Dragonfly Theatre Company to Present TAKE FLIGHT New Plays Festival

Dragonfly Theatre Company announces the "Take Flight" New Plays Festival featuring three scripts by playwrights from around the country. Each script will receive one staged reading at Madison Street Theatre, 1010 Madison St., Oak Park, IL. The festival is Dragonfly's first in-person event, wrapping up their first season.

The "Take Flight" New Plays Festival takes place on the weekend of APRIL 29-30, 2022. Single tickets are available at Eventbrite.com. *Vaccination proof and masks are required for these in-person events.

Friday April 29th at 7:30 p.m.: "Winter's End," by J.S. Puller of Chicago, IL, jumps into an absurdist version of the Persephone myth from Greek legend, questioning the fact that Persephone makes no choices of her own.

In the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, goddess of the harvest, Hades-god of the underworld-abducts Persephone, Demeter's daughter, to be his queen. Furious, Demeter permits nothing on the earth to grow, thereby establishing the first winter. To rescue human beings who are suffering, Zeus demands that Persephone be released to her mother's care.

However, Persephone has eaten six pomegranate seeds in the underworld-a binding deed. Therefore, Zeus decrees that for six months out of the year, Persephone may live above ground with her mother, but for the remaining six months, she must return to be with Hades as his wife. Thus, the seasons change...at least for now.

Saturday April 30th at 3:00 p.m.: In "Kalos k'Agathos" by Chandler Hubbard (Richmond, VA), the audience bears witness to the life of Medusa. After her death at the hands of the hero Perseus, Medusa is confined to Hell. Thousands of years later, Medusa's sisters and fellow Gorgons come to rescue her. The only way to release the prisoner's chains, however, is for Medusa to confront the events that led to her destruction. The play challenges its audience to witness Medusa's plight, their complicity in her mistreatment, as well as Medusa's quest to take control over her own story.

Saturday April 30th at 7:30 p.m.: "suff*rage" by Lauren Bone Noble (Oxford, MS), is a bloody, Brechtian, feminist revenge fantasy. This fast-paced comedy presents an all-female cast of five and one fiddle player who deliver a gender-bent skewering of events surrounding the Seneca Falls Women's Convention of 1848. The play tells the story of three lady friends who embark upon a journey of comically gory retribution against the Men-of-the-Town. Their husbands may not allow them to participate in the Women's Convention, but there will be a price to pay. Lots of blood and one delightful Zombie!

OUR MISSION: At Dragonfly Theater Company, we aspire to offer a supportive environment that helps artists and emerging playwrights achieve their full potential. Dragonfly Theatre Company promotes a life-long appreciation of theatre using the lessons of past classics and the bold visions within new scripts. We do this to help every generation understand and nurture the complexity and diversity of our world.

Dragonfly Theatre Company | Chicago

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