broken fences
By Steven Simoncic
BROKEN FENCES is an urban drama in two acts set in Humboldt Park, a Chicago ghetto neighborhood in transition, as the speed of gentrification accelerates and property taxes rise. The story centers on two young couples, Hoody and D, who have been in the neighborhood for years, and Czar and April, who have saved for years to buy their first home. As Hoody struggles to cover his property tax bill, and Czar struggles to join the community, and both struggle to maintain separate identities and accept the changes surrounding them, Broken Fences examines culture, race and socio-economics in the modern American Village with humor, humanity, dignity and pathos. Broken Fences is written in a naturalistic style with ironic humor and elements of surrealistic imagining. The action of the play incorporates music and dancing in the rap/ghetto idiom. Interior/Exterior, Unit Set.
PLAYWRIGHT
STEVEN SIMONCIC
Steven Simoncic is a Chicago playwright whose past stage productions include Heat Wave, Words with C, Something Blue, and Discovery Channel. Steven is currently a resident playwright at Chicago Dramatists and his fiction has appeared in The Chicago Reader, New Millennium Writings, Spork Magazine and Drift. He has been nominated for a Pushcart prize and has written several short films. Steven holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan, an MFA in writing from Warren Wilson College, and an MLA from the University of Chicago. When he is not writing you can find him playing in his band, Supra Genius, or dancing in the kitchen with his kids (Johnny & Gracie) and wife Karen.
CAST LIST
Brian J. Carter
D’Monroe
Lori Funk
S.J. Hannah
Andy Konrad
Michelle Lookadoo
Arbender Robinson
Jason Tomarken
Nellesa Walthour
Jonathan Holtzman, Narrator