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JACKALOPE THEATRE ANNOUNCES ITS
17th SEASON
AT THE BROADWAY ARMORY PARK
The 2024 - 2025 Season includes the return of The Smuggler by Ronán Noone, the United States Premiere of Esho Rasho’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival Hit, Dummy in Diaspora; the World Premiere of Rehana Lew Mirza’s Neighborhood Watch, relaunch of its New Frontier Series and a 2025 edition of the Living Newspaper Festival
Jackalope Theatre Company is proud to announce its 17th season to be performed at the Broadway Armory Park, 5917 N Broadway St. The 2024 - 2025 season season includes the return of the one-man thriller in rhyme, The Smuggler, January 14 - 25, 2025, by Ronán Noone, directed by Gus Menary and starring Andrew Burden Swanson, the United States premiere of one of the hits of the 2024 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Dummy in Diaspora, February 26 - March 23, 2025, written and performed by Esho Rasho and directed by Karina Patel, then the world premiere of a heightened and sharp tale of Islamophobia in an American suburb from Rehana Lew Mirza, Neighborhood Watch, May 22 - June 28, 2025, directed by Artistic Director Kaiser Ahmed and the season concludes with the latest edition of the Annual Living Newspaper Festival, August 21 - 25, 2025. In addition to the season announced today, Jackalope is currently accepting submissions from artists and companies for its New Frontier Series. The New Frontiers series is Jackalope supporting stories, people and communities in new and expansive ways at the Broadway Armory. Season subscriptions may be purchased for $85 with single tickets starting at $15. Subscriptions and single tickets are on sale now at JackalopeTheatre.org or by calling the box office at 773.340.2543.
“Jackalope Theatre is back at the Edgewater Armory with an incredible season including the return of The Smuggler, which played to sold out houses earlier this year,” said Artistic Director Kaiser Ahmed. “In addition, Chicago will host the United States premiere of the amazing Edinburgh festival hit from Esho Rasho, a world premiere about islamophobia and paranoia from Rehana Lew Mirza and the return of our Living Newspaper Festival. Jackalope’s 17th season continues our history of presenting productions from diverse American perspectives.”
Jackalope Theatre’s 17th season includes:
The Smuggler
January 14 - 25, 2025
Written by Ronán Noone
Directed by Gus Menary
Starring Andrew Swanson
(L to R) The Smuggler: Ronán Noone, playwright; Gus Menary, director and Andrew Burden Swanson, "Tim Finnegan"
Previews: Tuesday, Jan. 14 at 7:30 p.m.
Press Opening: Wednesday, Jan. 15 at 7:30 p.m.
Performance schedule: Thursday, Fridays, and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m.,
Sundays at 2:00 p.m.
The Broadway Armory, 5917 N. Broadway St.
JackalopeTheatre.org
Tickets: $15 - $35
Jackalope Theatre Company remounts its thriller in rhyme, The Smuggler, reuniting the team behind the successful winter 2024 run, now scheduled at the Broadway Armory. It is 2025. Tim Finnegan is a clever and enterprising Irish immigrant tending bar on the island of Amity, an affluent summer enclave off the coast of Massachusetts. When his child falls ill and he loses his job, Finnegan is drawn into the dark world that exists only in the shadows of the wealthy island.
UNITED STATES PREMIERE
Dummy in Diaspora
February 26 - March 23, 2025
Written by Esho Rasho
Directed by Karina Patel
Starring Esho Rasho
(L to R) Dummy in Diaspora: Playwright/Performer Esho Rasho and Director Karina Patel
Previews: Wednesday, Feb. 26, Friday, Feb. 28 and Saturday, March 1 at 7:30 p.m.
Press Opening: Monday, March 3 at 7:30 p.m.
Performance schedule: Fridays, Saturdays and Mondays at 7:30 p.m.,
Sundays at 2:00 p.m.
The Broadway Armory, 5917 N. Broadway St.
JackalopeTheatre.org/2024-2025-season
Tickets: $15 - $35
Dummy in Diaspora is a coming-of-age solo play written and performed by Esho Rasho about a Middle Eastern American boy, Essa, whose parents are refugees. During its most recent run in the 2024 Edinburgh Festival, The Scotsman in its four-star review said Dummy in Diaspora is “brutally honest” and “chilling.” Essa confesses the experience of growing up in a country that doesn’t have a place for him. He navigates sexuality, the demands of a religion passed onto him from his parents, learning the English language, the fleetingness of youth and a nicotine demon that won't leave him alone. Absurd. Raw. Untold.
