Past Seasons
Check out info about our past seasons and productions.
2009-10 Season
A Silent Night: Grandma Got Run Over Without Healthcare
Written & Performed by: Scott Hogan, Charles Howard-McKinney, Vicki Kunz, and Kenny Metroff.
Directed by Kenny Metroff
It’s a typical Christmas Eve at the Howard-McHogan household. The joyous eggnog drinking and caroling has been interrupted by a bearer of bad news. Grandma has been in an accident. She’s at the hospital but is not going to last long without treatment and she can’t get treatment until she has healthcare and she can’t get healthcare because of her preexisting condition of being run over…wow, what tangled a web we weave. What can Howard-McHogans do to save Grandma? Will this really be her last Christmas?
"Hilarious (really) highlights include a skewering of the horribly schmaltzy song "Christmas Shoes" and Kenny Metroff's mental disintegration as a real estate agent trying to sell a couple on a pricey Wrigleyville condo. And of course, we all can benefit from "Frosty's Three Rules for 'Getting Some.'" - Pipeline
Directed by Kenny Metroff
It’s a typical Christmas Eve at the Howard-McHogan household. The joyous eggnog drinking and caroling has been interrupted by a bearer of bad news. Grandma has been in an accident. She’s at the hospital but is not going to last long without treatment and she can’t get treatment until she has healthcare and she can’t get healthcare because of her preexisting condition of being run over…wow, what tangled a web we weave. What can Howard-McHogans do to save Grandma? Will this really be her last Christmas?
"Hilarious (really) highlights include a skewering of the horribly schmaltzy song "Christmas Shoes" and Kenny Metroff's mental disintegration as a real estate agent trying to sell a couple on a pricey Wrigleyville condo. And of course, we all can benefit from "Frosty's Three Rules for 'Getting Some.'" - Pipeline
2008-09 Season
Potpourri Potluck Kitchen Sink Meatloaf
Join Matt Fotis on a storytelling thrill ride featuring the original story HOLY SH*! MY WIFE IS HAVING A BABY. Taking a page from Spaulding Gray's playbook (don't worry, it's not the one that ends in the East River) Fotis brings a storytelling segment to the Indy Fringe as he takes the audience through his experience of pregnancy...well his wife's anyway.
-"I got caught up in the hilarity and sly irreverence of the stories pretty quickly...Seeing this puts Fotis firmly in my 'playwrights to follow' category...I love his clever use of language, and his quirky humor, and the fact that he is not afraid to be irreverent." - Indy Theatre Habit
-"I got caught up in the hilarity and sly irreverence of the stories pretty quickly...Seeing this puts Fotis firmly in my 'playwrights to follow' category...I love his clever use of language, and his quirky humor, and the fact that he is not afraid to be irreverent." - Indy Theatre Habit
Northern Foreclosure: All I want for Christmas are my Front Door Keys
Written & Created by Kenny Metroff, Mark Logdson, Vicki Kunz, Scott Hogan, Jeff Murdoch, Leslie Nesbit, Matt Fotis
Directed by Kenny Metroff
The third annual Shantz Theatre holiday sketch show extravaganza! Out in the cold this holiday season? Then come laugh away the pain of losing your job, house and family with us!
-"Shantz Theatre has 'Keys' to holiday laughs." - Chicago Sun-Times
2007-08 Season
Burying Mom
Written & Directed by Matt Fotis
At the Iowa, Minnesota and Indianapolis Fringe Festivals - Summer '07
-The latest dark comedy from the Chicago Reader’s “promising young playwright” Matt Fotis follows Paul Morgan as he tries to put his mother to rest. Bouncing between past and present, Paul is forced to negotiate the many layers of his relationship with his mom….or he can just bury her in the back yard.
-"Brilliant." - Nuvo
At the Iowa, Minnesota and Indianapolis Fringe Festivals - Summer '07
-The latest dark comedy from the Chicago Reader’s “promising young playwright” Matt Fotis follows Paul Morgan as he tries to put his mother to rest. Bouncing between past and present, Paul is forced to negotiate the many layers of his relationship with his mom….or he can just bury her in the back yard.
