Seeking Scripts for Fresh Eyes Project

The Fresh Eyes Project is a bold, new workshop process designed to create and develop plays that are innovative in form or subject. Our directors, dramaturges and actors work alongside the playwright to customize a rehearsal period best suited to the exploration of a particular play.

Here’s how it works:
Once selected, we match you with a director. Together, you design a rehearsal process best suited to your goal, whether it is to finish the play, work on the dialogue, or see if all those puppets in scene 4 really make sense. We give you a cast, a dramaturg, rehearsal space and the month of March and let you go at it. At the end, we invite everyone involved in FEP and in Red Tape to come and see wherever you are in the process without the prying eyes of the public. The following week, your cast performs a selection of your new masterpiece at the Chicago Fringe Artists Networking Night (CFANN).

Here’s what we need from you:

- 10 page submission along with a full synopsis of a project that is innovative in subject or form.
- 1 page description of what they would ideally like a workshop to include at this point in the development of their project.
- If selected as a finalist, playwrights will be asked for a full copy of the script on November 15th (or a detailed outline and source material for an incomplete project)
- Availability for the month of March.


Submissions must emailed to rebstev@gmail.com by October 31st, 2010. Please put “FEP Submission” in subject of email.

Red Tape Announces 2010-2011 Season

Red Tape is proud to dedicate its seventh season to the exploration of the space between. We hope to shed light on the secrets and fears that keep people from making physical and spiritual connections. To that end, we journey to three imaginative worlds where the rules are obscured and the 'here and now' seems far away.
Get your tickets now for our upcoming productions!

Obscura: a voyeuristic love story
September 23 - October 23
World premiere
Tickets on sale now
Written by Jennifer Barclay
Directed by Julieanne Ehre

Red Tape proudly presents the world premiere of Jennifer Barclay's Obscura: a voyeuristic love story. Behind the walls of an aging apartment building, the reclusive neighbors' lives are being closely monitored. Amidst the Orwellian atmosphere, Ned invents a story to win his neighbor's heart. But the arrival of a stranger threatens to unveil their darkest secrets.

Featuring Ensemble Members Nicholas Combs, Lona Livingston, Robert L. Oakes, and Meghan Reardon



Church/Pullman, WA
January 26 - February 26
Chicago premiere
Written by Young Jean Lee
Directed by Jaclyn Biskup

One of the boldest voices in contemporary theater, playwright Young Jean Lee tackles two pivotal subjects: religion and self-esteem.

Church
This exuberant church service is a celebration designed to play with the expectations of religious and non-religious alike. It is an uplifting, joyous and inspirational event that may be Lee's most miraculous experiment to date.

Pullman, WA
Unhappy? Confused? Three ordinary, awkward characters, will make an earnest, frequently disastrous attempt show you how to live a better life.

Featuring Ensemble Members Robert L. Oakes and Meghan Reardon



Fresh Eyes Project
March 2011

Fresh Eyes Project is an incubator for new and experimental work. It focuses on the needs of playwrights, providing them with a director, actors, dramaturgical support and rehearsal space. Fresh Eyes is produced by Rebecca Stevens.



Chicago Fringe Artist Networking Night
April 2, 2011

CFANN is a one-night only celebration for artists, by artists. Artists of all disciplines and media showcase their work and network with other artists in the Chicago community. Food, drinks, friends, art - what more could you ask for?



Tragedy: A Tragedy
May 4 - June 4
Chicago Premiere

Written by Will Eno
Directed by Marti Lyons


The sun has set over streets, houses, government buildings and American backyards everywhere. The world is dark. A news team is on the scene. Nobody knows if the sun, once down, will ever rise again. But there is a witness, and the witness will speak.

Featuring Ensemble Members Vic May, Paul G. Miller, and Paige Sawin

Red Tape Theatre Company is committed to the creation of new and experimental work. Our ensemble collaborates with playwrights, musicians, dancers, and visual artists on our two mainstage productions. This work is supported by our Fresh Eyes Project playwrights workshop and the Chicago Fringe Artist Networking Night, both of which we produce annually. We are housed in St. Peter's Episcopal Church and our unique performance space allows us to continually reinevent the audience/artist relationship. Red Tape's plays invite our audiences to reimagine their world. We believe that theatre serves a vital purpose in our community: to arrest and create empathy.

Red Tape Theatre Announces 2009-2010 Season!

Red Tape Theatre Company is thrilled to announce our sixth season!