WORLD PREMIERE
Neighborhood Watch
May 22 - June 28, 2025
Written by Rehana Lew Mirza
Directed by Artistic Director Kaiser Ahmed
(L to R): Neighborhood Watch: Playwright Rehana Lew Mirza and Director Kaiser Ahmed
Previews: Thursday, May 22 - Saturday, May 24 at 7:30 p.m. and Monday, May 26 at 7:30 p.m.
Press Opening: Tuesday, May 27 at 7:30 p.m.
Performance schedule: Fridays, Saturdays and Mondays at 7:30 p.m.,
Sundays at 2:00 p.m.
The Broadway Armory, 5917 N Broadway
JackalopeTheatre.org/2024-2025-season
Tickets: $15 - $40
Neighborhood Watch is a sharp and heightened tale of islamophobia in an American suburb. Paul, a suburban family man, becomes so convinced that his new neighbor is a terrorist that in his pursuit to uncover the truth, he begins terrorizing his daughter and neighborhood.
16th Annual Living Newspaper Festival
August 21 - 25, 2025
Press Opening: Thursday, Aug, 21 at 7:30 p.m.
Performance schedule: Thursdays - Saturdays at 7:30 p.m., Sundays at 2:00 p.m. and Mondays at 7:30 p.m.
The Broadway Armory, 5917 N Broadway
JackalopeTheatre.org/2024-2025-season
Tickets: $15 - $35
The Living Newspaper Festival is inspired by the 1930s Living Newspapers of the Federal Theatre Project that created stories based on recent events. This year’s Festival will include one-act plays inspired from recent news headlines.
Performances, show times, dates are subject to change.
ABOUT RONÁN NOONE, PLAYWRIGHT THE SMUGGLER
Ronán Noone (he/him) believes in playing with a myriad of elements to find the right way to tell a good story; a necessary story that tells us who we are, where we have been and where we are going. He believes in stories that resonate beyond the theatre’s door and that add ideas to the national conversation. He believes in the playwright as a thinker traveling in the direction of their fear. His play The Smuggler won the Best Playwright award at the 1st Irish Festival of New York in January of 2019. The Second Girl (Thirst) was the inaugural winner of the Association for Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE) Excellence in Playwriting Award (2015) and an Edgerton Award winner in 2014. Additional plays include The Atheist, Brendan, Scenes from an Adultery, The Lepers of Baile Baiste, The Blowin of Baile Gall, The Gigolo of Baile Breag (The Baile Trilogy), The Compass Rose, Little Black Dress and A Small Death.
ABOUT GUS MENARY, DIRECTOR THE SMUGGLER
Gus Menary (he/him) directed David Greig's adaptation of Stanislaw Lem's Solaris at Book-It Repertory Theatre in Seattle, where he served as artistic director. While there, he oversaw the pivot to audio plays during the COVID shutdown and produced world-premiere audio adaptations of authors such as Octavia E. Butler, N.K. Jemisin and Oscar Wilde. As part of Book-It’s return to the stage, he produced world-premiere stage adaptations of Amy Tan’s The Bonesetter’s Daughter and Agatha Christie’s The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, as well as many other modern adaptations. As director, he led the productions of Julian Glover’s Beowulf and Bilal Dardai's world-premiere adaptation of Jamyang Norbu's The Mandala of Sherlock Holmes. Previously, he served as the artistic director of Jackalope Theatre. Under his leadership, Jackalope produced world-premieres by Ike Holter (Prowess and The Light Fantastic), Lloyd Suh (Franklinland), Idris Goodwin (The Raid) and Calamity West (In the Canyon, Rolling), among many other national and regional premieres. Onstage, he directed Aaron Loeb's Ideation, Kenneth Lin's Life On Paper, Shawn Reddy's My Name is Mudd, Andrew Swanson's Lunacy! and Moonshiner and Ike Holter's The Light Fantastic and Exit Strategy.
ABOUT ESHO RASHO, PLAYWRIGHT/PERFORMER, DUMMY IN DIASPORA
Esho Rasho (he/him) is a Chicago-based actor and writer. He is a graduate of the BFA in acting program at The Theatre School at DePaul University. His solo play, Dummy in Diaspora, which he wrote and performed, ran at the 2024 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, where it received critical acclaim, earning four stars from The Scotsman, Broadway Baby, ThreeWeeks and Culture Fix UK. It was also given an "EXCELLENT SHOW" rating by Fringe Review and listed in a database of the best shows The Scotsman had seen at the 2024 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. He was a part of the 2024 “Criminal Queerness Playwriting Studio” cohort at The National Queer Theatre in New York and has also trained at The Second City Chicago.
