Jackalope Theatre Company, a collective founded and led by Columbia College Chicago Theatre Department alumni, presents its 7th Annual Living Newspaper Festival August 25-29. In homage to the 1930s Living Newspapers of the Federal Theatre Project, Jackalope has assembled an exciting group of Chicago playwrights, directors, actors, and designers to dramatize stories ripped from recent newspaper headlines. The show features six different ten-minute plays, each based on a timely news story. Performances are Thursday-Monday at 7:30 PM at The Frontier, 1106 W. Thorndale in Chicago’s Edgewater neighborhood.

Among the Columbia College Chicago Theatre alumni participating in the event are playwright Pat Whalen ’10, a graduate of the Theatre Department’s Acting BA program, whose short play Learning Is Fun! addresses Chicago Public Schools hearings about lead being confirmed in more than 20 school buildings, and directors Mara Stern ’11, an Acting BA graduate, and Cody Spellman ’13, a graduate of the Theatre Department’s Theatre Directing program.

The production’s lighting designer is Claire Sangster ’12, a graduate of the Theatre Design BA progam. Jon Cohen ’08, an Acting BA alum, is the festival’s articles curator. The festival is co-produced by Jackalope’s associate artistic director and co-founder Kaiser Ahmed ’08, a Theatre Directing graduate, and former student Andrew Burden Swanson.

Tickets are $10; to make reservations, click here.