The F*** Around Series presents

Death and the Girl

by Giulianna Marchese

Directed by Caroline Kidwell

 
 

Photography by Lisa Elmaleh

@ The Hearth

1020 W. Bryn Mawr Ave

Westside / Kenmore Ave entrance

November 13 - 15, 2026

Fri / Sat / Sun @ 7:30P*

Tickets are FREE, with a $10 suggested donation

Dru is used to seeing things in her sleep. So when she sees a man in the middle of the night, she is not scared. Was he electrocuted, beheaded, hung, shot? He can’t remember. Death and the Girl is an Appalachian ghost story for the modern world.

A note on content: The topics discussed in this play may be upsetting to viewers. To request a breakdown of the content of this play, please email giuliannamarchese@redtheater.org.

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Cast

  • DRU | Michaela Shapiro

  • MAN | Josh Odor

  • ENSEMBLE | Maddy Brown

  • ENSEMBLE | Alexandria Bressette

Production Team

  • PLAYWRIGHT | Giulianna Marchese*

  • DIRECTOR | Caroline Kidwell*

  • ASSISTANT DIRECTOR | Anna Seibert

*denotes Red Cohort Member

About the playwright

Giulianna Marchese is a writer, dramaturg, and scholar currently pursuing a PhD in Performance as Public Practice at The University of Texas at Austin. She received her BFA from Carnegie Mellon University and her MA from The University of California, Santa Cruz. As a dramaturg, she has worked with Quantum Theatre, City Theatre Pittsburgh, American Theater Company, and Raven Theatre. Her plays have been performed by At Home Artist Project, the Skokie New Play Festival, and the City Theatre Miami Reading Series. She spent the pandemic substitute teaching in West Virginia. As a graduate student, Giulianna’s research focuses on using performance to support restorative justice. You can read her thesis, titled Restorative Theatre, on ProQuest and her essay, An Art Festival in Rwanda Converses with the Past and Celebrates Our Share Present, on Howlround.com. She literary managed Red Theater Chicago for six years where she created and programmed Script Club, a monthly event to discuss and promote plays from the New Play Exchange. Giulianna’s most recent play, Death and the Girl, was developed with The Digital Development Project and received a workshop performance in the Cohen New Works Festival in April 2025.

 
 

About the F*** Around Series

a boundary-pushing production series hosted at The Hearth

In July of 2023, we met a huge goal of ours when we moved into our first-ever rehearsal space inside the Edgewater Presbyterian Church. We lovingly nicknamed our new home The Hearth, a tribute to the communal warmth that fosters genuine creative freedom. With our doors officially open, we've wasted no time in launching our first Red-hosted production series.

The F*** Around Series is only limited to what Chicago's artists can dream up (and our square footage). More experimenting, more collaboration, more spaghetti on more walls. We're here to get new art in front of audiences, try out new ideas and new jobs, and most importantly, to learn and grow with our ever-evolving artistic community.

For playwrights that are ready to move out of the workshop stage and get their shows up on their feet, for directors and actors that are deeply passionate about a script that isn't being done on main stages, for experimental and unique performances that deserve to be seen without having to pay for an expensive venue: we're going to f*** around and find out - and you are all invited to find out with us!