-"Brilliant." - Nuvo
No-EL: or How The BlagojeGrinch Stole Christmas
Created & Written by Matt Fotis, Kenny Metroff, Scott Hogan, Jeanette Nielsen, Tracy Meyer and Vicki Kunz
Directed by Matt Fotis
-The critically acclaimed second installment of Shantz Theatre's annual holiday sketch show. No one is safe when Santa comes to town, including the Governor...unless he gives Santa a kickback and a cushy no-show job.
-"Shantz got us laughing till we cried." -Centerstage Chicago
-Recommended by The Chicago Tribune, The Chicago Suntimes, MetroMix, RedEye, Chicago Magazine, Going Chicago and MidwestBusiness.com...that's right, MidwestBusiness.com
Directed by Matt Fotis
-The critically acclaimed second installment of Shantz Theatre's annual holiday sketch show. No one is safe when Santa comes to town, including the Governor...unless he gives Santa a kickback and a cushy no-show job.
-"Shantz got us laughing till we cried." -Centerstage Chicago
-Recommended by The Chicago Tribune, The Chicago Suntimes, MetroMix, RedEye, Chicago Magazine, Going Chicago and MidwestBusiness.com...that's right, MidwestBusiness.com
2006-07 Season
A Year in the Life of Twenty-Five Strangers Living in a City by the Lake
Written & Directed by Matt Fotis
The lives of 25 strangers are woven together in more ways than they might think in this smart new play. Featuring a scene for every month, A Year in the Life examines relationships and life with sharp wit and chilling accuracy.
-Selected as a Finalist for the Guthrie Theatre Fringe Encore
-The #7 ranked show of the festival (out of 165)
The lives of 25 strangers are woven together in more ways than they might think in this smart new play. Featuring a scene for every month, A Year in the Life examines relationships and life with sharp wit and chilling accuracy.
-Selected as a Finalist for the Guthrie Theatre Fringe Encore
-The #7 ranked show of the festival (out of 165)
The Candid Biography of a Single Chess Table Chosen at Random on an Ambiguous Spring Day in Central Park
Written & Directed by Matt Fotis
Rather than follow the trials and tribulations of a main character, this off-beat one-act comedy tracks the life of a chess table in Central Park through fourteen interconnected vignettes about life, death, sex, and jogging. Come meet the bevy of unique, colorful, and rather strange characters that inhabit this play’s world and you just might leave the theater with a new understanding of life...maybe. Okay, that’s a bit of a stretch, but you’ll laugh your butt off!
-"The most fully realized productions in the fringe." -Nuvo
Rather than follow the trials and tribulations of a main character, this off-beat one-act comedy tracks the life of a chess table in Central Park through fourteen interconnected vignettes about life, death, sex, and jogging. Come meet the bevy of unique, colorful, and rather strange characters that inhabit this play’s world and you just might leave the theater with a new understanding of life...maybe. Okay, that’s a bit of a stretch, but you’ll laugh your butt off!
-"The most fully realized productions in the fringe." -Nuvo
Requiem for a Department Store: or How Jesus Taught me to Shop at Macy's
Created & Written by Matt Fotis, Kenny Metroff, Scott Hogan, Jeanette Nielsen, and Vicki Kunz
Directed by Matt Fotis
Shantz Theatre's critically acclaimed holiday sketch show extravaganza. Missing Marshall Field's this holiday season? Us to, so come laugh away the pain. Featuring Jesus' lost USO show, Santa's WWII hideouts and the real Mrs. Claus.
-Recommended by The Chicago Tribune, The Daily Herald, New City Chicago, and MidwestBusiness.com...that's right, MidwestBusiness.com
Directed by Matt Fotis
Shantz Theatre's critically acclaimed holiday sketch show extravaganza. Missing Marshall Field's this holiday season? Us to, so come laugh away the pain. Featuring Jesus' lost USO show, Santa's WWII hideouts and the real Mrs. Claus.
