/2021-New-Fighting-Words-Logo.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20230617
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20230626
DTSTAMP:20260409T081918
CREATED:20230510T013024Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240208T023839Z
UID:4872-1686960000-1687737599@babeswithblades.org
SUMMARY:2023 - Fighting Words Festival
DESCRIPTION:Three new scripts that utilize stage combat to tell stories of underrepresented communities and invite audiences to contribute to the plays’ development! \nThe fifth annual Fighting Words Festival (live and streamed online)! \nBWBTC’s 2023 season kicks off with the Fighting Words Festival\, held on Saturday & Sunday\, June 17-18 and June 24-25\, 2023 at The Edge Off Broadway. (The Edge Theater’s black box)\, 1133 W. Catalpa in the Edgewater neighborhood. The Festival\, which is free and open to the public is available online and in person\, features readings of three scripts in the development process. After each reading the audience has an opportunity to provide feedback for the playwright. Live streaming is available for the June 24th and 25th readings. \nTickets: FREE ADMISSION! And a talkback following each reading. \n**MASKING IS REQUIRED TO ATTEND IN PERSON** \n\n\nCLICK HERE TO VIEW THE FIGHTING WORDS FESTIVAL PROGRAM\n \n\nCLICK HERE TO FILL OUT THE FWF – TALKBACK RESPONSE FORM\n \nFIGHTING WORDS 2023 SELECTIONS:\n\nRich B*tch\nby Rachel Lynett \n\nSaturday\, June 17\, 2023 – 2:30pm \nSaturday\, June 24\, 2023 – 7:30pm \n\n \nDirected by Lo Williams\nFight Choreography by Madison Hill \n\n\nDani agrees to spend a weekend with her rich friends to celebrate her best friend’s wedding as a sort of “bachelor party”\, but no one was expecting the various proverbial (and literal) cuts they would ultimately cause each other as they navigate what is required and expected in order to be a rich b*tch who is also a woman of color. \nContent Warning: Please be advised that this script portrays drug use and heavy alcohol use\, as well as discussions of suicide\, sexual abuse\, and unintended pregnancy. \n\n\nRSVP -RICH B*TCH (Live)\n\nRSVP – RICH B*TCH (Virtual)\n  \n\n  \n\nSin Agua\nby Desi Moreno-Penson \n\nSunday\, June 18\, 2023 – 2:30pm \nSaturday\, June 24\, 2023 – 2:30pm \n\n \nDirected by Amy Gerwert Valdez\nFight Choreography by Thomas Russell \n\nAmanita\, the mushroom chef\, wants to open her own restaurant in Mexico City. But it’s raining. The rain is called The Spate and it carries disease. The other chefs want to leave\, the enigmatic ghost of her mother wants her to find the mushroom fields of the Aztlán Gods\, called El Medio\, and an eccentric mushroom supplier wants to devour every mushroom in sight. What’s a girl to do with such a kitchen nightmare?\n\nRSVP -SIN AGUA (Live)\n\nRSVP – SIN AGUA (Virtual)\n  \n\n  \n\nThe Gatekeepers\nby Jillian Leff* \n\nSaturday\, June 17\, 2023 – 7:30pm \nSunday\, June 25\, 2023 – 2:30pm \n\n \nDirected by Morgan Manasa*\nFight Choreography by Pol Cooney \n\nTaking place in a distant future where the United States has undergone sweeping reform: Guns are banned\, healthcare is free\, and numerous tax and economic bills have helped lessen the division of classes and pulled millions out of poverty. Sloane (first name Bridget\, but don’t call her that) is a young woman who has been tapped by a watchdog intelligence agency called the CRC\, led by the odd\, yet domineering William Hale. As Sloane triumphantly (and a little drunkenly) leaves a warehouse after signing her contract\, she is stopped by a mysterious woman who says she has come back in time to stop Sloane from making the biggest mistake of her life.\n\nRSVP -THE GATEKEEPERS (Live)\n\n\nRSVP – THE GATEKEEPERS (Virtual)\n\n* Denotes BWBTC ensemble member \n\nABOUT RACHEL LYNETT\, PLAYWRIGHT OF Rich B*tch\n \nRachel Lynett (she/they) is a queer Afro-Latine playwright\, producer\, and teaching artist. Their plays have been featured at San Diego Rep\, Magic Theatre\, Mirrorbox Theatre\, Laboratory Theatre of Florida\, Barrington Stage Company\, Theatre Lab\, Theatre Prometheus\, Florida Studio Theatre\, Laughing Pig Theatre Company\, Capital Repertory Theatre\, Teatro Espejo\, the Kennedy Center Page to Stage festival\, TheatreSquared\, Equity Library Theatre\, Chicago\, Talk Back Theatre\, American Stage Theatre Company\, Indiana University at Bloomington\, Edgewood College\, and Orlando Shakespeare Theatre. Their plays\, Last Night and HE DID IT\, made the 2020 Kilroy’s List. Rachel Lynett is also the 2021 recipient of the Yale Drama Prize for their play\, Apologies to Lorraine Hansberry (You Too August Wilson). Lynett was the 2021 recipient of the National Latinx Playwriting award and the runner-up for the 2022 Miranda Family Voces Latinx Playwriting Competition for their play\, Black Mexican. Their play\, White People by the Lake was also a 2022 Blue Ink Award finalist. They have previously taught at the University of Arkansas\, Fayetteville\, the University of Wisconsin\, Madison\, and Alfred University. Lynett was recently a staff writer for The Winchesters and is working on an upcoming feature.