American Beauty Shop

When that baby's born . . . your life ceases being your life. That child owns every single one of your actions. Every breath of your body. Every dream that you ever had, Mrs. Top Two Percent, those dreams are sucked out of you and poured into the soul of that child.

It's hard to pull yourself up by your bootstraps in this economy-Sue should know. It's harder when you've got kids, even whip-smart, talented ones like Judy. Sue has big dreams for both her basement beauty shop and her daughter, who's anxiously waiting for a letter from Berkeley that could change her life.

Armed with tough love, combative humor and an uncompromising work ethic, Sue is struggling to balance her own livelihood and Judy's future. A heartfelt play about the true cost of dreams.

American Beauty Shop received its world premiere at Chicago Dramatists in April 2016, having received readings at Steppenwolf, Florida Studio Theatre, Steep Theatre, Illinois Shakespeare Festival and Chicago Dramatists.

Dana Lynn Formby is a Resident Playwright at Chicago Dramatists. She was a finalist for the 2016 Emory Fellowship in playwriting as well as a finalist for the 2015 Princess Grace Award for playwriting. Dana’s most recent play, The Labeler, is a 2016 Finalist for the American Blue Theatre Blue Ink Award. Her play Johnny 10 Beers’ Daughter was listed on The Kilroys’ Honorable Mention list for 2015. Her play American Beauty Shop is being published this May alongside the production here at Chicago Dramatists. It was also nominated for The Kilroys’ 2014’s ’The List.’