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A FANTASIA IN THREE ACTS BY CALAMITY WEST
ENGINES AND INSTRUMENTS OF FLIGHT:
Synopsis:
Calamity West is conjuring a fantasia: It’s 1986 New York and Tony is a playwright who isn’t writing. As he and his closest collaborators search for meaning in an increasingly fractured America, figures from history begin appearing with agendas of their own. Engines and Instruments of Flight is a play about the magic of making theatre in a world that refuses to stand still.
Event Info:
VENUE: Jackalope Theatre in Broadway Armory, 5917 N Broadway St, Chicago, IL 60660
RUN-TIME: 2 hours and 30 minutes including an intermission
PREVIEW: Wednesday, Nov 11, Friday, Nov 13, Saturday, Nov 14 at 7:30 p.m, and Sunday, Nov 15 at 2 p.m.
REGULAR RUN: Nov 16 - Dec 19, 2026. Fridays, Saturdays and Mondays at 7:30 p.m., Sundays at 2:00 p.m.
TICKETS: $20 - 45
The Cast
(Left to Right) Mary Williamson as ELEANOR, Johnard Washington as GENE, Andrew Burden Swanson as CALVIN, Niko Kourtis as TONY, Julian Hester as WILLIAM, and Raphael Diaz as HENRY
The Crew
The creative team for Engines and Instruments of Flight: A Fantasia in Three Acts by Calamity West includes Calamity West (she/her, playwright); Jonathan Berry (he/him, director); Salman Lee (he/him, assistant director); Tianxuan Chen (she/her, scenic and lighting designer); Delena Bradley (she/her, costume designer); Steve Labedz (they/them, sound designer); Courtney Abbott (they/she, intimacy coordinator); Madie Doppelt (she/her, script advisor); E Tylkowski (they/them, production manager); Tseela Sokolin-Maimon (she/her, stage manager); Mayah Jaimes (they/them, assistant stage manager) and AJ Links, CSA (she/her, casting director); SHOUT PR (public relations); Robert Johnson (he/him, graphic artist); Joel Maisonet (he/him, art + photography)
PLAYWRIGHT –
Calamity West is the 2026 recipient of the Laurents/Hatcher Foundation Award, one of the nation’s most significant prizes for new American plays, for FEAST!. Originally developed in New York at Primary Stages through the Dorothy Strelsin New American Writers Group, FEAST! received further development at the Lucille Lortel Theatre. West’s work has been produced, commissioned, and developed by some of the country’s leading theatrical institutions including The Public, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Roundabout Theatre Company, the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute, and Jackalope Theatre Company. From 2022 to 2026, West was an invited member of Primary Stages’ Dorothy Strelsin New American Writers Group, where she wrote three new plays: FEAST!, Sgt. Hank Cole’s Drama Club of Algona, and PARALLAX. Her body of work also includes In the Canyon, Give It All Back, Rolling, and Greetings from Moscow: A Love Story. In November 2026, Calamity's Engines and Instruments of Flight: A Fantasia in Three Acts will receive its world premiere at Jackalope Theatre Company to be followed by the world premiere of FEAST! at the Goodman, February 27 - March 28, 2027.
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DIRECTOR –
Jonathan Berry is a Chicago-based director, producer, educator and is the recently appointed artistic director at Raven Theatre. For Jackalope, he directed the world premiere of The Casuals. He was an artistic producer at Steppenwolf, where directing credits include: Lindiwe, The Children, You Got Older, Constellations, Curious Incident… and The Crucible. Other work includes: Steep Theatre (Company Member): Paris, Birdland, Red Rex, The Knowledge, Festen, Moment and The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui. Griffin (Company Member): The Harvest, Balm in Gilead, Golden Boy, Spring Awakening, Punk Rock, Port, Company and Picnic. Other credits include Roundabout Theater: Suicide, Incorporated; Gift Theatre: the remount of Obliterarion, the world premieres of Dirty and Suicide, Incorporated and at Goodman Theatre: The Solid Sand Below and The World of Extreme Happiness for New Stages. Assistant director for Broadway productions of Of Mice and Men and This is Our Youth. He taught classes at UIC, Columbia College, Northwestern and was instrumental in leading the ensemble training program, The School, at Steppenwolf. For three years, he served as artistic director of the Penobscot Theatre Company in Bangor, Maine.
This production is made possible by Season Sponsors The Michael and Mona Heath Fund and is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council.
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