TimeLine Theatre Will Return to the Stage With its FIRST DRAFT: Playwrights Collective Festival

After 20 months away from the stage, TimeLine Theatre Company will return to live, in-person theatre with its free FIRST DRAFT: Playwrights Collective Festival, spanning two weekends, Friday-Sunday, December 3-5 and December 10-12, at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Avenue in Chicago.

This year, TimeLine's FIRST DRAFT festival will introduce four new plays by Chicago writers Dolores Díaz, Kristin Idaszak, Osiris Khepera and David Rhee, the members of TimeLine's 2020-21 Playwrights Collective. Each play will be presented as a staged reading twice during the festival. Tickets are free but advance reservations are required.

Starting Thursday, November 18 at 12 p.m., reservations will be available online at timelinetheatre.com/first-draft-2021, or by calling the TimeLine Box Office at (773) 281-8463 x6.

FIRST DRAFT marks the culmination of TimeLine's two-year new-play incubator program for this quartet of Chicago-based writers, originally selected in 2019 by TimeLine's Company Members. For the past two years, they met regularly, including virtually during the pandemic, and together shared scenes under development, asked questions, discussed challenges, and cheered on each other's progress.

Each playwright chose their own project that fits TimeLine's mission of presenting stories inspired by history that connect with today's social and political issues. TimeLine provided support throughout the residency, including development readings, under the leadership of Director of Playwrights Collective Ben Thiem.

i??Their work was also featured in an online public program streamed live on June 3, 2021; an edited version of that program can be viewed on TimeLine's YouTube channel.