The Strawdog Theatre world premiere Miss Marx: or the Involuntary Side Effect of Living is not quite a homecoming for 33-year-old out playwright Philip Dawkins, a onetime Windy City Times 30 Under 30 honoree.
Back in 2006, Dawkins and director Eric C. Reda rented out Strawdog's Hugen Hall space to present the double-bill Ugly Baby, which was filled to the hilt with comically gay stereotypical characters and a fair amount of gender-bending drag.
"We were like, look, nobody's hiring us. Nobody knows who we are. We have this project that we think is kind of fun, so let's do it," Dawkins said during a recent telephone interview, clarifying that Ugly Baby was just a rental, whereas Miss Marx is fully part of Strawdog's regular season ( which Dawkins credits to his friend, director Megan Shuchman, for bringing it to the attention of the company ).
"One of the wonderful things about Chicago is you can do something like that with a budget and not break the bank. Whereas in a place like New York, you'll go broke self-producing," Dawkins said about Ugly Baby. "We didn't have any money and this was pre-Kickstarter, too. We just did a few things like have a cocktail fundraiser and we put on a show—very Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney finding a barn and putting on a show."
Since then, Dawkins has kept at his playwriting, having two major Chicago premieres with The Homosexuals in 2011 for About Face Theatre ( where he is an artistic associate ) and Failure: A Love Story at Victory Gardens Theater in 2012 ( where he is an ensemble playwright member ). Both these shows have been produced multiple times regionally across America, and with future commissions lined up from Steppenwolf Theatre, Northlight Theatre and Children's Theater Company in Minneapolis, Dawkins is nearly in a place where he can largely support himself full time as a writer.
Yet Dawkins also teaches playwriting as an adjunct professor at Northwestern University and Loyola University.
"It complicates my schedule, but it keeps me honest," Dawkins said about teaching. "It's a lot of accountability and it keeps me fresh. The greatest way to learn is to teach and I learn quite a bit from my students."
With Miss Marx, Dawkins is doing another form of teaching by dramatizing the life of Eleanor Marx, the youngest daughter of philosopher Karl Marx. Dawkins was surprised at how little people know about Eleanor Marx, who carried on her father's activism in Victorian England by fighting for social and sexual equality.
"The more I learned about who [Eleanor Marx] was and about who she was, I was like, 'Oh my god, I can't believe that somebody hasn't written an opera about this,'" Dawkins said. "In many ways, her story is relatable to today for a lot of reasons, particularly on how you exist as a leader, speaking for people who can't necessarily be heard on their own—the pressure and anxiety that comes from that."
Dawkins was additionally fascinated with Eleanor Marx when he learned how she worked as an actress and translator, notably being one of the first to do English translations of works like Ibsen's A Doll's House and Flaubert's Madame Bovary. She also did a lot of union organizing and sought to distribute then-illegal information about birth control.
"She's pretty much an all around social bad ass," Dawkins said, adding that she also defied gender norms by dressing in a more masculine way and living in a common-law marriage with fellow socialist Edward Aveling.
"I think we are currently in a prudish, suffering Victorian age when anybody who wants to speak out for the rights of anyone else or even mention the words socialism or feminism in leadership and individuality, people try to jump down your throat and cut you down for attempting to have an opinion," Dawkins said, adding that this was another reason he wanted audiences to draw parallels to the characters in his play to today.
But instead of a lecture, Dawkins emphasized that his play is essentially a love story exploring the stresses of activism on a one-on-one relationship. And he's also happy so far with how Strawdog is realizing the play.
"I am really blessed with some rock star actors, and I really feel like they understand these characters and they are really bringing it," Dawkins said. "I've been a fan of Strawdog for a long time and I think they do compelling, exciting and risky theater. Even though this is the first time I'm officially working with them, it doesn't feel like it because I've been so much in their orbit."
Miss Marx: or The Involuntary Side Effect of Living continues in previews through Sunday, Feb. 23, with an official opening night at 8 p.m. Monday, Feb. 24, at Strawdog Theatre, 3829 N. Broadway St. Regular performances are 8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays with 4 p.m. matinees on Sundays through Saturday, March 29.
Preview tickets are $15 and $50 for a Board Preview at 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 22 ( includes post-show reception ). Regular run tickets are $28; call 866-811-4111 or visit www.strawdog.org for more information.
