The Stockyards Theatre Project's fourth annual showcase of woman-centered drama, coproduced with Link's Hall, features storytelling, dance, improv, stand-up comedy, and other forms. The festival runs October 24-26 at Link's Hall, 3435 N. Sheffield. Performances are at 8 PM; each evening features a different lineup of seven to nine pieces with one intermission (latecomers will not be seated until then). Tickets cost $12 per night; a festival pass is $27. Call 773-281-0824 for information and reservations.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 24

Hagallah

The troupe Barbary reenacts a ceremonial dance from Sudan that marks a girl's passage into womanhood.

Girls Wear Shirts

The Silent Partners movement theater performs excerpts from its "no-holds-barred ... encounter with female sexuality."

Yarb Women Speak

Jill Elaine Hughes and Francesca Peppiatt portray two 19th-century Appalachian women dispensing traditional wisdom on their own TV talk show.

Language Body

Rachel Damon examines "the habits and functions of our bodies that are often unappreciated." The piece is followed by intermission.

Residue

Jodi Kanter performs a solo work.

Black Ken Speaks for Himself

Ken discusses his life as an African-American with his friend Barbie in this piece written and performed by Lea Robinson and Elizabeth Whitney.

Yellow, Black, and Rectangular

Citizen's Relief dances its way through the Negativland song.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 25

Reel to Real

The Dance COLEctive offers excerpts from this full-length work. "[Choreographer Margi] Cole's Reel to Real [suggests] that the most beautiful woman is the one most natural and unadorned.... [It conveys] the delicate mutual support and intimacy crucial to female friendships," Reader critic Laura Molzahn said of a 2001 performance.

Duet One: Kindred Thing

This piece features Sabrina Cavins and Molly Grimm.

Duet Two: Secret Self

Donnette Kuba and Rachel Nicoli explore female relationships.

Stand-up Comedy

Erika D. Edwards tells jokes.

Songs

Jeanne T. Arrigo performs a set of her original tunes.

Just Disturbed

Theatre Entropy draws on texts by Anais Nin, Adrienne Rich, and others to explore "the many 'selves' inside each and every woman." The piece is followed by intermission.

Solo for Judy

This "exploration in movement of Judy Garland as an icon" is performed by choreographer Rachel Thorne Germond.

The Real Life Adventures of Lizzy and Rilla

Joie Devoney and festival director Katie Carey Govier present their play in which two women "confront and defeat the Beauty Myth."

Results Not Typical

Kara Lashmet performs her one-woman show that relates how she lost over 200 pounds.

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 26

Improv #23--Revisited/Slightly Altered

Matrix Dance Improv "explores alternative ways to invent movement."

Car Horn Meredith Glidden performs her solo work about a woman's encounters while walking to work.

The Not-So-Young and the Very Restless

Elizabeth Sandoval and Michael Mercurio present Sandoval's play about a late-night radio show.

Personal Penchants

Janet B. Milstein and Lisa Herceg perform Barbara Lhota's play about two lesbians' first date; Sarah Mostad directs.

Pressed

The frustrations of multitasking are addressed in Beth McNeil's solo dance. The piece is followed by intermission.

We Are Not Turning Into Our Mothers

The Pushpins improv troupe uses audience suggestions to explore female-centered themes.

Finding the Ghost of Goddess

Kristiana Colon takes viewers on a "poetic voyage through womanhood."

Not If But When . . .

Finding support in relationships is explored in this duet from UpSideDown Dance.

Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): photo/Albert Williams.