(a)Symmetry Cycle
Produced and Written by Chelsea Marcantel
    Numbfeel directed by Lavina Jadhwani
    Dumbspeak directed by Eric Hoff
    Blindsight directed by John Ross Wilson
July 2010
The Viaduct Theatre
Chicago, ILaSc_home.htmlNumbfeel.htmlDumbspeak.htmlBlindsight.htmlshapeimage_3_link_0shapeimage_3_link_1shapeimage_3_link_2shapeimage_3_link_3

This funny, agile narrative is both moving and revealing... Marcantel develop[s] an affecting textual echo chamber: snippets of dialogue are recycled, passing fluidly from the mouth of one character to the next and accruing into drifts of relationship-speak, as universal and inevitable as the body’s chemical responses.  ...An ambitious achievement.”

TimeOut Chicago

Beatrice & Beau
Directed by Brandon Ray
April-May 2009
Collaboration Theatre Company
Sketchbook 9 Festival of New Work
Chicago, ILhttp://collaboraction.typepad.com/sketchbook_9/sketchbook-program.htmlshapeimage_6_link_0

“Exceedingly clever look at the love-hate component in intimate relationships”

Hedy Weiss, Chicago Sun-Times

“Especially good ... I suspect the dark comedy will hit uncomfortably close to home for many.”

Nina Metz, Chicago Tribune


“A brilliantly claustrophobic rendering of a failing relationship.”

Melissa Albert, Chicago Journal


“A hilarious examination of a romantic couple arguing over whether to take their relationship to the next stage.”

Scott C. Morgan, Windy City Times

Watch 
a snippet of B&B 
on YouTube!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCERr3yeWakhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCERr3yeWakhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCERr3yeWakshapeimage_8_link_0shapeimage_8_link_1shapeimage_8_link_2

“Stick[s] to the ribs...trade[s] in honest-to-God sex appeal.”

Christopher Piatt, TimeOut Chicago


“The script provides a nuanced understanding of human sexuality and cultural mores that is surprisingly deep for such a short work.”

Randy Hardwick, Chicago Critic

“In Marcantel’s nuanced, undidactic handling of her story, the girlfriend’s eagerness to use the statutory rape as an all-purpose explanation for her boyfriend’s behavior demonstrates the limitations of letting one chapter in a life stand for the whole story.”

Zac Thompson, Chicago Reader

“...an adorable little slice of a modern relationship.  Marcantel has a wonderfully modern young urban voice, and her piece is exquisite in its overlapped dialogue and twists.”

Jamie DesRoches, The Kids Got Moxie

HomeChelsea_M._Marcantel.htmlshapeimage_19_link_0
The Voodoo Chalk Circle
Directed by Tim Speicher
April - May 2011
The State Theatre of Chicago
@ The Viaduct Theatre
Chicago, ILhttp://www.statetheatrechicago.comshapeimage_47_link_0

“Marcantel boils down a hugely complex script to a briskly paced and potent one-act...like Mary Zimmerman on the cheap, consistently charming in its ingenuity... it’s a rousing show.”

John Beer, TimeOut Chicago * Critic’s Pick


“New, strikingly original adaptation... lyrical dialogue and sweeping, moody vision... a subtle yet stunning array of puppetry, projection, movement, and music propel the audience through a dreamscape of fear and desire, where old ways and ancient spirits emerge to replace

a decimated society.”

Keith Griffin, Chicago Reader * Recommended


“Wonderful opportunity to revisit this story in a new light... [Marcantel’s] most ambitious and successful endeavor to date.... Poetic and resonant... an important piece of theatre this season that should not be overlooked.”

Jason Rost, Chicago Theatre Blog