What Do Beverly and Dope Have in Common? ME

Amores, the month of April is going to be extra hectic and extra awesome, with back-to-back openings for two different shows.

First, I’m extra-excited to be bringing TOUR GUIDES to the Beverly Arts Center, THIS FRIDAY (April 5), for THREE SHOWS ONLY! I hope those all-caps impart a sense of urgency, because this is my favourite version of the show, so far. Long time friends, fans, and enemies will be familiar with TOUR GUIDES, which is a theatrical love letter to Chicago, created and performed by the poets of the Poetry Performance Incubator at the Guild Complex. This is the FOURTH time we’ve remounted the show, and like the city we write about, the show changes every time we put it up. This time, we’ve swapped in 6 new stories and a brand new cast. (Don’t worry – we’ve kept many of the most popular pieces in the show, including a version of the pizza scene that I find impossible to direct because every time I watch it I laugh so hard I need to pee. TMI?)

Here’s the quick n’ dirty about the show: Tour Guides. April 5 and 6 at 7:30, April 7 at 3:30. Beverly Arts Center. For tickets and information, click here.

AND THEN… on April 25… drumroll please… DOPE opens at Free Street Theater!!!!! DOPE is a play, created by youth 14-19, that tells “420 Stories About Pot, Weed, Kush, Prisons, Parents, and People.” We’ve been working on it since October, and the ensemble is just so funny and smart. I mean, yes, the play has its share of stoner comedy, but it also offers a genuinely complicated look at the political economy around marijuana. Working at Free Street is such a gift… even on my most exhausted days, the youth make me feel really excited and hopeful about the future. That’s for real! For tickets and info, visit our website.