Synopsis
Two middle-aged jazz freaks with a lot of water under the bridge vie for the affections of a good-looking young woman late one Sunday night in a dying bar owned by an ex-Rush street bartender pal of theirs. As the night unravels, wheels within wheels are revealed and unhinged. Echoes of O’Neill and Mamet: the story-teller returns; the thief is found out. Four characters. Three males, all mid-50s. One female, 28. Time 1984. Lots of banter, jazz music, and Chicago references. A quintessential Chicago play. One set. 90 minutes.
Excerpt
Chops – 5-Page Dialogue Sample [PDF]
Monologues
Production
Chops was produced at Theater Wit in July of 2016, directed by Richard Shavzin. Learn more here.
Origin
In 1976 I got a job in a bar owned by a former bartender personality on Rush Street. His buddies would hang out there. On some nights after closing they’d turn off the outside sign, darken the inside lights, roll some joints and regale each other—and me—with stories about the golden years of Rush Street, much of it centered around jazz, which I learned to love while listening to the jazz jukebox. Here I was, a kid taking my turn on the joint, privileged to be in this special darkness. I said to myself, “I gotta do justice to these guys.” It took 40 years.