\nABOUT DESI MORENO-PENSON\, PLAYWRIGHT OF Sin Agua\n \nDesi Moreno-Penson (she/her) is a playwright\, actor\, dramaturg\, and independent theater producer based in NYC. She has an MFA in Dramaturgy and Theater Criticism from Brooklyn College. Her plays have been developed/produced at Ensemble Studio Theater (EST)\, INTAR\, MultiStages\, Perishable Theater (Providence\, RI)\, SPF-Summer Play Festival\, terraNOVA Collective\, Downtown Urban Theater Festival (DUTF) @the Cherry Lane\, Urban Theater Company (Chicago)\, Teatro Coribantes (San Juan\, PR)\, among others. She is the Instructor for Classics In Color\, an online new play development course sponsored by Dramatic Question Theater (DQT) for BIPOC playwrights interested in creating modern adaptations of classical works. Her short play\, DEAD WIVES DANCE THE MAMBO was featured as part of The Chain One-Act Festival at the Chain Theater\, directed by KM Jones. Her new play\, EL BACALAO: The Catfish Man\, a Latinx retelling of Euripedes’ THE BACCHAE\, was selected for the 2021 Fall Intensive Writers Group with Workshop Theater. Her play\, BEIGE received a staged reading as part of the playwrights/directors unit (PDU) at The Actors Studio. In addition\, BEIGE is the winner of the 2016 National Latinx Playwriting Award sponsored by the Arizona Theater Company; and is a finalist for both the O’Neill National Playwrights Conference and the Bay Area Playwrights Festival (San Francisco\, CA). She has twice won the MultiStages New Works Contest sponsored by MultiStages Theater Company for her plays\, OMINOUS MEN and COMIDA DE PUTA (F%&king Lousy Food); she has twice been a semifinalist for the Princess Grace Award\, and her work has received Honorable Mention on The Kilroys List. Her plays are published by Broadway Play Publishing; her short play\, RECONCILE\, BITCH is included in the short plays anthology “Best Ten-Minute Plays of 2020\,” published by Applause Theater and Cinema Books; a ten-minute play\, SPIRIT SEX: A PARANORMAL ROMANCE\, was selected for the short plays anthology\, “Best Ten-Minute Plays of 2010;” and a scene from her play\, COMIDA DE PUTA (F%&king Lousy Food) is included in an anthology featuring plays written by Latinx playwrights\, “Scenes for Latinx Actors: Voices of the New American Theater\,” both published by Smith and Kraus.\nABOUT JILLIAN LEFF\, PLAYWRIGHT OF The Gatekeepers\n \nJillian Leff (she/her) is a Chicago based playwright and actor. In the city\, her plays have been produced by The New Coordinates (SMALL WORLD – co-written with Joe Lino – 2020 Jeff Award Nominee for New Work) The Cuckoo’s Theater Project (MISSED OPPORTUNITIES)\, and The Right Brain Project ((NON)FICTION)\, while her short plays have been produced by Broken Nose Theatre\, Random Acts Chicago\, and Ghostlight Ensemble\, among others. She has a BFA in Acting from Ball State University and is an Ensemble Member of Babes With Blades Theatre Company. https://newplayexchange.org/users/21210/jillian-leff\nABOUT THE FIGHTING WORDS FESTIVAL\nFighting Words emerged from the very clear need to increase the canon of fighting roles for folks of marginalized genders. By establishing a development series for new works\, BWBTC not only supports the creation of scripts that meet our mission and that we can produce\, but scripts that can go beyond Chicago to increase the visibility of a wide variety of fierce folks on stage. \nEach year since 2005\, BWBTC selects three scripts for development that have the potential to grow into the kinds of plays that fit its mission. Several of the Fighting Words selections have been seen as full productions with BWBTC\, as well as other theatre companies: most recently Women of 4G\, 180 Degree Rule\, Patchwork Drifter\, L’Imbecile\, Promise of a Rose Garden (Jeff Recommended\,) Bo Thomas and the Case of the Sky Pirates and The Lady Demands Satisfaction (Jeff Recommended). \nEach 2022-23 script has undergone two reading-and-feedback sessions with the ensemble and invited guests. BWBTC is presenting the final reading of each script in a festival format: The Fighting Words Festival. \n  \nLearn more about Fighting Words or submit your own script.
