Displaying items by tag: Anna Klos

Clark Week Productions is thrilled to continue its third season with a workplace comedy meets apocalyptic grief meditation, THE APIARY, written by Kate Douglass and directed by Anna Klos. THE APIARY will play November 6th through November 22nd at Bramble Arts Loft in Chicago. Tickets are now on sale at www.eventbrite.com. Press is encouraged to join on preview night, 11/05/26.

The cast includes Betsy Pennington Taylor, Sangi Varsano, Nicole Villavicencio Gonzalez, and Kate Yee.

THE APIARY is a contemporary, cautionary tale which toes the line between comedy and tragedy. Set in a future 22 years from now, THE APIARY engulfs us in an unbalanced reality of a world without wild bees and the lengths humans will go to find their purpose in this uncertain life. Fluctuating between earnestly hilarious and emotionally heavy, this show asks the audience to walk through a meditation on loss, grief, connection and solidarity.

The production team includes Anna Klos (Director), Ember Sappington (Dramaturg), Clint Clark (producer), and Cat Evans (Violence Coordinator).

PRODUCTION DETAILS:

Title: The Apiary

Playwright: Kate Douglass

Director: Anna Klos

Cast (in alphabetical order): Aleeyah Enriquez (Pilar U/S), Betsy Pennington Taylor (Gwen), Charlotte Jaffe (Zora U/S), Kate Yee (Zora), Lo Miles (Cece/Kara/Anna/Bryn U/S), Mery Drilling-Coren (Gwen U/S), Nicole Villavicencio Gonzalez (Pilar), Sangi Varsano (Cece/Kara/Anna/Bryn).

Location: Bramble Arts Loft, 5545 N Clark St. 2nd Floor, Chicago, IL, 60640

Dates: Regular Run: November 6th - November 22nd

Curtain Times: 7:00p

Press performance: Press are encouraged to attend Thursday, November 5th, but are welcome to opening weekend performances.

Tickets: $39. Tickets are currently available at eventbrite.com

Plan your visit:

Bramble Arts Loft is accessible via public transit from the red line train (Bryn Mawr stop), #22 Clark bus (Bryn Mawr & Catalpa stop), and #50 Damen bus (Clark & Bryn Mawr stop).

Metered street parking is available along Clark street and surrounding neighborhood streets. Valet parking not available.

Accessibility:

Bramble Arts Loft is ADA accessible with walk up sidewalk access and an elevator that will take you to the second floor performance space.

About the Artists

Kate Douglass (she/her) Kate Douglas is a writer, composer, and performer. Recent work includes The Apiary (Outer Critics Circle Award nomination), Tulipa (New York Stage & Film), Centuries starring opposite her co-writers Matthew Dean Marsh and Raina Sokolov-Gonzalez (Ancram Center for the Arts), and hag with Grace McLean (Vivace Award).

Anna Klos (they/she) Anna has been working in Chicago storefront theater since 2016. They have directed, stage managed, acted, and produced primarily through Trap Door Theatre since 2018, including but not limited to Antigonick (direction), Ghost Fetus (direction, Chicago world premier, 2025 and Philadelphia Fringe tour, 2026), Monsieur D'Eon is a Woman (stage management), The Martyrdom of Peter Ohey (stage management, Chicago premier and New York Tour), and Old Woman Broods (acting). Anna is grateful for all of the support of her collective theater community, her Trap Door family, and her partner Suz.

Opening Trap Door Theatre’s 32nd season as part of the Trap Open Series with its world premiere, Suz Evans’ Ghost Fetus is a rough-edged, bold original work that delivers a performance as both humorous and cathartic as it is unexpected.

With a small, five-person cast, the play centers on two queer teenage girls, Whitney and Sarah Jane, as they navigate their relationship and identities within their church community. While turning to Pastor Craig for guidance, the trio encounters a ghost fetus and must also confront the more personal “ghosts” within themselves.

The play, experimental and unpolished, tells a timeless coming-of-age story, creating space for the audience to laugh both with the characters and, at times, at them, and the absurdities that may accompany a strict religious upbringing. Evans’ script balances wry, biting humor with a keen sense of the dissonance between belief and lived experience. Sprinkled throughout are bursts of original music (by Laila Eskin) – hymn-like chants with absurd lyrics – that heighten the satire and draw frequent laughter from the audience.

Under the direction of Anna Klos, the 45-minute production radiates a raw, communal energy. It was clear that the full cast was committed to the show entirely: even without mics, the cast filled the theater with every line delivery, and took up the whole space with every movement, at times even invading the audience. Although not polished in the traditional sense, the acting aligned with the unvarnished vibe of the production perfectly. While Ghost Fetus is truly an ensemble show, Tia Pinson (playing Ghost Fetus) was a particular standout, with emotional delivery and physicality that feel almost otherworldly.

The production’s design further reflects the overall feeling of raw authenticity, with a modest but impressively constructed set mainly consisting of a scaled-up picnic basket full of surprises. The lighting (which includes one prolonged instance of heavy strobing, a fair warning to sensitive audience members) and sound were fitting and understated, tying the show together without being a primary focus. Adding to the spirit of the production, the program arrives in the form of a zine, an inventive touch that sets the playful, offbeat tone before the first line is spoken.

Ghost Fetus may not offer the polish of a mainstage production, but its rawness – feeling more like a communal act of introspection than a neatly packaged play – is precisely what makes it compelling. The audience responded in kind: laughter bubbled up at obvious jokes and, just as often, at the uncomfortable truths the characters voiced. That shared reaction—half amusement, half recognition—was part of the evening’s quiet power. It captures the messy, often contradictory feelings of grappling with faith, sexuality, and loss, and it does so with a mix of audacity and heart. For those willing to embrace its unvarnished energy, the play offers a uniquely personal – and unexpectedly healing – experience.

Ghost Fetus is running at Trap Door Theatre through October 27th. Tickets are available at https://trapdoortheatre.com/ghost-fetus/.