"Calamity West is one of the best playwrights in Chicago. Or maybe the country. Or the universe." - Chicago Reader
ROLLING
World Premiere
Jackalope Theatre Company, 2016
Directed by Nate Silver
Written by Calamity West
When her groundbreaking story about a sexual assault is revealed to be a possible fraud, renowned journalist Valerie returns to her small-town childhood home to hide from the relentless spotlight of the media - only to find the scrutiny of home to be just as sinister. Stuck with her overbearing mother, addict sister, and an unexpected visitor whose motives are unclear, Valerie is forced to disconnect from the outside world. This dark comedy by Calamity shatters the boundary between public and private misogyny and asks where can you run when you're not welcome home?
REVIEWS
- click on publication name for full review -
"...one of the most talented of the youthful Chicago playwrights of the moment...."
"But this likable play already functions as a very fresh, smart — and sometimes genuinely moving — new piece about the complexity (you might call it the calamitous complexity) of mother-daughter relationships and the downside to heading home."
"For a play that’s so directly inspired by recent events, Calamity West’s Rolling is going to age quite nicely.
It’s not a hot take. It’s a long, cold stare at the way women in this country live in a house divided..."
"...the true subject of Rolling, which is the ways in which women can internalize and enforce their own oppression."