Such Small Hands
by Adam Szymkowicz
directed by BJ Jones
Featuring Francis Guinan and Rondi Reed
This benefit reading is a part of Northlight’s Interplay New Play Development program, providing customized support for new work in the critical stages of early play development.
ABOUT THE PLAY: Long-married couple Paul and Marie are the center of this moving new play about love, aging, selfishness, and selflessness. As Paul’s illness progresses, he can sense his mind changing and doesn’t want to let it go too far. Still cherishing their many years of happiness, Marie strives to convince him to continue the fight.
Join us for a reading of this new drama while still in the development process!
- View our premiere on Sunday, January 31 at 6:30pm and you’ll be able to join for a post-show Q&A with the playwright and director.
- Recordings of the performance and post-show Q&A will be available through 6:30pm on Thursday, February 4.
- Free with suggested donation, but registration is requested. Sign up here to receive a viewing link! (donation optional)
Support for new play development and this reading comes from:
Adam Szymkowicz
Playwright
ADAM SZYMKOWICZ’s plays have been produced throughout the U.S., and in Canada, England, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Australia, Germany, Greece, Mexico, Turkey, South Korea, Thailand, Sweden, Austria, Slovenia and Lithuania. His work has been presented or developed at such places as Portland Center Stage, MCC Theater, Ars Nova, South Coast Rep, Playwrights Horizons, LCT3, LAByrinth Theater Company, The Lark, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, Primary Stages and The New Group, among others.
Published plays include Deflowering Waldo, Pretty Theft, Food For Fish, Hearts Like Fists, Incendiary, Clown Bar, The Why Overhead, Adventures of Super Margaret, 7 Ways To Say I Love You, Rare Birds, Marian Or The True Tale of Robin Hood, Kodachrome, Mercy and Nerve. His plays are published by Dramatists Play Service, Samuel French, Playscripts, Broadway Play Publishing and Original Works Publishing, and featured in New York Theatre Review, the Dionysian, NYTE’s Cino Nights, Geek Theater, and numerous Smith and Kraus and Applause books.
He was the premiere Resident Playwright at The Chance Theater in Anaheim, CA and the first playwright to participate in Bloomington Playwrights Projects’ Square One Series. He has been to The Orchard Project and to JAW at Portland Center Stage, served twice as Playwright in Residence at the William Inge Center, and twice as a Dramatists Guild Fund’s Traveling Masters. Szymkowicz received two grants from the CT Commission on Culture & Tourism, and has been commissioned by South Coast Rep, Rising Phoenix Rep, Texas State University, The NOLA Project, Single Carrot Theater, Majestic Rep, The Chance Theater and Flux Theater Ensemble.
Adam received a Playwright’s Diploma from The Juilliard School’s Lila Acheson Wallace American Playwrights Program and an MFA from Columbia University where he was the Dean’s Fellow. Szymkowicz is a two-time Lecomte du Nouy Prize winner, a member of the Dramatists Guild, Writer’s Guild of America, and was a member of Primary Stages’ Dorothy Strelsin New American Writer’s Group, the MCC Playwright’s Coalition and of the very first Ars Nova Play Group.
He has interviewed over 1000 playwrights on his blog. For more, go to www.adamszymkowicz.com.
BJ Jones
Director
BJ JONES is in his 25th season as Artistic Director of Northlight. Mr. Jones is a two-time Joseph Jefferson Award Winning actor and a three-time nominated director. He’s directed the world premieres of Charm (Jeff Award Best New Play), The Outgoing Tide (Jeff Award Best New Play), White Guy on the Bus (Jeff Nominated Best New Play), Chapatti (Nominated Jeff Award Best New Play), Better Late, and Rounding Third. Notably, he has directed productions of Outside Mullingar, Grey Gardens, The Price, The Lieutenant of Inishmore, and The Beauty Queen of Leenane. As a producer he has guided the three world premieres of The Christmas at Pemberley Trilogy (Jeff Award Best New Play), Shining Lives, The Last Five Years, and Studs Terkel’s ‘The Good War’. Additional directorial credits include Pitmen Painters (Timeline, Jeff Award Best Production); 100 Saints You Should Know (Steppenwolf); Glengarry Glen Ross (Alliance Theatre, Atlanta, Suzi Bass nomination Best Director); The Lady with All the Answers (Cherry Lane, New York); Animal Crackers (Baltimore Center Stage); Three Musketeers, The Tempest, Twelfth Night, Much Ado About Nothing (Utah Shakespeare Festival), and four productions at the Galway International Arts Festival. As a performer, he has appeared at Northlight, Goodman, Steppenwolf, Court, and other theatres throughout Chicago. Film/TV credits include The Fugitive, Body Double, Law and Order: Criminal Intent, Early Edition, Cupid, and Turks, among others.
Cast
Francis Guinan
Paul
Francis returns to Northlight where he previously appeared in By the Water, White Guy On The Bus, Stella & Lou, Season’s Greetings and Inherit the Wind. Chicago credits include The Night Alive, The Birthday Party, Time Stands Still, The Book Thief, American Buffalo, Balm in Gilead and Say Goodnight, Gracie (Steppenwolf); The Book of Joseph (Chicago Shakespeare Theatre); Twist Your Dickens, Pullman Porter Blues and The Seagull (Goodman); A Guide for the Perplexed (Victory Gardens, Jeff Award); and Rantoul and Die (American Blues). He appeared on Broadway in August: Osage County, The Grapes of Wrath and As Is. His television credits include Boss, Eerie, Indiana, ER, Frasier and several Star Trek franchise episodes. Mr. Guinan’s film credits include Abundant Acreage Available, The Last Airbender, Typing, Low Tide and Constantine.
Rondi Reed
Marie
Rondi Reed previously appeared at Northlight in The Outgoing Tide opposite John Mahoney. She has been a member of the Steppenwolf Ensemble for 35 years, appearing in over 50 productions at Steppenwolf Theatre, her artistic home, and in Festival productions for Steppenwolf in Australia, Ireland, and the U.K. Rondi is a teacher / director in Chicago and has worked extensively in Regional Theatre, as well as Broadway and Off-Broadway. She is the recipient of several awards for her work, most recently the Tony Award (Featured Actress) for her performance in August: Osage County, written by Tracy Letts and directed by Anna Shapiro. Rondi was also an original cast member of Wicked (Chicago) as Madame Morrible and reprised her role in the Broadway production. She can also be seen on the hit CBS series Mike & Molly as Peggy and in HBO films, You Don’t Know Jack with Al Pacino, and Normal with Tom Wilkinson and Jessica Lange.