URL:https://babeswithblades.org/event/2023-fighting-words-festival/
LOCATION:The Edge Off Broadway\, 1133 W Catalpa Ave\, Chicago\, IL\, 60640
CATEGORIES:2023,Fighting Words,Live Streaming,Performances,Play Development,Readings,Talkback,Workshops
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://babeswithblades.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/2023-FWF-poster_web_900.jpeg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20230623T193000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20230623T220000
DTSTAMP:20260409T081918
CREATED:20230604T185044Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230604T195855Z
UID:4905-1687548600-1687557600@babeswithblades.org
SUMMARY:2023 Writing Violence and Intimacy for the Stage
DESCRIPTION:In conjunction with our 2023 Fighting Word Festival\, we are thrilled to once again offer this unique online workshop. \nJoin writers and designers from Babes With Blades Theatre Company’s ensemble to learn how to best write violence and intimacy for the stage. Lead by playwrights Jillian Leff and Jennifer L. Mickelson\, and Violence & Intimacy designers Samantha Kaufman & Maureen Yasko\, this 1 night workshop will provide tips on how to create compelling action for the stage that is satisfying to the artists performing your play\, as well as the audience watching it. \nThis FREE workshop is one night only\, Friday\, June 23rd at 7:30pm CST. \nReserve your slot now at workshops@babeswithblades.org \n  \n Photo by Joe Mazza/BraveLux \n  \nBios:\nJillian Leff is a Chicago based actor and playwright. With BWBTC\, she’s appeared in The Good Fight (Cicely)\, Women of 4G (Pierce)\, and Richard III (Buckingham)\, and has also developed her plays The Mark and The Gatekeepers (Winner of 2021 Joining Sword and Pen/Margaret M. Martin Award) through the Fighting Words program. In the city\, she’s also worked with companies such as The New Coordinates (2020 Jeff Award Nominee for New Work – Small World\, co-written with Joe Lino)\, The Factory Theater\, and Midsommer Flight. She has a BFA in Acting from Ball State University and is an Advanced Actor Combatant with The Society of American Fight Directors.  You can check out more of her work at http://jeleff11.wixsite.com/jillianwebsite  \n\n  \nJennifer L. Mickelson is the BWBTC Co-Literary Manager and has worked in various capacities including (but not limited to) actor\, intimacy designer\, and playwright. She has been a company member since 2009 and in that time has participated in a LOT of script development. Jen has designed intimacy for Idle Muse (Girl Found\, Equivocation)\, Promethean Theatre Ensemble (BLISS (or Emily Post is Dead!)\, Arcadia)\, and Otherworld (Medusa Undone). Her plays are The Last Daughter of Oedipus (produced by BWBTC in 2010)\, Rites and Sacrifices (Idle Muse\, 2014)\, and Patchwork Drifter (BWBTC\, 2015). She was last seen onstage with Promethean in Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde and as a last-minute understudy in BWBTC’s Othello. She is an SAFD Actor-Combatant and an alum of Illinois State University. \n\n  \nSamantha Kaufman (she/her) is an intimacy director\, fight director\, actor\, and teaching artist. She is based in the Midwest region and travels to perform in and fight/intimacy/movement direct productions internationally. Samantha is a Certified Intimacy Director with Intimacy Directors and Coordinators. A Certified Teacher with the Society of American Fight Directors. A Jeff award nominated fight choreographer. An award winning actor. A certified Michael Chekhov teacher with the Great Lakes Michael Chekhov Consortium. Regionally\, Samantha has worked with theatres such as Oregon Shakespeare Festival\, Prague Shakespeare Company (Czech Republic)\, Asolo Repertory Theatre\, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre\, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis\, Lookingglass Theatre Company\, Cincinnati Shakespeare Company\, Cleveland Play House\, among others. She has her MFA from Florida Atlantic University. SamanthaJKaufman.com \n \n  \nMaureen Yasko is an ensemble member of BWBTC where she has appeared in Julius Caesar\, Bo Thomas…\, L’Imbecile\, Titus Andronicus\, and The Promise of a Rose Garden. She Fight Directed Women of 4G\, Witch Slap! and assisted with the fights in Titus. Maureen is Resident Intimacy Director/Associate Fight Director of Midsommer Flight\, a Company Member with A Crew of Patches\, and a Conspirator. She also holds the title of Advanced Actor Combatant with the SAFD\, continues to seek intimacy training with IDI\, and holds a BA in Theatre\, Music Minor from AASU in Savannah\, GA. When not in a theatre\, you’ll find her in the studio as a Certified Yoga Instructor. \n\n 
URL:https://babeswithblades.org/event/2023-writing-violence-and-intimacy-for-the-stage/
LOCATION:Online Event
CATEGORIES:2023,Fighting Words,Play Development,Workshops,Writing
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://babeswithblades.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Writing-Violence-and-Intimacy-for-the-Stage-Instagram_Square.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250907
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250908
DTSTAMP:20260409T081918
CREATED:20250622T201715Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250803T173927Z
UID:5913-1757203200-1757289599@babeswithblades.org
SUMMARY:2025 - Fighting Words Festival
