happenings
World premiere of The Official Biography, a play about truth and the value of a lie.
Opens April 1, 2026, with a three-week run at The Den Theatre Mainstage in Chicago.
Decades ago Henry Percival wrote a bestselling novel about the murder of a young Black woman. Cultural critic Xan Smith reluctantly accepts a commission to write a study exploring how white male novelists of Henry’s generation (mis)treated characters of color. The project will interest only a meager audience of academics, pay a few months’ rent. But Xan is stunned when Henry admits that the murder in his novel was taken straight from fact—and that he was involved. Now Xan is sitting on a bestseller of her own!
