31st Play - In the Canyon by Calamity West
stacy madson as Wendy and Joe Lino as Deputy Hunter in Milwaukee’s the Constructivists 2024 production. Photo by Jake Badovski.
Sort of cheating because I had to read this one since I was going to be working on it. But it’s a play and I read it in July!!! Also, wowza!!
Summary: “Spanning from 2007 to 2067. In an exploration of the present attack on Roe v. Wade, this world premiere chronicles a story of survival, and imagines the decline of a broken society. When the sun begins to set on a shattered world, the canyon rocks and walls come alive and a story of resistance is birthed.” From Playwright’s website
Laura’s thoughts in brief: This play blew my socks off. Delightful and terrifying. Written right after the 2016 election, it starts off like kind of a dumb sitcom, then goes deeper and deeper as we travel through some of the possible effects of the government taking away a woman’s right to choose. As we get farther into this dystopian future, women are thrown in jail for abortions from decades ago. It sounds like a nightmare (and some of it really is), but also hysterically funny at the same time. Let’s hope we can change the world so it doesn’t come true …
READ MORE! Here’s what others had to say about productions:
https://www.timeout.com/chicago/theater/in-the-canyon
https://urbanmilwaukee.com/2024/10/14/theater-growing-theater-group-finds-new-home-in-third-ward/