DESCRIPTION:CHALLENGE IT ALL:\nBABES WITH BLADES THEATRE COMPANY FIGHTING WORDS LOOKS AT IDENTITY IN ALL FORMS\nPeople living their truth\, no matter how inconvenient to society around them\, can sometimes create heroes where least expected. \nCHICAGO – Babes With Blades Theatre Company’s (BWBTC) 2025 season opens with an extended run of their new works festival\, collectively called Fighting Words\, running September 6th – 14th at the Bramble Arts Loft\, 5545 N. Clark St\, 2nd Floor. All performances start at a $10 suggested price and audiences can provide feedback on the scripts following each reading. \n“Audiences underestimate how much they can influence a new play simply by attending a reading\,” states Hayley Rice\, Artistic Director of BWBTC. “While written notes and critiques are invaluable\, just hearing how an audience connects with a story in the moment is pivotal for playwrights. Fighting Words is an opportunity to do exactly that: All three shows bring something very different to the stage\,” continues Rice. “Chicago theater\, and BWBTC especially\, is not afraid to tell new narratives that represent folks from every corner of society and history\, and this season’s festival does that.” \nFighting Words Festival 2025 Tickets Here\n\nFIGHTING WORDS FESTIVAL\nSeptember 6th & 7th\, 13th & 14th \nPerformance Running Time: TBA\nTicket Price: Beginning at $10\nLocation: Bramble Arts Loft\, 5545 N. Clark St\, 2nd Floor.Select performances will be available for streaming.\nEach weekend the festival will have staged readings of the 2025 selections:\nCALVARIA: A PLAY FOR FERAL GIRLS\nWritten by: Maggie Smith (she/her)\nDirected by: BWBTC Ensemble Member Morgan Manasa (she/her)\nFight Direction by: Jessica Pennachio (she/her) \n\nSaturday\, September 6th\, 2025 – 2:30pm \nSaturday\, September 13th\, 2025 – 7:30pm \n\n \n\n\nWhen her family’s bull is found decapitated in the middle of a farm field\, Edie Hruska makes it her mission to find the culprit. While on her search\, she comes across a group of young girls claiming to communicate with gods\, begging Edie to become their newest acolyte. While acclimating to their lifestyle\, Edie finds herself face-to-face with the girls’ true intentions\, and they are much more sinister than just a dead bull. (CALVARIA is the 2025-2026 winner of BWBTC’s Margaret W. Martin Award and the Joining Sword & Pen International Playwriting Competition) \n\n\n  \n\nTWO OUT OF THREE FALLS\nWritten by: Bill Daniel (he/him)\nDirected by: BWBTC Artistic Associate Ashley Yates (she/her)\nFight Direction by: Axel Rico \n\nSunday\, September 7th\, 2025 – 2:30pm \nSaturday\, September 13th\, 2025 – 2:30pm \n\n \n\n\nJohanna Goodish was the child of notorious pro wrestler King Kong Bruiser. Thirty years ago\, he was murdered in a locker room shower in Puerto Rico and the killer was never tried. The witnesses never talked. Since she began her own wrestling career\, she has been trying to escape his shadow. And now\, she’s been seeing his ghost. When an opportunity for revenge presents itself\, she takes it. But it means she’ll be face to face in the ring with the man who held the knife when it happened. \n\n\n  \n\nYO HO\nWritten by: SMJ (they/them)\nDirected by: BWBTC Artistic Associate Maureen Yasko (she/her)\nFight Direction by: Carly Belle Cason \n\nSaturday\, September 6th\, 2025 – 7:30pm \nSunday\, September 14th\, 2025 – 2:30pm \n \n\nYo ho charts the journey of Anne Bonny and Mary Read\, two pirates aboard a campy\, sexually charged ship under immediate threat from the crown. Equal parts historical fantasy and introspective sexual & gender exploration\, this play is a deeply emotional reimaging and reminder of our queer histories. \n\n\nABOUT MAGGIE SMITH\, PLAYWRIGHT OF CALVARIA\n \nMaggie Smith (she/her) is an playwright\, performer\, and comedian based in Chicago\, Illinois. Originally from Omaha\, Nebraska\, Maggie moved to Chicago to attend Loyola University Chicago\, where she received a BA in Theatre\, while minoring in English and Shakespeare Studies. At Loyola\, Maggie led two projects\, Rats and Saint Louise\, Pray for Us\, the first being a devised parody musical and the second a staged reading of her two-act play. Upon graduating Loyola\, she was accepted into the Second City’s Conservatory Training Program\, where she completed her training in September\, 2023. As a writer\, Maggie challenges herself and her audiences to process difficult topics through comedic lenses. She takes from her own life experiences to create a casual representation of the queer experience. In order to depict an experience that she is familiar with\, she prefers to write characters in stories where their identities are not the driving force of the piece. Because of this\, she finds herself called to place queer characters at the forefront of comedies. After all\, that’s what her life is.\nABOUT BILL DANIEL\, PLAYWRIGHT OF TWO OUT OF THREE FALLS\n \nBill Daniel is an actor/playwright living in the city of Chicago. A graduate of Illinois State University\, Bill has spent over a decade in Chicago creating silly stories for silly people. As a playwright\, he has written for WildClaw Theatre (Hell Followed With Her\, Cavities)\, E.D.G.E. Theatre (Holmes vs. Holmes\, What’s All This Then\, La Mousquetaire\, Through Black Glass)\, Illinois State University’s Freestage Festival (The Glass Man\, Pingree Road)\, McHenry County College (What’s All This Then)\, The Living Canvas (Rain)\, Nothing Special Productions (Manhunt: The Great Waldo Search)\, Woodstock’s TownSquare Players (Sitting at the Kid’s Table)\, Hobo Junction (The Great Sloppy Joe Extermination\, Steeping the Tea) and Wayward Productions (Frock Club). In 2013\, Bill undertook a project inspired by Suzan Lori-Parks\, wherein he wrote a short play every day for an entire year.