Panel

Four Women

Four Women Talk About Being Funny

ABOUT 

  • ABOUT Leslie Buxbaum Danzig

    Leslie Buxbaum Danzig, a 500 Clown company member, co-created and directed 500 Clown Macbeth, 500 Clown Frankenstein, 500 Clown Christmas, and 500 Clown and the Elephant Deal, which have been performed across the world.  As a performer, she has toured with New York City's Elevator Repair Service and trained in physical theater and clown with Jacques Lecoq and Philippe Gaulier. Profile
  • ABOUT Martha Lavey

    Martha Lavey is artistic director and an ensemble member of the Steppenwolf Theatre. She has appeared in dozens of shows at Steppenwolf and at theaters in both Chicago and New York City. A grant panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts, The Steinberg Distinguished Playwright Award, The Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the Three Arts Club of Chicago, USA Artists, and the City Arts panel of Chicago, Lavey holds a doctorate in performance studies from Northwestern University.

    Profile
  • ABOUT Lauren Katz

    Lauren Katz is a performer and founding member of the improvisational group ED. Her recent theater credits include Great Men of Science and When The Messenger is Hot. Television and film appearances include The Drew Carey Show, Dead Last, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Parks and Recreation, Kicking and Screaming, Mr. Jealousy, Rudy, and the upcoming Women in Trouble.  A former student and teacher at The Piven Theatre Workshop, she received her B.F.A from The Theatre School at Depaul University. Profile
  • ABOUT Tanya Saracho

    Tanya Saracho is a writer, actor, and founding artistic director of Teatro Luna: Chicago's All-Latina Theater Ensemble, where her work Generic Latina, Dejame Contarte, The Maria Chronicles, SOLO Latinas and S-E-X-Oh! have been produced. A finalist for the Nuestras Voces playwrighting competition and Christopher B. Wolk Award, Saracha was the recipient of the Ofner Prize given by the Goodman Theatre. She is also the resident playwright at Chicago Dramatists.

    Profile
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What do funny and feminine and feminist have to do with each other? Anything? A lot? Four influential women in Chicago’s theater scene talk about what they’ve learned about being funny. With experiences—some funny, some not—in writing, directing, improvising, and acting, their conversation may range far and wide in search of what role gender plays in delivering and receiving humor, or if gender plays a role at all. Martha Lavey, ensemble member and artistic director of Steppenwolf Theatre, will moderate the roundtable discussion, which will include Leslie Buxbaum Danzig, actor and director of 500 Clown; Tanya Saracho, writer, actor, and founding artistic director of Teatro Luna; and Lauren Katz, founding member of ED, a long-form improv group born in Chicago.

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