new plays, new takes, new voices

Plays We Made

2012

Breaks & Bikes - by Mallery Avidon

Fall 2012
TBD

In fall 2012, Pavement Group will present a new commission, Breaks and Bikes, written by Artistic Associate Mallery Avidon. What happens when a thirty-year-old hipster winds up in the hospital after a bad bike wreck? How do people steeped in irony and disaffection deal with grief? What happens when your mother and three of your ex-girlfriends are in a room together watching you sleep? As a young man struggles to hang on, all of the disparate elements of his life converge and threaten to cause more damage than a car ever could. Performance dates and location will be announced at a later date.

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Girl You Know It's True - by Bixby Elliot

April 12, 2012 - May 13, 2012 Thursday through Saturday @ 7:30pm, Sunday @ 3pm; Opening Night 4/16; Industry Night 4/23
Chopin Theatre - Studio 1543 W Division St, Chicago, IL 60642 http://www.chopintheatre.com/

When Bixby, a 40-ish playwright fails to get his work produced he conjures up a radical new identity for himself: an impostor. His stand in - an African American Lesbian woman in a wheelchair - instantly shoots to fame. Needless to say, shit hits the fan. Told in tandem with the infamous Milli Vanilli scandal, Girl You Know it’s True is a hilarious and bold indictment of the institution of theatre and true intent behind the act of creation.

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2011

MilkMilkLemonade - by Joshua Conkel

March 17, 2011 - April 17, 2011 Thursday through Saturday @ 8pm, Sunday @ 3pm
Chicago Dramatists 1105 W Chicago Ave http://chicagodramatists.org/

Hailed by the New York Post as "funny and poignant...incredibly open-hearted and generous," and awarded 4 stars by Time Out New York, who raved “this batch of MilkMilkLemonade tastes especially bittersweet,” MilkMilkLemonade is the story of 11-year old Emory, who dreams of being a singer and a dancer. His plans to ribbon dance his way to television's "Reach For The Stars" are thwarted by his Nanna, who is determined to mold Emory into a normal American boy, and erase his days of Jazz hands and Nina Simone covers.

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2010

punkplay - by Gregory S Moss

Feb. 18, 2010 - April 25, 2010 See Calendar for details
Steppenwolf Garage http://tinyurl.com/ydks3ks

Directed by Pavement Group Founder and Artistic Director David Perez, punkplay is written by Gregory Moss and was originally produced by Clubbed Thumb as part of Summerworks 2009, their annual festival of new plays.

A sonic mix-tape frames the story of two boys living a suburban 80’s adolescence within a world where everyone thinks, looks and talks the same. When Duck (Alexander Lane) and Mickey (Matt Farabee) discover fast, hot, angry punk rock, it’s like nothing they’ve ever heard. Punk, in all its righteous fury, becomes a foundation for the boys to create a self-defining belief system that revolutionizes their universe.

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2009

fracture/mechanics - by Mallery Avidon

June 6, 2009 - June 27, 2009
Red Tape Theatre 621 W. Belmont Avenue

Does all the sex you've had accumulate? Does your sexual history create a visage of who you are? Mallery Avidon's fracture/mechanics is a funny, sexy, and harrowing portrait of one woman's lineage of love. Told in small snap shots in and around a bed, the play ponders the frailty of affection.

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2008

Arrangements - by Ken Weitzman

Nov. 7, 2008 - Nov. 30, 2008 Friday, Saturday @ 7:30p, Sunday @ 2p
EP Theatre 1820 S. Halsted Street

When Donna shows up at Ros' flower boutique, the reunion is less then cheerful. After six years of estrangement and some dire circumstance, Donna needs the help of her little sister. She is unemployed, almost homeless, and...morbidly obese. Reluctantly, Ros takes her in, and puts her to work in her new business endeavor - a flower shop teetering on the brink of success.

Robby, the shop's sole employee is stuck. After being expelled from college, he is reliant on the help of his brother David to pay the bills. In exchange for his support, David requires Robby to take "life coaching" lessons with him weekly. When a strange friendship emerges between Donna and Robby, it unearths a tidal wave of dark history in the lives of the two pair of siblings.

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Lipstick Traces: A Secret History of the 20th Century - by Kirk Lynn

May 9, 2008 - June 1, 2008
AV-aerie 2000 W Fulton St

Music and theatre unite in this play that traces three stories of the punk sensibility, ranging from Dada art of the 1920s to the movement's 16th century roots and then right back to the late 20th century with the Sex Pistols.

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2006

Perks of Nudity - by David Perez

Nov. 4, 2006 - Nov. 27, 2006
EP Theatre 1820 S. Halsted St.

"Perks of Nudity" presents three friends as they travel to the outskirts of Seattle on a brief road trip to appraise a piece of land. When the car keys go missing, they must wade through the wreckage of their friendship in order to make it back to civilization. Perks of Nudity ponders the nature of friendship, and the cruelty imbedded in loving people back.

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