\nABOUT SMJ\, PLAYWRIGHT OF YO HO\n \nSMJ (they/them) is a mixed-Latiné\, non-binary playwright and theatermaker originally from Mount Vernon\, OH. They were a 2022-2023 Dramatists Guild Foundation Fellow. Currently\, SMJ is creating work with Latinx Playwrights Circle\, The Orchard Project\, and Andy’s Summer Playhouse. Their work has been seen in various forms with Ars Nova\, Lincoln Center\, The Kennedy Center\, Eugene O’Neill Theater Center\, New York Stage and Film\, Latiné Musical Theatre Lab\, National Queer Theater\, Carnegie Mellon University\, New York University\, Otterbein University\, Wright State University\, University of Texas-El Paso\, Art House Productions\, The Road Theatre Company\, The Flea Theater\, Live Arts\, The DR2 Theatre\, The Vineyard Theatre\, American Theatre Group\, The Arden Theater\, and The Tank. SMJ has been a finalist for the 2024-25 Princess Grace Award in Playwriting at New Dramatists\, 2024 June Bingham New Playwright Commission\, 2023 Parity Development Award\, 2024 Diverse Voices Playwriting Initiative at Illinois State University\, and Write Out Loud as well as a semifinalist for the O’Neill’s National Playwrights Conference (three times)\, the 2022-23 Princess Grace Award in Playwriting at New Dramatists\, and the Van Lier Fellowship at Rattlestick Theater. Member of the Dramatists Guild and Ring of Keys. www.smjwrites.com\n\nABOUT THE FIGHTING WORDS FESTIVAL\nFighting Words is BWBTC’s script development program. Each season we choose three scripts for development and read each one aloud three times–first within the company\, then with a small group of invited guests\, and finally as part of a festival that includes all three plays. (Every other season the winner of BWBTC’s International Playwriting Competition and the Margaret W. Martin Award is automatically included as a part of the process.) During the festival\, discussions after each reading provide feedback for the playwrights\, assisting them in developing their scripts further. \nABOUT JOINING SWORD & PEN INTERNATIONAL PLAYWRIGHTING COMPETITION AND THE MARGARET W. MARTIN AWARD\nThe Joining Sword & Pen international playwriting competition launched in 2005 to generate more scripts that featured women in roles involving stage combat. Created in collaboration with Artistic Advisor and Fight Master in the Society of American Fight Directors David Woolley who sponsors the competition\, scripts inspired by a specific image are submitted and go through a blind judging process. The winning script goes through BWBTC’s new play development program\, but also receives a full production\, cash prize and the Margaret W. Martin Award. \nMargaret W. Martin was ahead of her time. In the 1960s and 70s\, she maintained her full time job\, taught piano\, and raised a family of 6 children (4 girls\, two boys) all while she traveled the globe from the States to Saudi Arabia\, across Europe and Vientiane Laos during the height of the Vietnam war. She founded the American International School – Riyadh (K-12) in Saudi Arabia in 1963\, and it has flourished as an institution since then. The Margaret W. Martin Award is in honor of Artistic Advisor and SAFD Fight Master David Woolley’s mother.
URL:https://babeswithblades.org/event/2025-fighting-words-festival-2/
LOCATION:Bramble Arts Loft\, 5545 N. Clark St\, 2nd Floor\, Chicago\, IL
CATEGORIES:2025,Fighting Words,Performances,Play Development,Readings,Workshops,Writing
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://babeswithblades.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/FWF-2025-11x17-Poster.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250913
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250914
DTSTAMP:20260409T081918
CREATED:20250622T202104Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250803T173915Z
UID:5915-1757721600-1757807999@babeswithblades.org
SUMMARY:2025 - Fighting Words Festival
DESCRIPTION:CHALLENGE IT ALL:\nBABES WITH BLADES THEATRE COMPANY FIGHTING WORDS LOOKS AT IDENTITY IN ALL FORMS\nPeople living their truth\, no matter how inconvenient to society around them\, can sometimes create heroes where least expected. \nCHICAGO – Babes With Blades Theatre Company’s (BWBTC) 2025 season opens with an extended run of their new works festival\, collectively called Fighting Words\, running September 6th – 14th at the Bramble Arts Loft\, 5545 N. Clark St\, 2nd Floor. All performances start at a $10 suggested price and audiences can provide feedback on the scripts following each reading. \n“Audiences underestimate how much they can influence a new play simply by attending a reading\,” states Hayley Rice\, Artistic Director of BWBTC. “While written notes and critiques are invaluable\, just hearing how an audience connects with a story in the moment is pivotal for playwrights. Fighting Words is an opportunity to do exactly that: All three shows bring something very different to the stage\,” continues Rice. “Chicago theater\, and BWBTC especially\, is not afraid to tell new narratives that represent folks from every corner of society and history\, and this season’s festival does that.” \nFighting Words Festival 2025 Tickets Here\n\nFIGHTING WORDS FESTIVAL\nSeptember 6th & 7th\, 13th & 14th \nPerformance Running Time: TBA\nTicket Price: Beginning at $10\nLocation: Bramble Arts Loft\, 5545 N. Clark St\, 2nd Floor.Select performances will be available for streaming.\nEach weekend the festival will have staged readings of the 2025 selections:\nCALVARIA: A PLAY FOR FERAL GIRLS\nWritten by: Maggie Smith (she/her)\nDirected by: BWBTC Ensemble Member Morgan Manasa (she/her)\nFight Direction by: Jessica Pennachio (she/her) \n\nSaturday\, September 6th\, 2025 – 2:30pm \nSaturday\, September 13th\, 2025 – 7:30pm \n\n \n\n\nWhen her family’s bull is found decapitated in the middle of a farm field\, Edie Hruska makes it her mission to find the culprit. While on her search\, she comes across a group of young girls claiming to communicate with gods\, begging Edie to become their newest acolyte. While acclimating to their lifestyle\, Edie finds herself face-to-face with the girls’ true intentions\, and they are much more sinister than just a dead bull. (CALVARIA is the 2025-2026 winner of BWBTC’s Margaret W. Martin Award and the Joining Sword & Pen International Playwriting Competition) \n\n\n  \n\nTWO OUT OF THREE FALLS\nWritten by: Bill Daniel (he/him)\nDirected by: BWBTC Artistic Associate Ashley Yates (she/her)\nFight Direction by: Axel Rico \n\nSunday\, September 7th\, 2025 – 2:30pm \nSaturday\, September 13th\, 2025 – 2:30pm \n\n \n\n\nJohanna Goodish was the child of notorious pro wrestler King Kong Bruiser. Thirty years ago\, he was murdered in a locker room shower in Puerto Rico and the killer was never tried. The witnesses never talked. Since she began her own wrestling career\, she has been trying to escape his shadow. And now\, she’s been