"Calamity West is one of the best playwrights in Chicago. Or maybe the country. Or the universe." - Chicago Reader

ENGINES AND INSTRUMENTS
OF FLIGHT:
A FANTASIA IN THREE ACTS

Calamity West is thinking about writing a new play. A fantasia. She imagines that it's 1986, and The Playwright is writing his next play. Or, rather, struggling to write it. Or, rather, struggling to start it. After an ugly breakup with his boyfriend, The Playwright is left to face his own creative inertia as his best friends grapple with freshly-exposed feelings of romance, sexuality, and heartbreak. Caught inside a maelstrom of secrets, lies, and ghostly premonitions, he begins to find inspiration for his new work ... but it starts to look a little too familiar for his friends' tastes. In writing a play that might just make it big, The Playwright must untangle the conflicting responsibilities that come with being an artist and being a friend.


DEVELOPMENT & READING HISTORY


THE GOODMAN
New Stages Festival
November 2019


ROUNDABOUT
Roundabout Underground Reading Series
January 2018


THE HOUSE THEATRE
University of Chicago
July 2017

