JJC Theatre Professor Directs Reading for Award-Winning Play

Dec 02, 2024

Joliet Junior College (JJC) theatre associate professor Brian Fruits directed a staged reading of the 2024 Yale Drama Series Award-winning play, "this dry spell" by Keegon Schuett, at Yale University in association with the Long Wharf Theatre and Artistic Congress in New Haven, Connecticut.

Chosen from a pool of six candidates, Fruits was in disbelief when he received the news.

"I actually had to ask the playwright and Yale University if I was really their choice," Fruits said. "I received an email out of the blue asking if I was interested in discussing this opportunity based on my track record. The playwright knew of my work from years prior. I received the script one day. The next I met with the team. Two days later, they selected me. I truly didn't think I would get the gig. It was an honor I could not refuse."

Although the reading itself was only a one-night event, it involved weeks of preparation. Fruits held production meetings with Yale and Long Wharf Theatre prior to online rehearsals with the actors. He also had several conversations with Schuett before the entire team met at Yale for tech week at the conference.

"The week on campus was fun and intense. 10-12 days," Fruits said. "I was working with designers, actors and the playwright in the space each day. Staging is needed but you want it to highlight the story."

The story of the play is rather unique, but its themes and lessons make it universal, or as Fruits said, a story that matters.

"The play itself is lovely, lyrical and inspiring," he said. "It's a tale of accepting yourself and love from others. I mean, the play begins with a character falling in love with a cactus. The metaphors, the language was palpable. It's a new work and an author I believe in."

Though Fruits is an educator who works with students every day, opportunities like the reading are valuable for his own professional development and the students'.

"Any time I can work on new plays and meet contacts, I can take that with me and connect our students to those things," he said. "I'm always learning. Always. I haven't stopped. I'm the same me in all spaces. That won't change. I want students to see or hear that there is more art and theatre to create after JJC. Beyond our walls. It's important that they really see that."