seeing his ghost. When an opportunity for revenge presents itself\, she takes it. But it means she’ll be face to face in the ring with the man who held the knife when it happened. \n\n\n  \n\nYO HO\nWritten by: SMJ (they/them)\nDirected by: BWBTC Artistic Associate Maureen Yasko (she/her)\nFight Direction by: Carly Belle Cason \n\nSaturday\, September 6th\, 2025 – 7:30pm \nSunday\, September 14th\, 2025 – 2:30pm \n \n\nYo ho charts the journey of Anne Bonny and Mary Read\, two pirates aboard a campy\, sexually charged ship under immediate threat from the crown. Equal parts historical fantasy and introspective sexual & gender exploration\, this play is a deeply emotional reimaging and reminder of our queer histories. \n\n\nABOUT MAGGIE SMITH\, PLAYWRIGHT OF CALVARIA\n \nMaggie Smith (she/her) is an playwright\, performer\, and comedian based in Chicago\, Illinois. Originally from Omaha\, Nebraska\, Maggie moved to Chicago to attend Loyola University Chicago\, where she received a BA in Theatre\, while minoring in English and Shakespeare Studies. At Loyola\, Maggie led two projects\, Rats and Saint Louise\, Pray for Us\, the first being a devised parody musical and the second a staged reading of her two-act play. Upon graduating Loyola\, she was accepted into the Second City’s Conservatory Training Program\, where she completed her training in September\, 2023. As a writer\, Maggie challenges herself and her audiences to process difficult topics through comedic lenses. She takes from her own life experiences to create a casual representation of the queer experience. In order to depict an experience that she is familiar with\, she prefers to write characters in stories where their identities are not the driving force of the piece. Because of this\, she finds herself called to place queer characters at the forefront of comedies. After all\, that’s what her life is.\nABOUT BILL DANIEL\, PLAYWRIGHT OF TWO OUT OF THREE FALLS\n \nBill Daniel is an actor/playwright living in the city of Chicago. A graduate of Illinois State University\, Bill has spent over a decade in Chicago creating silly stories for silly people. As a playwright\, he has written for WildClaw Theatre (Hell Followed With Her\, Cavities)\, E.D.G.E. Theatre (Holmes vs. Holmes\, What’s All This Then\, La Mousquetaire\, Through Black Glass)\, Illinois State University’s Freestage Festival (The Glass Man\, Pingree Road)\, McHenry County College (What’s All This Then)\, The Living Canvas (Rain)\, Nothing Special Productions (Manhunt: The Great Waldo Search)\, Woodstock’s TownSquare Players (Sitting at the Kid’s Table)\, Hobo Junction (The Great Sloppy Joe Extermination\, Steeping the Tea) and Wayward Productions (Frock Club). In 2013\, Bill undertook a project inspired by Suzan Lori-Parks\, wherein he wrote a short play every day for an entire year.\nABOUT SMJ\, PLAYWRIGHT OF YO HO\n \nSMJ (they/them) is a mixed-Latiné\, non-binary playwright and theatermaker originally from Mount Vernon\, OH. They were a 2022-2023 Dramatists Guild Foundation Fellow. Currently\, SMJ is creating work with Latinx Playwrights Circle\, The Orchard Project\, and Andy’s Summer Playhouse. Their work has been seen in various forms with Ars Nova\, Lincoln Center\, The Kennedy Center\, Eugene O’Neill Theater Center\, New York Stage and Film\, Latiné Musical Theatre Lab\, National Queer Theater\, Carnegie Mellon University\, New York University\, Otterbein University\, Wright State University\, University of Texas-El Paso\, Art House Productions\, The Road Theatre Company\, The Flea Theater\, Live Arts\, The DR2 Theatre\, The Vineyard Theatre\, American Theatre Group\, The Arden Theater\, and The Tank. SMJ has been a finalist for the 2024-25 Princess Grace Award in Playwriting at New Dramatists\, 2024 June Bingham New Playwright Commission\, 2023 Parity Development Award\, 2024 Diverse Voices Playwriting Initiative at Illinois State University\, and Write Out Loud as well as a semifinalist for the O’Neill’s National Playwrights Conference (three times)\, the 2022-23 Princess Grace Award in Playwriting at New Dramatists\, and the Van Lier Fellowship at Rattlestick Theater. Member of the Dramatists Guild and Ring of Keys. www.smjwrites.com\n\nABOUT THE FIGHTING WORDS FESTIVAL\nFighting Words is BWBTC’s script development program. Each season we choose three scripts for development and read each one aloud three times–first within the company\, then with a small group of invited guests\, and finally as part of a festival that includes all three plays. (Every other season the winner of BWBTC’s International Playwriting Competition and the Margaret W. Martin Award is automatically included as a part of the process.) During the festival\, discussions after each reading provide feedback for the playwrights\, assisting them in developing their scripts further. \nABOUT JOINING SWORD & PEN INTERNATIONAL PLAYWRIGHTING COMPETITION AND THE MARGARET W. MARTIN AWARD\nThe Joining Sword & Pen international playwriting competition launched in 2005 to generate more scripts that featured women in roles involving stage combat. Created in collaboration with Artistic Advisor and Fight Master in the Society of American Fight Directors David Woolley who sponsors the competition\, scripts inspired by a specific image are submitted and go through a blind judging process. The winning script goes through BWBTC’s new play development program\, but also receives a full production\, cash prize and the Margaret W. Martin Award. \nMargaret W. Martin was ahead of her time. In the 1960s and 70s\, she maintained her full time job\, taught piano\, and raised a family of 6 children (4 girls\, two boys) all while she traveled the globe from the States to Saudi Arabia\, across Europe and Vientiane Laos during the height of the Vietnam war. She founded the American International School – Riyadh (K-12) in Saudi Arabia in 1963\, and it has flourished as an institution since then. The Margaret W. Martin Award is in honor of Artistic Advisor and SAFD Fight Master David Woolley’s mother.
