Cassandra Rose

Columbia College Chicago Theatre Department alum Cassandra Rose ’10, a graduate of the Theatre Department’s Playwriting program, unveils The Dictionary Project: Volume IV, a program of short plays written on commission, performed by an ensemble that includes several Columbia College Theatre Department alumni.

The Dictionary Project is a self-produced project in which each play is created for and inspired by a specific audience member. A person buys a play and gives a page number that corresponds to a page in Rose’s dictionary, and by the end of the year Rose writes a play about one of the words found on that page. There are three categories of play: one-page plays, three-page plays, and ten-minute plays. The longer the play, the more creative control a person has over the play Rose writes for them. Volume IV of The Dictionary Project contains 60 short plays for 60 people.

The Dictionary Project: Volume IV runs January 10-15 at The Frontier, a storefront space at 1106 W. Thorndale in Chicago’s Edgewater neighborhood. The Frontier is the home base of Jackalope Theatre Company, an ensemble founded and led by Columbia College Chicago Theatre Department alumni.

Kate Lass

Emilie Modaff

Paige Daigle

Eshay Brantley

The Dictionary Project ensemble includes Columbia College Chicago Theatre Department alums Bryan Kravitz ’14, Kate Lass ’14, Emilie Modaff ’14, and Matthew Singleton ’14, all graduates of the Theatre Department’s BA Program in Acting, and Paige Daigle ’15, a graduate of the Theatre Department’s BFA Program in Musical Theatre Performance, as well as Acting student Eshay Brantley.

The performance schedule is as follows:

* Tuesday, January 10, 7 PM: just the one-page plays (one hour run time);

* Wednesday, January 11, 7 PM: just the three page plays (one hour run time);

* Thursday, January 12, 7 PM: just the ten minute plays (one hour run time)

* Friday, January 13, 7 PM: all 60 plays (three-and-a-half-hour run time including two intermissions);

* Saturday, January 14, 1 PM: same as Friday, January 13;
* Saturday, January 14, 7 PM:  same as Friday, January 13;
* Sunday, January 15, 1 PM:  same as Friday, January 13.

For tickets, click here.

Rose has also been announced as one of the first class of Tutterow Fellows, an intense two-year training program program named in honor of the late longtime artistic director of Chicago Dramatists, Russ Tutterow. The Tutterow Fellowship will supply developmental support for writers, and the playwrights will present selected examples of new work at the Tutterow Fellows Showcase on Saturday, January 28, at 2 PM at Chicago Dramatists, 1105 W. Chicago Ave., Chicago. Admission is free, but reservations are strongly recommended and donations are welcome. For reservations, click here.