The Show Goes On At HWC

By Cameron Butler
Editor-in-Chief

Harold Washington College’s theatre department will be returning with an on-campus production next month as the pandemic subsides, with auditions completed and rehearsals underway. 

Performance dates for the play “Exit Strategy” are as follows: March 16, 18, 23, and 25 at 7 p.m., as well as March 17, 19, 24, and 26 at 2 p.m. in Room 103.

Created by playwright Ike Holter, “Exit Strategy'' is a story where “the teachers of Tumbldn High School don't live in an inspirational teacher movie. They bring mousetraps from home, they make the toilet paper last, and they show up for the kids nobody else shows up for. So when the school is slated for closure at the end of the year, and the weight of the inevitable bears down on the community, students and teachers alike discover their breaking points,” according to a summary of the play from Playscripts.com. 

HWC’s production of “Exit Strategy” will be directed by Assistant Professor of Theatre Rachel Sledd Iannantuoni.

The inspiration behind choosing “Exit Strategy” for HWC’s return to in-person theatre was “difficult and complicated”, Iannantuoni describes.

“I adore Ike Holter's plays, and in particular ‘Exit Strategy’. The topic of trauma and loss around a school closing felt very resonant with the traumas and losses we have all felt during the pandemic, particularly those of us in education. As a Chicago City College educator, I deeply identify with the CPS teachers (and student) who are the characters in ‘Exit Strategy’, and I believe the play will deeply resonate with our community,” said Iannantuoni via email communication.

Cast members of “Exit Strategy” include current and former HWC Theatre students. 

Producing the play is The Loop Players, an “educational theatre company that produces full-scale, professional quality productions with and for the Harold Washington College community,” according to the City Colleges of Chicago.

HWC student Shamari Hudgins, 31, is rehearsing for his stage debut after auditions for “Exit Strategy” wrapped up in January. 

Shamari Hugdins, 31, rehearses for the play “Exit Strategy”

“Miss ‘I’ [Iannantuoni] was my teacher from a couple years back, about three or four years, and I always wanted to be in an actual production. Going to school here, taking the classes, that was one of my goals when I actually came here. Unfortunately, I was only an understudy for one play, but I never got to be on stage, and I always wanted to,” said Hudgins. “I want to work with Miss ‘I’ again. Beautiful soul, beautiful person.”

Both Iannantuoni and Hudgins encouraged students to audition for future productions at HWC.

“Take a chance and do it!” said Iannantuoni.

“Do it! Have fun and be yourself and go as crazy as you think you can go as a character. Don’t be afraid to be unique,” said Hudgins.

Separate auditions for the “Directors’ Showcase” will be held March 2 from 1 to 3 p.m. in Room 622.

“I'd love to see lots of students there,” said Iannantuoni.