Columbia College Chicago Theatre Department faculty and alums are participating in the first annual Fighting Words Festival presented by the Babes with Blades Theatre Company May 19 and 20. The festival showcases developing scripts via staged readings, all reflecting how women define themselves and their places in their world. Admission is free to every performance, with refreshments and a talkback following each play.

The festival’s final performance, on Sunday, May 20, at 7 PM, is The Witches of Birnam, directed by Columbia College Theatre Department faculty member Andrea J. Dymond. The show’s cast includes Columbia College alum Eddie Reynolds ’13, a graduate of the Theatre Department’s BA Program in Acting, and Alyssa Thordarson, a former student in the Acting BA program. The Witches of Birnam is a new take on the story of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, in which three powerful women try to break a curse on the throne of Scotland by elevating a new queen — Gruoch, the woman we know as Lady Macbeth — to power. Performances take place at Strawdog Theatre, 1802 W. Berenice, Chicago. For tickets, call 773-644-1380 or click here.