Role Call
Refracted’s ongoing play reading series
In 2023, Role Call took place monthly at Third Space Chicago in Lakeview. This year, we’re expanding Role Call, while doing it less. Stick with us. Instead of doing Role Call every month, we’ll be doing it quarterly, but they’ll be bigger, better, and move around the city to locations that will be more convenient for different audiences. We can’t wait to see you there!
next up:
November 11, 2024 at 6:30pm
Volumes Bookcafe
1373 N Milwaukee Ave
Light snacks provied!
ABOUT THE PLAY
In the aftermath of a devastating war between clans, two swordswomen try to find their way forward in this strange new world of peace: one trying to escape her bitter past, and the other driven by an inherited thirst for revenge. When your very existence is defined by your blade, how can you keep the violence within yourself sheathed? A tale of an unlikely friendship about the bonds of honor and the true price of forgiveness.
ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT
Maggie Lee (she/her) is a Seattle playwright who creates imaginative worlds on stage in genres like science fiction, fantasy, and horror, with productions in Seattle, New York, Seoul, Minneapolis, and San Francisco. Her work includes Once More, Just for You (Seattle Public Theater; 2024 Gregory Award Winner, Outstanding Original Script); And So That Happened (The 5th Avenue Theatre); The Sunless Scar (ACT Theatre Young Core Company commission); The Clockwork Professor (Seattle Public Theater Education, Augsburg University); Sheathed (Macha Theatre Works; 2019 Gregory Award Winner, Outstanding New Play); The Flight Before Xmas (Macha Theatre Works, Seattle Public Theater); and The Tumbleweed Zephyr (Pork Filled Productions; 2016 Gregory Award Nominee, Outstanding New Play). She was a Hedgebrook writer-in-residence (2021) and a Jack Straw Artist Support Program residency awardee (2021). She is currently a Resident Playwright at Seattle Public Theater, a board member of Rain City Projects (an organization supporting PNW playwrights), a contributing writer for The Ugly Radio podcast, and a member of the Dramatists Guild. Her plays are available on New Play Exchange and published by Mneme Press.
WHAT ARE WE DOING?
Part book club, part performance, part debate and part community healing, Refracted is calling together its talented artistic community together with the theatrically-curious Chicago community to investigate exciting works of theatre…in a setting where everyone has a role to play!
WHAT DOES IT COST?
This event is always free to attend! We are asking for a suggested donation of $10 (mostly to cover snacks, but also just to keep going!) Just register at the Eventbrite link provided so we have a sense of how many people are coming.
WHERE ARE WE DOING IT?
This November, we’re at Volumes Bookcafe in Wicker Park: 1373 N Milwaukee Ave.
WHEN ARE WE DOING IT?
Monday, November 11 at 6:30PM, reading to begin shortly afterwards!
WHAT TO BRING TO IT?
Make sure you bring a device (like your laptop, ipad, or even just your phone) to read on.
Also, this event will be BYOB! Feel free to bring your own wine/beer/booze and also SNACKS!
(Or dinner if you get hangry between 6 and 9 PM with no food. We will have some snacks but it’s hard to say how many snacks might be left if you don’t bring your own snacks so just make sure you bring some snacks cuz never enough snacks, am I right, you little snack?)
HOW ARE WE DOING IT?
Before we start reading the play, we’ll assign each participant who would like to “act” a role from the character list (it’s also okay to come just to listen if you prefer!)
At the end of each scene, the roles will be reassigned to new people, so that everyone who wants a chance to “act” while reading gets one!
At the end of the play, Refracted will host discourse around what got everyone thinking:
What do you think the play is trying to ask? What side of the story do you think was left out? What made you excited? Angry? Inquisitive? The goal of this conversation is to find areas where we disagree and investigate those points of disagreement from a place of empathy and curiosity.
When possible, Refracted will invite special guests, those who are experts and/or have experiential relevance pertinent to the play’s subject matter, to offer facts and firsthand accounts to inform the post-read discussion. Participants will have the chance to share feedback with the Refracted team about what they enjoyed about the play and where they found themselves in opposition to the story or characters.
We want to hear what you have to say! We approach the conversation from a spirit of inquiry and a hunger to learn about ourselves and each other from those with whom we disagree.
Follow our socials at @refractedco and join our email list to be first to hear which play we’re exploring next!
past role calls
March 2023: Hilary and Clinton by Lucas Hnath
April 2023: Fremont Junior High is NOT Doing Oklahoma! by Paul Michael Thomson
May 2023: CORONATION by Laura Winters
June 2023: Which Way to the Stage by Ana Nogueira
July 2023: Heroes of the Fourth Turning by Will Arbery
August 2023: Black Hat Duncan by Paige Scott
September 2023: Homeless Garden by Matt Minnicino
November 2023: The Thanksgiving Play by Larissa Fasthorse
April 2024: The Children by Lucy Kirkwood
July 2024: Mother Of by Katherine Gywnn