-Recommended by The Chicago Tribune, The Daily Herald, New City Chicago, and MidwestBusiness.com...that's right, MidwestBusiness.com
Deviled Eggs
Written by Nick Ryan
Directed by Matt Fotis
The millennium has passed. The world awaits its Antichrist. If only the Devil could rise to the occasion. A story of love, tyranny and erectile dysfunction.
2005-06 Season
A Year in the Life of Twenty-Five Strangers Living in a City by the Lake
Written & Directed by Matt Fotis
The lives of 25 strangers are woven together in more ways than they might think in this smart new play. Featuring a scene for every month, A Year in the Life examines relationships and life with sharp wit and chilling accuracy. See if you can connect the dots between the Sound of Music and low sperm counts, St. Patrick's Day and ducks, or gay marriage and meteorology.
-"Actress Sadieh Rifai gives an especially solid performance and is a joy to watch." -Nuvo
-"The clever script...good acting and some particularly excellent moments of comic timing make A Year in The Life worth the price of admission." - Nuvo
The lives of 25 strangers are woven together in more ways than they might think in this smart new play. Featuring a scene for every month, A Year in the Life examines relationships and life with sharp wit and chilling accuracy. See if you can connect the dots between the Sound of Music and low sperm counts, St. Patrick's Day and ducks, or gay marriage and meteorology.
-"Actress Sadieh Rifai gives an especially solid performance and is a joy to watch." -Nuvo
-"The clever script...good acting and some particularly excellent moments of comic timing make A Year in The Life worth the price of admission." - Nuvo
The Van Gogh Exhibit & The Zebra Baby
Written by Matt Fotis
Directed by Jon Thomas
In The Zebra Baby a young newlywed couple has just moved into their new home. But when talk of a baby arises, Greg's world is thrown into a bizarre time-warp where the most sane person just might be a kid who likes sandwiches. The Van Gogh Exhibit is "less about Van Gogh's paintings than what happens when his swirls are set in motion...The narrative itself takes the passenger seat as the idiosyncratic characters direct traffic...trying to work out where the shapes of marriage, sexuality, bus routes, politics and memories fit into one masterpiece." -Minneapolis Skyway News
-"Fotis' wit is evident" - TimeOut Chicago
-"In these two one-acts, promising young playwright Matt Fotis delivers smart, funny dialogue and honest observation of diverse characters...these short works provide some sharp humor and a few provocative ideas." -Chicago Reader
-"The Van Gogh Exhibit, a multi-character La Ronde-like piece laced with biting humor and a lingering sadness... Shantz’s initial Chicago outing is still filled with plenty of promise and insight. Minneapolis’ loss has the potential to be a strong Chicago gain." -The Windy City Times
Directed by Jon Thomas
In The Zebra Baby a young newlywed couple has just moved into their new home. But when talk of a baby arises, Greg's world is thrown into a bizarre time-warp where the most sane person just might be a kid who likes sandwiches. The Van Gogh Exhibit is "less about Van Gogh's paintings than what happens when his swirls are set in motion...The narrative itself takes the passenger seat as the idiosyncratic characters direct traffic...trying to work out where the shapes of marriage, sexuality, bus routes, politics and memories fit into one masterpiece." -Minneapolis Skyway News
-"Fotis' wit is evident" - TimeOut Chicago
-"In these two one-acts, promising young playwright Matt Fotis delivers smart, funny dialogue and honest observation of diverse characters...these short works provide some sharp humor and a few provocative ideas." -Chicago Reader
-"The Van Gogh Exhibit, a multi-character La Ronde-like piece laced with biting humor and a lingering sadness... Shantz’s initial Chicago outing is still filled with plenty of promise and insight. Minneapolis’ loss has the potential to be a strong Chicago gain." -The Windy City Times
The Marriage of Marcus Tyler
Written & Directed by Matt Fotis
When the Tyler’s eldest son brings his fiancé home to meet the family, the Tyler’s put her through their own unique test to see if she really is “the one.”
