Goodman Theatre announces its next Future Labs virtual reading as Max Yu’s Nightwatch, directed by Chay Yew. Winner of the 2019 Relentless Award, Nightwatch reckons with unknown history and generations of hidden family stories.
In addition, the Encore series—four plays from the theater’s “video vault,” curated by the Goodman’s Artistic team—continues with Smokefall (through April 25th) and Measure for Measure (April 26-May 9). The FREE virtual reading of Nightwatch premieres April 24 at 7pm. Registration for this FREE event is required. For more information, visit GoodmanTheatre.org/Nightwatch. The Encore series continues through May 9; tickets are free with reservations at GoodmanTheatre.org/Encore. The Goodman is grateful for the generosity of its New Work sponsors, including: Pritzker Pucker Family Foundation and the Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust, Major Support of New Work; Ruth D. and Ken M. Davee New Works Fund, Major Support of New Play Development; The Glasser and Rosenthal Family, Mayer Brown LLP, and Shaw Family Supporting Organization, Support of New Work; and Wintrust Bank, Future Labs Sponsor.
In Nightwatch, 20-year-old Leo drops out of college and returns home to San Francisco’s Chinatown only to discover a secret that’s been kept from him: his father passed away weeks ago. To try to cope, he delves into his family’s untold past in the Chinese Community Cultural Revolution—redefining everyone and everything he thought was in his bloodline.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Max Yu (Playwright) is a Chinese-American writer and performer from the San Francisco Bay Area. He won the 2019 Relentless Award for his original play Nightwatch, for which he was featured in The New York Times. Yu is a member of Page 73’s 2021/2022 Interstate 73 Writers Group and his plays have been developed at Horizon Theatre and Shaking the Tree Theater. His poetry and prose have been published in Spittoon and Babel. Max is currently based in Shanghai, China, where he teaches English. He graduated with a degree in Playwriting from the University of California, Los Angeles in 2019. MaxYu.carrd.co
Chay Yew (Director) previously collaborated with Goodman Theatre on the productions of Lady in Denmark, Black n Blue Boys/Broken Men and Dartmoor Prison. Other Chicago credits include Po Boy Tango (Northlight Theatre); Where Did We Sit on the Bus? (Teatro Vista); Packing (About Face); and Lettie, A Wonder in My Soul, Hillary and Clinton, The House That Will Not Stand, Oedipus el Rey, Death and the Maiden, An Issue of Blood, The Gospel of Lovingkindness, Mojada, and Universes’ Ameriville (Victory Gardens Theater). In New York, he has directed at The Public Theater, Playwrights Horizons, Signature Theatre, New York Theatre Workshop, Rattlestick, Playwrights Theatre, Playwrights Realm, Ensemble Studio Theatre and National Asian American Theatre Company. Regionally, he has directed at the American Conservatory Theater, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Seattle Repertory Theatre, South Coast Repertory Theatre, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Center Theatre Group, Denver Center Theatre, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, La Jolla Playhouse, Singapore Repertory Theatre, among others. He has been awarded an Obie Award for directing. From 2011-2020, he was the artistic director of Victory Gardens Theater.
ABOUT FUTURE LABS
Up to nine workshops and presentations of new plays will appear this season as part of Future Labs—the latest effort among Goodman Theatre’s programs that support living writers and develop new plays (including New Stages, Playwrights Unit and more than two dozen individual artist commissions). Designed primarily for Chicago-based writers who have not had a play produced at the Goodman, Future Labs develops works authored and directed by Black, Indigenous, Latinx, AAPI (Asian American and Pacific Islander), SWANA (South West Asian/North African) and other artists of color. Selected projects receive rehearsal time, artistic, dramaturgical and casting support and an optional free public reading. The new series is curated by Quenna L. Barrett (Associate Director of Education and Engagement) and Jonathan L. Green (Literary and New Works Manager), as well as a Goodman Staff Evaluation Team composed of individuals of intersectional identities and in areas across the theater.