URL:https://babeswithblades.org/event/2025-fighting-words-festival-3/
LOCATION:Bramble Arts Loft\, 5545 N. Clark St\, 2nd Floor\, Chicago\, IL
CATEGORIES:2025,Fighting Words,Performances,Play Development,Readings,Talkback,Workshops,Writing
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://babeswithblades.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/FWF-2025-11x17-Poster.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250914
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250915
DTSTAMP:20260409T081918
CREATED:20250622T202501Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250905T203247Z
UID:5916-1757808000-1757894399@babeswithblades.org
SUMMARY:2025 - Fighting Words Festival
DESCRIPTION:CHALLENGE IT ALL:\nBABES WITH BLADES THEATRE COMPANY FIGHTING WORDS LOOKS AT IDENTITY IN ALL FORMS\nPeople living their truth\, no matter how inconvenient to society around them\, can sometimes create heroes where least expected. \nCHICAGO – Babes With Blades Theatre Company’s (BWBTC) 2025 season opens with an extended run of their new works festival\, collectively calledFighting Words\, running September 6th – 14th at the Bramble Arts Loft\, 5545 N. Clark St\, 2nd Floor. All performances start at a $10 suggested price and audiences can provide feedback on the scripts following each reading. \n“Audiences underestimate how much they can influence a new play simply by attending a reading\,” states Hayley Rice\, Artistic Director of BWBTC. “While written notes and critiques are invaluable\, just hearing how an audience connects with a story in the moment is pivotal for playwrights. Fighting Words is an opportunity to do exactly that: All three shows bring something very different to the stage\,” continues Rice. “Chicago theater\, and BWBTC especially\, is not afraid to tell new narratives that represent folks from every corner of society and history\, and this season’s festival does that.” \nFighting Words Festival 2025 Tickets Here\n\nFIGHTING WORDS FESTIVAL\nSeptember 6th & 7th\, 13th & 14th \nPerformance Running Time: TBA\nTicket Price: Beginning at $10\nLocation: Bramble Arts Loft\, 5545 N. Clark St\, 2nd Floor.Select performances will be available for streaming.\n\n\nCLICK HERE TO VIEW THE FIGHTING WORDS FESTIVAL PROGRAM\n\nFIGHTING WORDS 2023 SELECTIONS:\n\n\nEach weekend the festival will have staged readings of the 2025 selections:\nCALVARIA: A PLAY FOR FERAL GIRLS\nWritten by: Maggie Smith (she/her)\nDirected by: BWBTC Ensemble Member Morgan Manasa (she/her)\nFight Direction by: Jessica Pennachio (she/her) \n\nSaturday\, September 6th\, 2025 – 2:30pm \nSaturday\, September 13th\, 2025 – 7:30pm \n\n \n\n\nWhen her family’s bull is found decapitated in the middle of a farm field\, Edie Hruska makes it her mission to find the culprit. While on her search\, she comes across a group of young girls claiming to communicate with gods\, begging Edie to become their newest acolyte. While acclimating to their lifestyle\, Edie finds herself face-to-face with the girls’ true intentions\, and they are much more sinister than just a dead bull. (CALVARIA is the 2025-2026 winner of BWBTC’s Margaret W. Martin Award and the Joining Sword & Pen International Playwriting Competition) \n\n\n  \n\nTWO OUT OF THREE FALLS\nWritten by: Bill Daniel (he/him)\nDirected by: BWBTC Artistic Associate Ashley Yates (she/her)\nFight Direction by: Axel Rico \n\nSunday\, September 7th\, 2025 – 2:30pm \nSaturday\, September 13th\, 2025 – 2:30pm \n\n \n\n\nJohanna Goodish was the child of notorious pro wrestler King Kong Bruiser. Thirty years ago\, he was murdered in a locker room shower in Puerto Rico and the killer was never tried. The witnesses never talked. Since she began her own wrestling career\, she has been trying to escape his shadow. And now\, she’s been seeing his ghost. When an opportunity for revenge presents itself\, she takes it. But it means she’ll be face to face in the ring with the man who held the knife when it happened. \n\n\n  \n\nYO HO\nWritten by: SMJ (they/them)\nDirected by: BWBTC Artistic Associate Maureen Yasko (she/her)\nFight Direction by: Carly Belle Cason \n\nSaturday\, September 6th\, 2025 – 7:30pm \nSunday\, September 14th\, 2025 – 2:30pm \n \n\nYo ho charts the journey of Anne Bonny and Mary Read\, two pirates aboard a campy\, sexually charged ship under immediate threat from the crown. Equal parts historical fantasy and introspective sexual & gender exploration\, this play is a deeply emotional reimaging and reminder of our queer histories. \n\n\nABOUT MAGGIE SMITH\, PLAYWRIGHT OF CALVARIA\n \nMaggie Smith (she/her) is an playwright\, performer\, and comedian based in Chicago\, Illinois. Originally from Omaha\, Nebraska\, Maggie moved to Chicago to attend Loyola University Chicago\, where she received a BA in Theatre\, while minoring in English and Shakespeare Studies. At Loyola\, Maggie led two projects\, Rats and Saint Louise\, Pray for Us\, the first being a devised parody musical and the second a staged reading of her two-act play. Upon graduating Loyola\, she was accepted into the Second City’s Conservatory Training Program\, where she completed her training in September\, 2023. As a writer\, Maggie challenges herself and her audiences to process difficult topics through comedic lenses. She takes from her own life experiences to create a casual representation of the queer experience. In order to depict an experience that she is familiar with\, she prefers to write characters in stories where their identities are not the driving force of the piece. Because of this\, she finds herself called to place queer characters at the forefront of comedies. After all\, that’s what her life is.