October 5-31, 2009 - Mouse in a Jar

A world premiere by Chicago playwright Martyna Majok.

Directed by ensemble member Daria Davis.

Daga tries to pry Ma away from her nightmarish home in a tiny basement apartment. But Ma's past keeps her chained to this world.

Mouse is a magical play featuring Irene Kapustine, Tamara Todres, Kathleen Powers, Benjamin Gettinger and Don Markus.

With designs by Myles Polaski, William Anderson, Sarah Bendix, Kat Powers and ensemble member Kyle Land.

Stage Managed by ensemble member Cynthia Carney.

Tickets on sale now! Click here.

January 2010 - Fresh Eyes Project

Fresh Eyes Project is an incubator for new and experimental work. It focuses on the needs of playwrights, providing them with a director, actors, dramaturgical support and rehearsal space. Excerpts of the final scripts will be performed at the annual Chicago Fringe Artists Networking Night.

Fresh Eyes is produced by ensemble member Daria Davis.

February 6, 2010 - Chicago Fringe Artists Networking Night (CFANN)

This one night only event brings together Chicago artists from all forms to network and share their talents. Live performances are showcased amongst visual art and installation pieces from classic to quirky. CFANN is for artists, by artists and not to be missed.

CFANN is produced by ensemble member Myah Shein.

May 3-29, 2010 - The Love of the Nightingale

Written by Timberlake Wertenbaker

directed by Artistic Director James Palmer

This modern retelling of the Philomele myth features a large ensemble cast and employs dance, puppetry, music, multi-media and expressionistic design.

Featuring ensemble members James Palmer (Director), Myah Shein (Choreographer), Robert L. Oakes (Male Chorus), Victor May (Tereus), Rob Lynch (King Pandion), Lona Livingston (Queen / Niobe) and Errol McLendon (Theseus / Captain).

Learn more at our website!

Pics from CFANN!

On January 31, 2009 Red Tape Theatre hosted the first Chicago Fringe Artists Networking Night (CFANN). The event brought dancers, musicians, painters, sculptors, performing artists and playwrights into our home for one amazing night.

In addition the artists from the Fresh Eyes project had the opportunity to share excerpts from their new work. Thanks to all who attended and participated in this fantastic event!

February News

Hello everyone!

I took a break from blogging to workshop my play as part of Red Tape's Fresh Eyes Project. Three playwrights were teamed with three directors and a group of talented actors in an intensive workshop of their scripts. Excerpts from the works were performed on January 31, 2009 at the Chicago Fringe Artists Networking Night (a.k.a. CFANN). The Fresh Eyes lineup was:

• Mouse in a Jar by Martyna Majok. Directed by Daria J. Davis
• Demon's Crystal by Paul G. Miller. Directed by Mark Chaitin.
• Mechanical Angels by Mishelle Apalategui. Directed by Lavina Jadhwani.

The plays were just a sample of the many works presented at CFANN. The event brought over 160 guests into Red Tape's home for an evening of paintings, sculptures, photography, dance, music, improv, sketch comedy and performance art. Red Tape was honored toh ost this wonderful evening.

Next up is our original adapatation of Henrik Ibsen's An Enemy of the People by company member Robert Oakes. A doctor's ethics are called into question when pollution is discovered, and covered up, at a town's lucrative spa. I'm serving as dramaturge and will be sharing my research on this blog as I research Ibsen's life and times alongside comparable environmental scandals in our current society.

Stay tuned!

Paul G. Miller
Season Dramaturge

Cat in a Manger

I awoke this morning with two bruised knees. (Insert your own jokes here). In Dog in a Manger I put on a pair of cute cat ears and engage in a raucous courtship dance with my beloved. Yesterday I let things get a little too raucous and tripped over part of the set. Stealthily I pursued my partner offstage on my hands and knees as if to say “Ah, I meant to do that, as my cat-like posture increases my adorability.” I’m sure no one in the audience noticed the blooper… Meow.

Dog in a Manger is gearing up for its final week and the rest of the season is gearing up. I’m helping James and Myah review submissions for January’s Fresh Eyes Festival and researching Rob’s dramaturgical questions for May’s adaptation of An Enemy of the People. Blog posts will resume in December when the Fresh Eyes lineup is ready to announce. Meanwhile I welcome new readers to look through the past few months to learn some fun facts about our cast and our adaptation.

Final performances of Dog in a Manger are October 30, 31 and November 1 at 7:30 pm.
Visit www.redtapetheatre.com for details and to purchase tickets online!