Staged Reading of SUCH SMALL HANDS by Adam Szymkowicz to Close Out 2023 OTR New Works Series at Chance Theater

Chance Theater, Anaheim’s official resident theater company, will present a staged reading of a brand new play to close out our 2023 OTR New Works Series. Written by their 2011 Resident Playwright Adam Szymkowicz, and directed by Chance Theater’s Literary Manager James Michael McHale, this staged reading will be presented on Wednesday, October 11 at 7:30pm.

Long-married couple Paul and Marie are the center of this moving new play about love, aging, selfishness, and selflessness. As Paul’s illness progresses, he can sense his mind changing and doesn’t want to let it go too far. Still cherishing their many years of happiness, Marie strives to convince him to continue the fight.

Adam Szymkowicz was Chance Theater’s first Resident Playwright in 2011 and has been a part of many OTR’s since. “The Chance has been one of my theatrical homes for going on 12 years. I’m excited to come back to work on this with my Chance friends.” Adam said during a video interview, “I have had a lot of people deal with these kinds of health issues, and writing about it helps me better understand it.” 

MEET THE PLAYWRIGHT

Adam Szymkowicz’s plays have been produced throughout the U.S., and in Canada, England, Wales, The Isle of Man, Ireland, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Australia, Germany, Greece, Mexico, Turkey, Switzerland, South Korea, Thailand, Sweden, Austria, Slovenia and Lithuania.   His work has been presented or developed at such places as Portland Center Stage, MCC Theater, Ars Nova, South Coast Rep, Playwrights Horizons, LCT3, LAByrinth Theater Company, The Lark, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, Primary Stages and The New Group, among others.   

Published plays include Deflowering Waldo, Pretty Theft, Food For Fish, Hearts Like Fists, Incendiary, Clown Bar, The Why Overhead, Adventures of Super Margaret, 7 Ways To Say I Love You, Rare Birds, Marian Or The True Tale of Robin Hood, Kodachrome, Mercy, The Book Store, Old Fashioned Cold Fusion, The Parking Lot, The Night Children, Clown Bar 2, The Wooden Heart, Stockholm Syndrome, 100 Things I Never Said To You, 100 Love Letters I Never Sent and Nerve.  His plays are published by Dramatists Play Service, Concord/Samuel French, Playscripts, Broadway Play Publishing, Theatrical Rights Worldwide, Stage Partners and Original Works Publishing, and are featured in numerous Smith and Kraus and Applause books.  His monologue book, Small Explosions comes out from Applause in 2023. 

He was the premiere Resident Playwright at Chance Theater in Anaheim, CA and the first playwright to participate in Bloomington Playwrights Projects’ Square One Series.  He has been to The Orchard Project, Green Gulch, and to JAW at Portland Center Stage, served twice as Playwright in Residence at the William Inge Center, and twice as a Dramatists Guild Fund’s Traveling Masters.  Szymkowicz received two grants from the CT Commission on Culture & Tourism, and has been commissioned by South Coast Rep, Rising Phoenix Rep, Texas State University, The NOLA Project, Single Carrot Theater, Majestic Rep, The Chance Theater and Flux Theater Ensemble.

Adam received a Playwright’s Diploma from The Juilliard School's Lila Acheson Wallace American Playwrights Program and an MFA from Columbia University where he was the Dean’s Fellow. Szymkowicz is a two-time Lecomte du Nouy Prize winner, a member of the Dramatists Guild, Writers Guild of America, and was a member of Primary Stages’ Dorothy Strelsin New American Writer’s Group, the MCC Playwright’s Coalition and of the very first Ars Nova Play Group.

MEET THE DIRECTOR

James Michael McHale is an actor, director, writer, and musician. As an actor, he’s had the pleasure to work with Tony Award winning director Kathleen Marshall at The Old Globe in Much Ado About Nothing, play Hamlet at the Lyceum Theater, and Buzz Aldrin in the World Premiere and National Tour of APOLLO 11 for Troika Entertainment. He received a Staged Scene LA Award for Outstanding Performance in a Leading Role for his work in Middletown at Chance Theater. Other theater credits include the musical Once at both California Center for the Arts Escondido and Lamb’s Players Theater (San Diego Critics’ Circle Awards for Best Musical and Best Ensemble). He recently directed the Regional Premiere of American Idiot at Chance Theater, where his directing credits also include the OC Premiere of Edges, and A Charlie Brown Christmas. He has written and directed a number of storytelling concerts for Pacific Symphony and presented at Segerstrom Concert Hall including, Beethoven: Trials to Triumph, A Dream of Tchaikovsky, Pacific Symphony and the Curious Case of the Vanishing Violin, and Music From the Movies and More! Connect with him on IG @jmcnavy, and at jamesmichaelmchale.com

ABOUT OTR NEW WORKS SERIES

Chance’s On the Radar (OTR) New Works Program consists of a new script reading series, a playwright’s residency, and a commissioning program all geared towards supporting the creation of diverse new stories by emerging U.S. playwrights. The goal of OTR is to create a deep and long-term commitment to playwrights by offering them access to a community of artists and audiences, a supportive environment, and the freedom to explore their own boundaries and interests. Past Resident Playwrights include Exal Iraheta, Krista Knight, Jessica Huang, Joanna Garner, Ted Malawer, Jenny Connell Davis, Lauren Yee, Nick Jones, Marshall Pailet, Zayd Dohrn, and Adam Szymkowicz. Our 2023 Resident Playwright is Keiko Green whose play “Exotic Deadly, or The MSG Play” had its world premiere at The Old Globe earlier this year after having a final staged reading at Chance Theater in February.

ABOUT CHANCE THEATER 

Proud to be one of the leading ensemble-driven theatre companies in Southern California, CHANCE THEATER has received the National Theatre Company grant from American Theatre Wing for “nurturing a community of artists in ways that strengthen and demonstrate the quality, diversity, and dynamism of American theatre.” The Chance recently won 14 OCTG Theatre Awards, including Outstanding Production of a Musical (“Next to Normal”) and Outstanding Production of a Play (“Cry It Out”). Previously, Chance Theater won eight OCTG Theatre Awards, including Outstanding Production of a Musical (“Fun Home”), eight Ovation Awards, including four for Best Production of a Musical (Intimate Theatre), and four LADCC Awards, including the Polly Warfield Award for Outstanding Season. The Anaheim City Council named Chance Theater “the Official Resident Theater Company of Anaheim” in 2014, and Arts Orange County has twice named the Chance as “Outstanding Arts Organization.” Known for using bold and personal storytelling to promote dialogue and connection within the Southern California theatrical landscape, the Chance is committed to contributing to a more compassionate, connected and creative community. As a constituent member of Theatre Communications Group, The Theatrical Producers League of Los Angeles, and OC Theatre Guild, Chance Theater continues to bring national attention to the Southern California and Orange County theater scenes.

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