ABOUT KARINA PATEL, DIRECTOR, DUMMY IN DIASPORA
Karina Patel (she/her) is a devised theatre artist, director and dramaturg originally from London, United Kingdom. She is currently the new works manager at Jackalope Theatre Company and literary associate at Chicago Shakespeare Theater. Patel has developed new and devised work with The Story Theatre, The Understudy Chicago, APIDA Arts, TimeLine Theatre Company, Avalanche Theatre, Token Theatre, 24 Hour Plays and others. She has also served as an assistant director at Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Lookingglass Theatre Company, Court Theatre and the Repertory Theatre of St Louis.
ABOUT REHANA LEW MIRZA, PLAYWRIGHT, NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH
Rehana Lew Mirza (she/her) recently held a prestigious National Playwrights Mellon residency at Ma-Yi Theatre in New York from 2016-2022, after also being a playwright in residence at La Jolla Playhouse, where her musical Bhangra Nation (previously titled Bhangin’ It, 2019 Richard Rodgers Award; developed at The Orchard Project, Rhinebeck Writers Retreat and their 3R program, Goodspeed and Project Springboard) premiered in 2022. It recently had its United Kingdom premiere at Birmingham Rep in February of 2024. Mirza’s plays include: Hatefuck (First Floor; Colt Coeur/WP); A People’s Guide to History in the Time of Here and Now (Primary Stages Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation's Women Playwrights Commission; AADA workshop production); Soldier X (Ma-Yi; Brooklyn College; NYSCA/Lark commission); Tomorrow, Inshallah (Living Room Theater, Kansas City; Storyworks/HuffPost commission); Neighborhood Watch (NNPN/InterAct commission) and Barriers (Desipina, Asian American Theater Company). She founded the award-winning South Asian theater and film company, Desipina & Co, alongside her sister Rohi Mirza Pandya in 2001, where together they produced the popular Seven.11 series (seven, 11-minute plays all set in a convenience store.) Additional awards/honors include: Kleban Award, Cape Cod Theatre Artist in Residence, NYFA Artist Fellow, TCG Fellowship with New Georges and an HBOAccess Writing Fellow. She currently holds a Julia Miles Playwriting Residency with WP Theater. She has an MFA from Columbia University and a BFA from NYU Tisch School of the Arts.
ABOUT KAISER AHMED, DIRECTOR, NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH
Kaiser Ahmed (he/him) is a Bangladeshi-American theatre director, producer, teacher and actor based in Chicago. He has worked as a director at Steppenwolf, Remy Bumppo, The Artistic Home, Northlight Theatre, Silk Road Theatre, American Blues Theatre, First Floor Theatre, Rasaka Theatre and many others. Ahmed was featured in the Kilroy's Web 2023 and named on NewCity’s Players 2019 and 2022: "Fifty People Who Really Perform For Chicago”. Kaiser was the co-founding artistic director of Jackalope Theatre Company from 2008-2012, he continued to serve as the associate artistic director through 2019 and returned as artistic director in 2020. Recent directing credits include Queen (Penobscot), Passage (Remy Bumppo), Among the Dead, Fast Company (Jackalope), and Language Rooms (Broken Nose). Kaiser is a member of the Columbia College Advisory Board and the Sarah Siddons Artistic Council, a 2015-16 Eugene O’Neill National Directors Fellowship finalist, a 2016-17 Victory Gardens Directors Inclusion Initiative recipient, and an Associate Member of SDC. He holds a BA in theatre directing from Columbia College Chicago.
ABOUT JACKALOPE THEATRE
Jackalope Theatre Company expands the definition of American Identity by engaging with communities to produce works that celebrate diverse perspectives. Jackalope is a premier home for new and exciting Off-Loop Theatre based in Chicago's Edgewater and Rogers Park neighborhoods. They are committed to cultivating new voices that contribute to an expanding American culture and mythology. Each season, Jackalope produces full-length plays, new play development programming and provides free classes in partnership with the Chicago Park District.
Jackalope Theatre expands American identity by engaging with our communities to produce works that celebrate diverse perspectives. Season 17 is made possible by the continued generosity of Season Sponsors Michael and Mona Heath.
