Jacob Juntunen From 2014 to 2017,   I was fortunate to study at the Southern Illinois University Carbondale Department of Theater under Dr. Jacob Juntunen who helped mold and strengthen whatever modest powers I have as a playwright. In the fall of 2018, I performed in the SIU production of his play In The Shadow Of His Language.  His other play , Hath Taken Away,  will be performed at Ball State University in Indiana from October 15-20th. Jacob will appear at a talkback on the 19th. I decided it would be fun to interview Jacob about his current production for this here blog. RORY: So Jacob, tell us a bit about Hath Taken Away . JACOB: Hath Taken Away is about Dorothea, a 20-year-old Evangelical Christian in the Midwest who is recently married. Her faith is tested by a health crisis that threatens her life, marriage and child to be. It's told in a spiral structure with poetic, lyrical language. RORY: So where did the inspiration for this play come from? JACO...

I started this blog partially to revisit old favorite places in the Chicago storefront theatre scene and one of those is definitely City Lit, a modest little theater located in a beautiful church in the Edgewater neighborhood not far from where I grew up. City Lit, now celebrating its 40th season, specializes in literary adaptation, one of its most frequent sources being the Sherlock Holmes stories of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. They kick off their season with a revival of their production of The Hound of the Baskervilles , perhaps the most famous of the Holmes novels, adapted and directed by Artistic Director Terry McCabe. The indefatigable and uncannily brilliant crimefighter whose adventures are assisted and dryly chronicled by his best friend and sidekick (and audience stand in) Dr. John Watson, has been a staple of popular culture for over a century, enjoying a recent TV and film renaissance, it's always great to see him on stage as well. The story begins when Holmes (Jame...