Trap Door Presents our Sunday Abroad Reading Series:
Eastern Promises
A staged reading series featuring Eastern European playwrights
Trap Door Theatre is thrilled to introduce a new play-reading series called Sundays Abroad with its first iteration, Eastern Promises. This first series of readings, Eastern Promises will play one Sunday a month in 2026, January – July at Trap Door Theatre, 1655 W Cortland St. in Chicago.
About the Sunday Stories Series: Sundays Abroad
Sunday Stories is Trap Door Theatre’s new staged reading series with a mission to foster cross-cultural understanding through the power of live staged readings. Sunday Stories will feature lesser known playwrights from around the world, historical to modern, highlighting their unique voices, cultural contexts, and contributions to the evolution of theatre. By presenting dramatic works that explore the complex histories, identities, and contemporary realities of this geopolitical territory, this program’s aim is to create a platform for facilitated dialogue between artists and audiences during post-reading talk backs.
Eastern Promises, as the first series, celebrates the resilience and creativity of Eastern European drama and theater, offering new perspectives and deepening appreciation for its unique contributions to the global stage.
The production team includes Gary Damico (Curator), Milan Pribisic (Dramaturg), Kasia Olechno (Stage Manager), Gus Thomas (Audience Outreach), Beata Pilch (Artistic Director).
Schedule
Serbia – February 22nd, 2026 at 2PM
A Boat for Dolls
Written by Milena Marković
Translated by Maja and Steven Teref
Milena Markovic’s Boat for Dolls is a postdramatic pastiche of fairy tale featuring the heroine, Woman, in her upside down initiation into the adult world dominated by male villains.
Poland – April 26th, 2026 at 2PM
House on the Border
Written by Sławomir Mrożek
Translated by Paweł Rudzi
A sharp absurd‐grotesque fable in which a family’s suburban home is suddenly bisected by a new national border, exposing how absurd and oppressive political systems turn ordinary life inside out.
Romania – May 17th, 2026 at 2PM
The Pit
Written by Matei Vișniec
Translated by Matei Vişniec and Lesley Chamberlain
An absurdist allegory in which two men find themselves trapped in a deep pit, grappling with guilt, fear and the possibility of escape, while a mysterious third figure offers goods — and perhaps freedom — under ambiguous terms.
Serbia – June 28th, 2026 at 2PM
Utopia Trip
Written and Translated by Adam Rađelović
A quest for a true meaning of a search for utopia. The play challenges conventional storytelling while exploring themes of identity, society, and the human desire to escape the absurd.