Author Archives: jaredmcdaris

The Wayward Women at Poetry Talk

A scene from The Wayward Women will be featured on Peter Storey’s Poetry Talk, a monthly show discussing contemporary poetics. Stop by the Public House Theater September 13th at 8pm. Guests include Jacob Saenz, Robyn Shanae, and myself. Immediately following … Continue reading

Playwright, Theater Stuff, Wayward Women

Hamlet’s Madness

It is intriguing that in all of Hamlet’s most compelling monologs about depression, about suicide, and about the ennui of fatality, he is always (at least possibly) performing for people he believes to be spying on him. When he speaks … Continue reading

Theater Stuff, Unrehearsed Shakespeare

The Hour of Errors Heads to Elgin

In commemoration of the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s shuffling off, Unrehearsed is joining Janus Theatre in Elgin, IL for a production of our short-cut of Comedy of Errors. Mural Alley 66 S. Spring Street, Elgin, IL Saturday, August 13, 1:30pm … Continue reading

Unrehearsed Shakespeare

One Chance Left to See Hamlet Unrehearsed

TO BE OR NOT TO BE? Unrehearsed Hamlet returns one last time, August 2nd (Tuesday). BLACK ROCK PUB 3614 N Damen Ave $5 At the Door CAST, August 2 (Tuesday) Robbie Bersano Adam Betz Bill Daniel Marcee Doherty-Elst Christopher Elst Sarah … Continue reading

Theater Stuff, Unrehearsed Shakespeare

Unrehearsed HAMLET is coming this July!

TO BE OR NOT TO BE? Unrehearsed Hamlet finally arrives in Chicago! Featuring a completely different casts each night, this “The greatest of Master Shakespeare’s works” is presented in the wholly unique fashion of Unrehearsed Shakespeare! HAMLET UNREHEARSED July 19 … Continue reading

Theater Stuff, Unrehearsed Shakespeare

Under the Word: Death Takes a Half-Day, Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1 The Tragic Inevitability of Wednesdays *Plat* Pratilda Shadow had been working in Chicago for about twenty years, and in all that time had effortlessly managed to evade pigeon droppings. It was such a sitcom cliche, in fact, that … Continue reading

Stories, Under the Word

Butcher Boggle comes to Chicago

After ten long years, my sci-fi one-act Butcher Boggle is finally being produced; as part of Otherworld Theatre‘s 2nd annual PARAGON Play Festival. It, and 39 other plays, will be coming your way soon. Like many of my twenty-ish-minute one-acts, … Continue reading

Playwright, Theater Stuff

Bathory: Elizabeth, and the Courage of our Convictions

As we all learned in high school (or earlier, if you’re lucky), a Tragedy is defined by its subject’s Fall, or reversal of fortune (or peripeteia, for the vocab buffs). The ancient Romans (and to be fair, Shakespeare himself) seemed to … Continue reading

Countess Bathory, Playwright, Theater Stuff

Bathory: Deception in a Face

A lot happens in Act 4, Scene 2 of Countess Bathory. The playwright (me) perhaps demands a bit much of the audience by introducing a new character in the second-to-last scene, but in Katalin we see the thesis of the … Continue reading

Countess Bathory, Playwright, Theater Stuff

Bathory: What tokens, Lord, what signs of her Affection

For the vast majority of Countess Bathory, servants are either treated with scorn or ignored altogether. This is especially true of Helena Jo, who receives absent-minded rebukes more than anything else from Elizabeth. In Act 4, Scene 2, Helena has … Continue reading

Countess Bathory, Playwright, Theater Stuff