About this Event
Part book club, part performance, part debate and part community healing, this year Refracted Theatre Company partners with locations across Chicago to offer Role Call, a community play exploration event coming a neighborhood near you!
At ROLE CALL, we bravely dive into a play by reading it cold, and then we engage in and practice the complicated conversations that often follow challenging art. This series is not a performed reading. That’s the best part – no preparation is necessary! All participants take part reading through the script together for the first time before we jump into a variety of activations and discussions based on our reading. It’s a space for everyone: actors, non-actors, theater lovers, ex-theater lovers, and especially the theater-curious.
Just like last year, we'll be meeting across the city in various bookstores. We will have a special announcement at this first Role Call of the year about what else is to come!
We’ll also be featuring some special guests, experts, and educators based on our location and the play/subject matter we explore. Part of the fun of Role Call is that it depends on the people who show up!
All participants are given the chance to read throughout the course of the evening, helping to bring the play to life as everyone reads the play aloud together. It's low-stakes and no pressure, and nobody is forced to read.
This is followed by a series of questions, exercises, and discussions led by the Refracted team, in which the play's most divisive, nuanced questions are explored from a place of curiosity and empathy.
6:45 - doors open + drinks and snacks donated from local restaurant
7:00 - casting begins
This event is BYOB! Please bring your own bevvy, and perhaps some to share! We'll provide some food and dishwares!
A $10 suggested donation is encouraged, but not required! All are encouraged to attend (we will accept cash or Venmo at the event, or you can donate now at www.refractedco.com/donate)
About The Play, Quarrel Floor
When a first‑day Skorekeeper witnesses a player die during a rage-fueled match, they begin unraveling the truth behind the Quarrel Floor, the Gaming Authority, and their own family’s past. Their journey forces them to confront whether they will resist the system—or become part of the power that sustains it.
About The Playwright:
Adonis Holmes is a Writer, Performer, and Comedian out of Chicago. Adonis graduated from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign with a Bachelors in Psychology and Anthropology. Having produced, directed, and written several shows in the Champaign-Urbana community, he started taking improv classes and regularly performing at the iO Theater. Adonis has been featured in several sketch shows throughout the city, including Chicago Sketch Fest and the Best of Annoyance sketch show, along with being a principal writer and performer for Second City’s Dance Like There are Black People Watching, and Black by Popular Demand. Currently Adonis is a member of Devil's Daughter Improv, the independent improv team The Mermaids, a 2022 Bob Curry Fellow, and served as director and co-creator of the all-Black improv show, Satirical Race Theory. Adonis also served as the Co-Artistic Director of the iO Theater, and is a National Leaders of Color Fellow curated by the Western States Arts Federation(WESTAF). Currently, Adonis is a mainstage writer and performer at the Second City, having performed in the 112th revue, The Devil is in the Detours, and the Jeff nominated 113th revue, This Too Shall Slap. Adonis is repped by Stewart Talent.
About Refracted:
Refracted’s mission is to disrupt socially accepted narratives by telling the “other side of the story.” By upending audience expectations through innovation and adaptation, Refracted inspires meaningful discourse centered on empathy and humanity.
Refracted is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that was founded in 2019 in New York City by Graham Miller and Tova Wolff. As a four-year old company, Refracted is proud to have been one of the only theaters in the country that produced two full seasons of live theatre during the pandemic, harnessing its powers of creativity and innovation. Now in its fourth season in its new home of Chicago, Refracted invites you to get involved as it redefines what theatre can be in order to build a world fueled by curiosity and compassion. Please visit www.refractedco.com for more information and follow Refracted on social media @refractedco.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Center on Halsted, 3656 North Halsted Street, Chicago, United States
USD 0.00
