Posted by AugustIsWriting on Jul 03, 2026
Writing to you from inside the heat dome, fresh off of returning from Chicago! I managed to experience the trifecta of Chicago foods: hot dog (great), deep dish (great!!!), and Malort (GROSS!). Don't get me wrong, NYC style pizza is the quintessential pizza. But deep dish is everything I wish stuffed crust pizza was, and more. If anyone knows any good deep dish spots in Philly, please let me know. I've become a monster.
Bonus Art
I managed to see not a single play while in Chicago, but we did sneak in a Second City variety show, Give It To Me Gay. I'd love to get back to Chicago to see what they're doing during the actual theatrical season, and now that I've been once and really done the tourist thing, I think I could make one hell of a long weekend around it. All that to say, if you know something really really cool is going up, let me know!
Deltarune Chapter 5 dropped while I was on vacation, and I've spent the last few days desperately trying to catch up before getting spoilers from Tumblr. I feel so lucky that I get to experience this game as it comes out, watching how Toby Fox weaves this absolutely bonkers narrative that could only work in this medium.
What I'm Seeing in July
Variety Pack vol. 3 is here! I, unfortunately, am missing almost every single show, with the exception of Brunch Talk Show, because I will be in tech all week (more on that in a bit). In my stead, go see any one of the shows in the lineup, but especially Submission from Jackson Purdy.
July means it's the annual PlayPenn New Play Conference! I will be bouncing around a lot of these events as both an audience member and participant; I'm very excited to see the Solo Fest, a reading of The Good Guys by Sarah Mantrell, and the Evening with Eboni Booth. I'll be speaking in Playwrights in Conversation: Why We Write alongside my fellow Foundry graduates and the other conference playwrights. If you see me around, give me a wave!
Finally, I'm in something! I'll be playing Orlando in Indecorous Production's As You Like It at the Schuylkill Center! Come to the woods for a whimsical immersive production, stay to watch me wrestle a man into submission within the first fifteen minutes.
Stay cool out there!