Johnny 10 Beers' Daughter World Premiere
Jeff Recommended • Chicago Reader Recommended
Written by Dana Lynn Formby • Directed by Emmi Hilger
Featuring Arti Ishak and Randy Steinmeyer
Presented by Something Marvelous and Randy Steinmeyer in association with Chicago Dramatists' Grafting Project.
May 21 - June 18
Chicago Dramatists
1105 West Chicago Avenue
Performances Thursday — Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday at 3 p.m; 90 minutes with no intermission
Praise for Johnny 10 Beers' Daughter
Chicago Reader RECOMMENDED — Jack Helbig
“Dana Lynn Formby’s tight, intense drama…isn't an easy play to watch—or to turn away from.” – Jack Helbig, Chicago Reader
“Arti Ishak and Randy Steinmeyer play the pair with sometimes terrifying full-throttle intensity, heightened by Emmi Hilger’s simple, unobtrusive direction.” – Jack Helbig, Chicago Reader
“[Dana Lynn] Formby tells her story well; hours after the play ended I found myself still brooding over the fates of these two lost souls.
Theatermania.com – Adelaide Lee
“Both actors in this two-hander are up to the task of this complex script.”
“It's a beautiful, challenging role, and it's hard to imagine anybody playing it better than [Arti] Ishak has here.”
“performed with razor-sharp precision. Not a word is out of place”
Awards for Johnny 10 Beers' Daughter:
- Eugene O'Neill Finalist, 2016
- Honorable Mention, Kilroys, 2015
- Princess Grace Finalist, 2015
“It is the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center’s pleasure to recommend Dana Formby and their play Johnny 10 Beers’ Daughters as a finalist for our 2016 National Playwrights Conference. The play rose through a competitive, anonymous, multileveled selection process that took nearly nine months to execute. As one of 54 finalists out of more than 1,450 submissions, the strength of its writing has allowed this work to prosper in such a competitive selection process. Our readers especially appreciated the way the deft structure and nuanced, intimate writing combined in this compelling, original examination of the effects of war.”
About the Playwright
Dana Lynn Formby
Dana Lynn Formby is a Resident Playwright at Chicago Dramatists. She was a finalist for the 2016 Emory Fellowship in Playwriting as well as a finalist and semi finalist for the 2015 and 2016 Princess Grace Award for playwriting. Dana's most recent play, THE PLAY THAT USED TO BE TITLED ‘1247 LIKES’ DECIDES TO GO DANCING IN THE CEMETERY, was commissioned by Theater Emory. THE LABELER, was a 2016 finalist for the American Blues Theatre Blue Ink Award and will be read at Luna Stage in 2017. Her play JOHNNY 10 BEERS' DAUGHTER was a finalist for the O'Neill 2016 National Playwrights Conference. It will be produced this spring by Something Marvelous and Chicago Dramatists. Her play AMERICAN BEAUTY SHOP was read at Steppenwolf’s First Look 2014 and is was published by Bloomsbury Methuen in conjunction with the world premiere at Chicago Dramatists this past spring. Dana is a three time ‘Kilroy Honorable Mention’ playwright. Dana’s plays have been produced, workshopped, and read by Pegasus Theatre Chicago, Chicago Dramatists, Mortar Theatre Company, Steep, PICT, Victory Gardens, WordBRIDGE, Florida Studio Theatre, The Alliance Theatre of Atlanta, The Kennedy Center, Theater Emory and New York Theatre Workshop. Her short play A DECK OF MONSTERS was featured in Goodman Theatre's New Play Bake-Off. Her play UNTIL DEATH was produced in 2015 at Concordia University Chicago in association with Chicago Dramatists. She holds an MFA in playwriting from Ohio University. Dana is represented by The Robert A. Freedman Dramatic Agency in New York.
About the Cast
Randy Steinmeyer
JOHNNY 10 BEERS DAUGHTER marks Randy’s 10th world premiere. An Associate Artist at Chicago Dramatists, Randy has appeared in: CHOPS, MCMEEKIN FINDS OUT, A STEADY RAIN, (Jeff award for Best Actor), and THE PROPHET OF BISHOP HILL, all plays developed at Chicago Dramatists. THE TROLL AND THE ELEPHANT PRINCE, developed at the Goodman School of Drama/DePaul University, where he received a professional certificate in Acting. He also received a BA in Theater Arts from Blackburn College. Other new work includes the musicals LARGER THAN LIFE, ALL THAT ENTERTAINMENT, and PSYCHEDELIC SUNDAE, developed at Milwaukee Rep. Additional stage credits include: MAN AND SUPERMAN, THE INFERNAL MACHINE, THE DIVINERS, THE TEMPEST, A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM, WAIT UNTIL DARK, RECKLESS, A WRINKLE IN TIME, BRIGIDOON, OUT OF ORDER, ROUGH FOR THEATER 2/CATASTROPHE, and THE BOURGEOUIS GENTLEMAN. Film work includes: PUBLIC ENEMIES, THE BABE, TRANSFORMERS 3, GAME DAY. TV work includes: CHICAGO PD, THE PLAYBOY CLUB, THE BEAST, EARLY EDITION, TURKS, THE UNTOUCHABLES, and MARIO AND THE MOB, a made for TV movie. He is represented by Grossman and Jack Talent Agency. He’s married to Heather, they have one child Conrad, and one grandchild Liam.
Arti Ishak
Hailing from Detroit originally, Arti Ishak is a Chicago actor and teaching artist. She has a B.A. in Theatre from Western Michigan University. Theatre credits: VENUS IN FUR (Circle Theatre), MEN ON BOATS (American Theater Company), BEAUTIFUL AUTISTIC (Chicago Dramatists), MOSQUE ALERT (Silk Road Rising), PROMISE OF A ROSE GARDEN(Babes with Blades), WASHER/DRYER (Rasaka Theatre), AN ALMANAC... (The Jades), REFERENCES TO SALVADOR DALI...(Something Marvelous). She'd like to thank her family for being supportive AF and her badass agents at Shirley Hamilton. www.artiishak.com
Production Team
Barry Bennett, Jonathan Berg-Einhorn, Sean Douglass, Justin Glombicki, Uriel Gomez, Adam Greye, Kara Grimm, Nick Lannan, Gracie Meier, Nicholas Schwartz, Zev Steinberg, and Michelle Underwood.