"Calamity West is one of the best playwrights in Chicago. Or maybe the country. Or the universe." - Chicago Reader
GIVE IT ALL BACK
Paris, 1966. An American musician has gone electric and his fans are furious, his record company is panicking and everyone he knows seems to have an opinion about who he used to be. Holed up in a hotel room with a revolving door of friends, lovers, reporters and handlers, The Artist is offered a chance to reclaim his place at the center of American culture: the cover of Time magazine. All he has to do is explain himself. Give It All Back is a darkly comic play about fame, reinvention, and who gets to decide what an artist should be.
PRODUCTION HISTORY
ELEUSIS COLLECTIVE
Online Production
Directed by Claire K. Redfield
August 2021
SIDESHOW THEATRE COMPANY
Directed by Marti Lyons
November - December 2016
DEVELOPMENT HISTORY
Originally commissioned by
SIDESHOW THEATRE COMPANY
December 2014 - September 2016
GIVE IT ALL BACK received a Kilroy Citation in 2016
REVIEWS
- Click on publication name for full review -
"West, [a] Chicago writer with an ebullient sense of theatricality, is the real deal, far more of the real deal, in fact, than some other emerging writers who get thrown far more resources by far bigger theaters, and 'Give It All Back' probably is West's best play to date."
"In a lot of ways, West’s writing really hits the zeitgeist. She’s an important voice in the world right now - and I look forward to following her work. There’s a lot that is powerful in this play, particularly for us artists but I think for audiences in general."