AstonRep Theatre Company is pleased to present its 14th annual Writer’s Series, featuring two free staged readings of new works by emerging writers on Saturday, February 25 at 2 pm at The Edge Off Broadway, 1133 W. Catalpa Ave. in Chicago’s Edgewater neighborhood. Audiences are invited to join the playwrights for a post-show discussion. No reservations required. For additional information, visit www.astonrep.com.
AstonRep Theatre Company’s 14th annual Writer’s Series’ playwrights include (left to right) DC Cathro and Miguel Salgado, Jr.
The 2023 Writer’s Series Line-Up includes:
2 pm: Precious Armageddon, a work in progress by Miguel Salgado, Jr. (he/they)
Five psychiatric patients are put in the care of Dr. Gregory Shultz, a retired professor of abnormal psychology. The story examines the first month of these patients’ time at Beacon Psychiatric Hospital & Sanitorium through scattered therapy sessions and other happenings taking place inside Schultz's office. Precious Armageddon is a series of uncomfortable, confusing moments capturing troubled souls attempting to retain a sense of control amidst inner chaos.
2:45 pm: Finger by DC Cathro (he/him)
Seventeen-year-old Vee discovers something strange inside a small box, and embarks on a dangerous search for the owner.
Covid safety: While in the theater, masks are recommended and encouraged, but not required. Disposable masks will be available to those who request one. If you are immunocompromised or at higher risk, please consider wearing a mask at indoor public settings where vaccination status is unknown.
About the Playwrights
Miguel Salgado, Jr. is a Chicagoland-based dramatist whose passion for theatre sprung from an interest in oral tradition and the exploration of the human condition through artistic expression. Precious Armageddon is the first of Miguel’s works to be presented in front of a live audience.
DC Cathro is a Chicago-based playwright, actor and director from the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. His musical Till, written with award-winning composer Leo Schwartz, was one of three winners in the 2016 Main Street Musicals Festival, selected by Gregory Mosher, and was also accepted into the 2019 New York Musical Festival (NYMF). The Book of Merman, another musical written with Leo Schwartz, enjoyed a five-month run Off-Broadway. In 2014, he became the only playwright to have two shows in the Pride Films and Plays Festival in Chicago, Pen, A Musical (with Schwartz) and the comedy Family Holiday. DC's works have been read at theatres and festivals across the U.S. and U.K., including The William Inge Festival in Independence, Kansas, The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. and St. Luke's Theatre, Off-Broadway in New York City.
About AstonRep Theatre Company
AstonRep Theatre Company was formed in the summer of 2008. Since then, the company has produced numerous full-length productions, along with their annual Writer’s Series. They are currently in residence at The Edge Theater. AstonRep Theatre Company is an ensemble of artists committed to creating exciting, intimate theatrical experiences that go beyond the front door to challenge audiences and spark discussion where the show is not the end of the experience: it is just the beginning.