ABOUT ENCORE STREAMING PRODUCTIONS
Smokefall
By Noah Haidle | Directed by Anne Kauffman
Streaming free and on-demand, April 12 - 25, 2021
Closed captioning provided in English
Change is in the air as Violet prepares to bring twin boys into the world. Insider her womb, her unborn sons contemplate their future, while the world around her is in transformation: her husband is secretly planning to leave her, her father is slipping into senility and her daughter has taken a vow of silence. Haunting and slyly funny, Smokefall explores the lives of this family in a lyrical treatise on the fragility of life and the power of love. Goodman Theatre’s world-premiere production of Smokefall (October 5 – November 3, 2013 in the Owen Theatre and remounted by popular demand September 20 – October 26, 2014 in the Albert Theatre) was hailed as “gorgeous…four stars (out of four)” (Chicago Tribune), “highly recommended…a glorious play, took my breath away” (Chicago Sun-Times) with “radiant performances and exquisite design” (Time Out Chicago).
Measure for Measure
By William Shakespeare | Directed by Robert Falls
Streaming free and on-demand, April 26 - May 9, 2021
Closed captioning in English
Virtue and vice collide—and lust and the law are inextricably entwined—in Goodman Artistic Director Robert Falls ’daring revival of Shakespeare’s dark comedy. His city caught in a moral free-fall, the Duke of Vienna hands over power to Lord Angelo, who enforces long-dormant codes of chastity with zealous fervor. When a pious young nun pleads for the life of her condemned brother, Angelo’s response reveals a web of desire, deception and hypocrisy that infects every corner of society. Falls' production of Measure for Measure (March 9 – April 14, 2013) was hailed as “audacious, arresting (and) highly amusing” (Chicago Tribune) with “vice ooz(ing) from the very walls the comedy roars…never in the history of this play has such a raw and raucous production been seen” (Newcity).
ABOUT GOODMAN THEATRE
Chicago’s theater since 1925, Goodman Theatre is a not-for-profit arts and community organization in the heart of the Loop, distinguished by the excellence and scope of its artistic programming and community engagement.
Led by Artistic Director Robert Falls and Executive Director Roche Schulfer, the theater’s artistic priorities include new play development (more than 150 world or American premieres), large scale musical theater works and reimagined classics. Artists and productions have earned two Pulitzer Prizes, 22 Tony Awards and more than 160 Jeff Awards, among other accolades. The Goodman is the first theater in the world to produce all 10 plays in August Wilson’s “American Century Cycle.” Its longtime annual holiday tradition A Christmas Carol, now in its fourth decade, has created a new generation of theatergoers in Chicago. The Goodman also frequently serves as a production and program partner with national and international companies and Chicago’s Off-Loop theaters.
Using the tools of the theatrical profession, the Goodman’s Education and Engagement programs aim to develop generations of citizens who understand the cultures and stories of diverse voices. The Goodman’s Alice Rapoport Center for Education and Engagement is the home of these programs, which are offered free of charge for Chicago youth—85% of whom come from underserved communities—schools and life-long learners.
As a cultural and community organization invested in quality, diversity and community, Goodman Theatre is committed to using the art of theater for a better Chicago. Goodman Theatre's Action Plan for Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Anti-Racism and Access (IDEAA) was born out of the belief that progress means action, which includes building on the decades-long commitment to using art, assets and resources to contribute to a more just, equitable and anti-racist society.
Goodman Theatre was founded by William O. Goodman and his family in honor of their son Kenneth, an important figure in Chicago’s cultural renaissance in the early 1900s. The Goodman family’s legacy lives on through the continued work and dedication of Kenneth’s family, including Albert Ivar Goodman, who with his late mother, Edith-Marie Appleton, contributed the necessary funds for the creation of the new Goodman center in 2000.
Today, Goodman Theatre leadership also includes the distinguished members of the Artistic Collective: Rebecca Gilman, Henry Godinez, Dael Orlandersmith, Steve Scott, Kimberly Senior, Chuck Smith, Regina Taylor, Henry Wishcamper and Mary Zimmerman. Jeff Hesse is Chairman of Goodman Theatre’s Board of Trustees, Fran Del Boca is Women’s Board President and Megan McCarthy Hayes is President of the Scenemakers Board for young professionals