"Calamity West is one of the best playwrights in Chicago. Or maybe the country. Or the universe." - Chicago Reader
IN THE CANYON
A new American saga by Calamity West spanning from 2007 to 2067. In an exploration of the present attack on Roe v. Wade, this world premiere chronicles a story of survival, and imagines the decline of a broken society. When the sun begins to set on a shattered world, the canyon rocks and walls come alive and a story of resistance is birthed.
PRODUCTION HISTORY
THE CONSTRUCTIVISTS
Directed by jaimelyn gray
Milwaukee
October 2024
JACKALOPE THEATRE COMPANY
Directed by Elly Green
Chicago
October - December 2018*
DEVELOPMENT HISTORY
Originally commissioned by
JACKALOPE THEATRE COMPANY
December 2015 - December 2018
THE PUBLIC
New York, New York
November 2019
WILLIAMSON THEATRE FESTIVAL
Williamstown, MA
August 2019
SANGUINE THEATRE
New York, New York
April 2018
IN THE CANYON received a Kilroy Citation in 2023
* production extended
REVIEWS
- click on publication name for full review -
"...a rush of an Orwellian dystopian drama."
"[West's] themes include the creep of fascism, the demonizing of the opposition and, ultimately, the creation of an alternate reality, all of us having been slowly Keyser Soze’d..."
"...an essential Chicago-style voice."
"Playwright Calamity West...has emerged as a leading aesthetic innovator of storefront realism as well as a tough-as-nails moralist....West's ominous new drama...is the center of something extraordinary."
"In The Canyon is iconic."
"With so many options, so much talent blossoming in every direction, the idea of choosing one not-to-miss show seems foolhardy. Call me a fool: In the Canyon is it."