\nABOUT BILL DANIEL\, PLAYWRIGHT OF TWO OUT OF THREE FALLS\n \nBill Daniel is an actor/playwright living in the city of Chicago. A graduate of Illinois State University\, Bill has spent over a decade in Chicago creating silly stories for silly people. As a playwright\, he has written for WildClaw Theatre (Hell Followed With Her\, Cavities)\, E.D.G.E. Theatre (Holmes vs. Holmes\, What’s All This Then\, La Mousquetaire\, Through Black Glass)\, Illinois State University’s Freestage Festival (The Glass Man\, Pingree Road)\, McHenry County College (What’s All This Then)\, The Living Canvas (Rain)\, Nothing Special Productions (Manhunt: The Great Waldo Search)\, Woodstock’s TownSquare Players (Sitting at the Kid’s Table)\, Hobo Junction (The Great Sloppy Joe Extermination\, Steeping the Tea) and Wayward Productions (Frock Club). In 2013\, Bill undertook a project inspired by Suzan Lori-Parks\, wherein he wrote a short play every day for an entire year.\nABOUT SMJ\, PLAYWRIGHT OF YO HO\n \nSMJ (they/them) is a mixed-Latiné\, non-binary playwright and theatermaker originally from Mount Vernon\, OH. They were a 2022-2023 Dramatists Guild Foundation Fellow. Currently\, SMJ is creating work with Latinx Playwrights Circle\, The Orchard Project\, and Andy’s Summer Playhouse. Their work has been seen in various forms with Ars Nova\, Lincoln Center\, The Kennedy Center\, Eugene O’Neill Theater Center\, New York Stage and Film\, Latiné Musical Theatre Lab\, National Queer Theater\, Carnegie Mellon University\, New York University\, Otterbein University\, Wright State University\, University of Texas-El Paso\, Art House Productions\, The Road Theatre Company\, The Flea Theater\, Live Arts\, The DR2 Theatre\, The Vineyard Theatre\, American Theatre Group\, The Arden Theater\, and The Tank. SMJ has been a finalist for the 2024-25 Princess Grace Award in Playwriting at New Dramatists\, 2024 June Bingham New Playwright Commission\, 2023 Parity Development Award\, 2024 Diverse Voices Playwriting Initiative at Illinois State University\, and Write Out Loud as well as a semifinalist for the O’Neill’s National Playwrights Conference (three times)\, the 2022-23 Princess Grace Award in Playwriting at New Dramatists\, and the Van Lier Fellowship at Rattlestick Theater. Member of the Dramatists Guild and Ring of Keys. www.smjwrites.com\n\nABOUT THE FIGHTING WORDS FESTIVAL\nFighting Words is BWBTC’s script development program. Each season we choose three scripts for development and read each one aloud three times–first within the company\, then with a small group of invited guests\, and finally as part of a festival that includes all three plays. (Every other season the winner of BWBTC’s International Playwriting Competition and the Margaret W. Martin Award is automatically included as a part of the process.) During the festival\, discussions after each reading provide feedback for the playwrights\, assisting them in developing their scripts further. \nABOUT JOINING SWORD & PEN INTERNATIONAL PLAYWRIGHTING COMPETITION AND THE MARGARET W. MARTIN AWARD\nThe Joining Sword & Pen international playwriting competition launched in 2005 to generate more scripts that featured women in roles involving stage combat. Created in collaboration with Artistic Advisor and Fight Master in the Society of American Fight Directors David Woolley who sponsors the competition\, scripts inspired by a specific image are submitted and go through a blind judging process. The winning script goes through BWBTC’s new play development program\, but also receives a full production\, cash prize and the Margaret W. Martin Award. \nMargaret W. Martin was ahead of her time. In the 1960s and 70s\, she maintained her full time job\, taught piano\, and raised a family of 6 children (4 girls\, two boys) all while she traveled the globe from the States to Saudi Arabia\, across Europe and Vientiane Laos during the height of the Vietnam war. She founded the American International School – Riyadh (K-12) in Saudi Arabia in 1963\, and it has flourished as an institution since then. The Margaret W. Martin Award is in honor of Artistic Advisor and SAFD Fight Master David Woolley’s mother.
URL:https://babeswithblades.org/event/2025-fighting-words-festival-4/
LOCATION:Bramble Arts Loft\, 5545 N. Clark St\, 2nd Floor\, Chicago\, IL
CATEGORIES:2025,Fighting Words,Performances,Play Development,Readings,Talkback,Workshops,Writing
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