-"Gary Saipe's blustering grandfather...dominates the action from his perch on the sofa, looking like a great malevolent owl." -Chicago Reader
When the Tyler’s eldest son brings his fiancé home to meet the family, the Tyler’s put her through their own unique test to see if she really is “the one.”
-"Gary Saipe's blustering grandfather...dominates the action from his perch on the sofa, looking like a great malevolent owl." -Chicago Reader
2004-05 Season
The Van Gogh Exhibit
Written & Directed by Matt Fotis
The Van Gogh Exhibit is "less about Van Gogh's paintings than what happens when his swirls are set in motion...The narrative itself takes the passenger seat as the idiosyncratic characters direct traffic...trying to work out where the shapes of marriage, sexuality, bus routes, politics and memories fit into one masterpiece." -Minneapolis Skyway News
-"What an ear for dialogue!" -mnartists.org
-"Highly quotable piece, smart, philosophical." -mnartists.org
-"Relationships are tenuous, vibrant things. The Van Gogh Exhibit explores twelve of them with insight and wit." -mnartists.org
-Named "Anna's Pick of the Fringe" by Minneapolis Skyway News.
The Van Gogh Exhibit is "less about Van Gogh's paintings than what happens when his swirls are set in motion...The narrative itself takes the passenger seat as the idiosyncratic characters direct traffic...trying to work out where the shapes of marriage, sexuality, bus routes, politics and memories fit into one masterpiece." -Minneapolis Skyway News
-"What an ear for dialogue!" -mnartists.org
-"Highly quotable piece, smart, philosophical." -mnartists.org
-"Relationships are tenuous, vibrant things. The Van Gogh Exhibit explores twelve of them with insight and wit." -mnartists.org
-Named "Anna's Pick of the Fringe" by Minneapolis Skyway News.
2003-04 Season
The Diner Variations
Written & Directed by Matt Fotis
Inspired by David Mamet’s The Duck Variations, this slightly absurdist black comedy follows two lifelong friends as they reflect on their past and speculate about their future after the tragic death of someone near and dear to them both. Touching on everything from McCarthyism to feminist interpretations of 17th Century French literature, The Diner Variations is sure to have something for everyone.
Inspired by David Mamet’s The Duck Variations, this slightly absurdist black comedy follows two lifelong friends as they reflect on their past and speculate about their future after the tragic death of someone near and dear to them both. Touching on everything from McCarthyism to feminist interpretations of 17th Century French literature, The Diner Variations is sure to have something for everyone.
2002-03 Season
The Candid Biography of a Single Chess Table Chosen at Random on an Ambiguous Spring Day in Central Park
Written & Directed by Matt Fotis
Rather than follow the trials and tribulations of a main character, this off-beat one-act comedy tracks the life of a chess table in Central Park through fourteen interconnected vignettes about life, death, sex, and jogging. Come meet the bevy of unique, colorful, and rather strange characters that inhabit this play’s world and you just might leave the theater with a new understanding of life...maybe. Okay, that’s a bit of a stretch, but you’ll laugh your butt off!
"Fotis’s script enlivens both mundane and bizarre human interactions...[A] tightly acted composition that evokes the gamut of emotions." -City Pages
"Everyone in the room was tearing with laughter." - Augsburg Echo
Rather than follow the trials and tribulations of a main character, this off-beat one-act comedy tracks the life of a chess table in Central Park through fourteen interconnected vignettes about life, death, sex, and jogging. Come meet the bevy of unique, colorful, and rather strange characters that inhabit this play’s world and you just might leave the theater with a new understanding of life...maybe. Okay, that’s a bit of a stretch, but you’ll laugh your butt off!
"Fotis’s script enlivens both mundane and bizarre human interactions...[A] tightly acted composition that evokes the gamut of emotions." -City Pages
"Everyone in the room was tearing with laughter." - Augsburg Echo