“★★★1/2 Deliciously unstinting… by far the funniest of Neveu's plays to date…” - Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune
“One of the funniest first-acts you’re likely ever to see…”
- Jonathan Abarbanel, Dueling Critics
“A dream-team ensemble…” - Mary Shen Barnidge, Windy City Times
“★★★★ Engrossing new dark comedy … if Neveu’s comedy is heightened, its pilgrims make you want to follow their trek.”
- Kris Vire, Time Out Chicago
WORLD PREMIERE @ A RED ORCHID THEATRE.
NOV - DEC 2015. WRITTEN BY BRETT NEVEU.
ASSISTANT DIRECTING FOR SHADE MURRAY.
It’s Thanksgiving Day and the McKee family is up to its eyeballs in hilarious drama. Between stirring the cranberries and debating pumpkin pie, parents Jim and Melissa relive their glory days. Meanwhile, their earth-poet Son and pregnant-teen Daughter navigate family contracts, holiday power grabs, and decades of thinly veiled deceit. For a family with such a strong appetite for tales, are their stories more important than the truth? With homages to Albee, O’Neal, Williams and Shepard, the tension rides high and the carving knife does more than just cut the turkey. Starring Michael Shannon and Kirsten Fitzgerald.
”HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! An approachable, insightful and charming production. I enjoyed every minute…” - Brianna Katz, Third Coast Review
”Spenser Davis’s direction for Broken Nose Theatre is clever and efficient…” - Tony Adler, Chicago Reader
WORLD PREMIERE @ BROKEN NOSE THEATRE.
FEB - MAR 2016. WRITTEN BY ELISE SPOERLEIN.
Newly single after a break-up that caught her off-guard, Sam realizes that her now-ex-boyfriend of five years was the only guy she’d ever known… in the biblical sense. She had placed sex on a pedestal, only to find herself now alone. In a crappy apartment. In a new city. The key to breaking out and moving on? Kick over the pedestal. A PHASE is a hilarious World Premiere that takes the well-worn tropes of the “girl finds fulfillment in a man” story and flips them on their ear, as Sam explores sex as a way of owning her life and the choices she makes along the way.
”Captures exactly how people talk to the point that it occasionally feels like you’re eavesdropping on the conversations happening onstage.” - J.R. Pierce, Chicago Stage Standard
”CRITIC’S PICK! One of the Smart Plays of 2014… Director Spenser Davis never allows the characters to slip into easy stereotypes, but keeps the emotions always rooted in a fundamental rationality... ” - Mary Shen Barnidge,
Windy City Times
“RECOMMENDED! Davis coaxes grounded, nuanced performances in this swiftly paced Broken Nose Theatre production... [the ending] is a doozy. An emotionally compelling, ethically confounding ride...” - Justin Hayford, Chicago Reader
“An earnest but often-taut production… fluid staging and [a] solid cast create an engaging morality play...“ - Kerry Reid, Chicago Tribune
“An intriguingly complex social-issue set up, none of these four men are uncomplicated … Davis’s staging for Broken Nose Theatre efficiently manages the interlocking scenes...”
- Kris Vire, Time Out Chicago
“I think that people should definitely go see this show. It is a great show because it made me think differently about a girl who was sort of bullying me and it made me feel sad for people who are being bullied much worse than my problem.” - Ada Grey, 9-year-old critic
Midwest Premiere @ Broken Nose Theatre.
Jan - Feb 2014. Written by Michael Perlman.
When Dennis wins an Academy Award for a film about a gay student’s suicide, he uses the highly televised opportunity to call out high-school bully Ethan Rice, whose actions allegedly contributed to his best friend taking his own life. Like millions of other people that night, the now-grown Ethan is at home watching the speech live on TV, and he soon realizes that Dennis has made him the face of a worldwide anti-bullying campaign. Engaging in an internet feud that quickly spirals out of control, the two men they find themselves entrenched in a media firestorm that changes not only their lives but the lives of those closest to them.
written by elise marie davis. produced by broken nose theatre.
part of bechdel fest 6: Revolution @ steppenwolf 1700.
Members of a lesbian erotica bookclub called Every Other Tuesday (because they meet every other... you get it) face discrimination when their application for a table at a local community event is denied. The reasoning? "This is a family event." Tempers flare when one of the event's reps decides to deliver the news in-person.
written by elise spoerlein.
produced by first floor theater as part of fitzfest.
As a woman and her daughters celebrate her late husband at an annual barbecue, the youngest casually admits that his death might not be without its perks. "I became who I am because he's gone," she admits, "and I like who I am." Upfront examines how the grieving process may be inherently selfish, if all you do is mourn what you yourself lost.
