The Next Draft Series is Avalanche Theatre's ongoing new play incubator.
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Over the course of 3-4 months, Avalanche develops new work by emerging Chicago playwrights through readings, feedback sessions, and mentorship, culminating in a workshop production of the plays at the end of the process. Chicago theatre leaders such as artistic directors, literary managers, and creative producers are invited to the workshop productions in order to provide playwrights access to companies who may be interested in producing the plays. The purpose of the Next Draft Series is to fully develop the most exciting and challenging new plays being written in Chicago today, to foster a community that is supportive of writers, and to provide opportunities for these plays to go on to receive full productions.
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For information on how to get involved, visit our Submissions page.
Cycle 2: October 2023
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Homunculus
by Andrew Piechota
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Two debt-laden young workers, Ash and Sage, toil in the depths of a decrepit mansion-turned-crypto-mine deep in the woods near the Columbia River Basin, looking after a massive rig of computer servers. They receive food via airdrop, rest in sleeping bags, and are forbidden from contact with the outside world. As they struggle to adapt to the demands of a distant authority, they spiral, each in their own way, toward mysticism and obsession.
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There is someone watching them; there is something in the walls; there is something within themselves, aching to be free- here at the intersection of technology, nature, and the occult.
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body, no organs
by Dizzy Turek
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Hallelujah has died. As she descends from the earth, she finds herself after life, waist deep in floodwaters, no sun, seemingly no land, and no other souls in sight. All she has are the clothes on her back and a giant gash down the middle of her chest. Inside this gash, she finds her organs which she can take out and hold in her hand. Oh, look, there’s a man sitting on a porch; wonder what he thinks of all this.
The Next Draft Series is presented with support from the Illinois Arts Council Agency.