Happy Hour 3: A Staged Reading of Short Plays Set in Bars
Curated by Maria Burnham
Playwrights: Les Abromovitz, Maeve Chapman, John Dubiel, Will Dunne, Ellen K. Graham, Mathew Green, James Kelsey Nelson and Sam Springhorn
Directors: Colton Alstatt, Genysia Brown, Christine Marie, Alix Rhode, Mary Seigel, Zoe Sjogerman, John Gleason Teske and Alexis Vaselopulos
In August, Ghostlight Ensemble will present the third installment of Happy Hour — a staged reading series made up of short plays with one thing in common, they’re all set in bars. The setting for this event will be, naturally, a bar. So, join us as at My Buddy’s as we raise a glass to that oldest of human inspiration: spirits in a glass.
Happy Hour will feature a mix of writers from the greater Chicago area and across the Midwest, as well as other lands far beyond. Writers from around the world submitted more than 300 scripts for consideration.
Selected scripts include:
Bagpipe Man by Les Abromovitz. A young man plays his bagpipes for tips at a neighborhood bar. Directed by Christine Marie. Starring: Kathleen D. Hoyt and Trevor D. Kelley.
Choose Your Own Adventure by Ellen K. Graham. The reader approaches a bookish stranger at a crowded bar, with mixed results. Directed by Alexis Vaselopulos. Starring: Athena Kopulos and Kelsey Lesseig.
A Drink and a Story by John Dubiel. In a distant future, a once optimistic man, who has soured on human relationships, seeks escape in a bar that serves sentient animatronics and finds his notions of humanity challenged in ways that test and threaten to alter his human heart. Directed by Colton Alstatt.
Eggs by James Kelsey Nelson. A man goes to a bar and orders some eggs. Directed by Zoe Sjogerman.
Grasshoppers by Will Dunne. Two women, who happen to meet in a bar, make an unexpected connection as they each drink a Grasshopper cocktail. Directed by Genysia Brown.
Maybe Life Will Be Better the Third Time Around by Maeve Chapman. It's Arden's 27th birthday and she's sitting in an expensive Williamsburg restaurant at an empty table. Only Tatum, basically a stranger, comes (two hours late!) to her birthday party. But maybe a near-total-stranger is exactly what Arden and Tatum need to discover they aren't alone as they thought they were. Maybe Life Will Be Better the Third Time Around is a 'snowglobe' moment of life, that captures how lonely adulthood can be, but also how impactful little moments can be, if you let them. Directed by Alix Rhode.
An Old Lady Walks Out of a Bar... by Mathew Green. Lou has only one patron on a blustery Midwest night. Estelle, an old lady who lives nearby, is waiting for her son to pick her up. There's more to it, and Lou knows the whole story. A play about passing the time and taking care of people. Directed by John Gleason Teske.
Shoelaces by Sam Springhorn. When Cammy stops into a bar on a wintry afternoon, she begins a conversation with the bartender and discovers that they share an unexpected connection from their past. Directed by Mary Seigel.
Details
Where: My Buddy’s (4416 North Clark St., Chicago, IL 60640)
When: Tuesday, August 25, 2026
What time: 7 p.m.
How Much: Suggested minimum donation of $5 at the door that will help pay for our upcoming 10th Season!