"Calamity West is one of the best playwrights in Chicago. Or maybe the country. Or the universe." - Chicago Reader
ENGINES AND INSTRUMENTS OF FLIGHT:
A FANTASIA
IN THREE ACTS
Written by Calamity West - 2016 to 2020
Unproduced - Reading History Below
Calamity West is thinking about writing a new play. A fantasia. She imagines that it's 1986, and The Playwright is writing his next play. Or, rather, struggling to write it. Or, rather, struggling to start it. After an ugly breakup with his boyfriend, The Playwright is left to face his own creative inertia as his best friends grapple with freshly-exposed feelings of romance, sexuality, and heartbreak. Caught inside a maelstrom of secrets, lies, and ghostly premonitions, he begins to find inspiration for his new work ... but his own "gay fantasia on national themes" starts to look a little too familiar for his friends' tastes. In writing a play that might just make it big, The Playwright must untangle the conflicting responsibilities that come with being an artist and being a friend.

READING HISTORY



THE HOUSE THEATRE
University of Chicago
Directed by Seth Bockley
July 2017
