Comfortable Shoes
October to November 2019
“Cuttler's perpetual motion matches the rapid-fire delivery of her script. With the athleticism of a track star, she leaps, climbs, springs, and swings” —Chicago Reader
My solo-show Comfortable Shoes saw a six week run at The Neo-Futurist Theater in the Fall of 2019 and was a Critics’ Pick by the Chicago Reader. Interweaving the frame story of The 1001 Nights and the structure of a filibuster, Comfortable Shoes was a two-person show that adapts the tale of Scheherazade, a woman who must tell stories to a king every night in order to survive, with the tale of Wendy Davis, a Texas senator who delivered an eleven-hour filibuster in order to block a bill restricting abortion rights and relates this tension back to modern-day gender roles and power dynamics.
World Premier at Neo-Futurist Theater in 2019
Directed by Halena Kays
Written by Ida Cuttler
Music by Katie Klocke
WILDCATS
May 2022
““Wildcats” is a constellative, drag, fever poem”—Sixty Inches From Center
A two person/one pianist multi-media drag musical spectacle about loneliness, bursting out of isolation, and relatively unknown moment in Lucille Ball’s career. WILDCATS is about failure and friendship and learning to let go.
World Premier at Neo-Futurist Theater in 2022
Directed by Halena Kays
Written by Ida Cuttler and Nick Hart
Performed by Ida Cuttler, Nick Hart, and Laura Mckenzie
The Infinite Wrench
2015 to 2022
“Any version of The Infinite Wrench is going to be a surprising, occasionally powerful, often hilarious and always entertaining evening.” –Chicago On Stage
Since 2014, I have regularly contributed as a writer and performer to the Neo-Futurists’ long-running weekly show The Infinite Wrench. Every night the cast performs 30 plays in 60 minutes. Each play offers something different, but all are truthful and tackle the here-and-now, inspired by the lived experiences of the performers.
The Infinite Wrench Goes Viral
2020 to 2022
“The Neo-Futurists have created the most successful online shows of the pandemic” —Chris Jones, The Chicago Tribune
The Infinite Wrench Goes Viral is a monthly subscription of 30 short plays on video created by the Neo-Futurists. Still curious? Consider signing up for our Patreon.
BIMBOS
July 2021
BIMBOS paid homage to the bimbos who make their femininity known to the world and explored how this archetype is worn and performed on different bodies.
Created by Claudia Castillo, Ida Cuttler, Katelyn Douglass, Jiana Estes, Alex Hovi, Wade Howard, Jasmine Jordan, Justin Lynk, Andy Slavin, Kori Whitby, and Carly Wicks
Directed by Audrey Polinsky
Produced by Hot Kitchen in collaboration with Hot Wheelz Festival
photo by Justin Lynk
45 Plays for America’s First Ladies
September to October 2020
“A relentless Sketch Comedy Flipbook” –Jesse Green’s Critics Pick in The New York Times
45 Plays for America’s First Ladies surveyed the lives of the women who served (and avoided serving) as first lady, from Martha to Melania. This show was a biographical, meta-theatrical, genre-bending ride through race, gender and history.
World (Virtual) Premier via Neo-Futurist Theater, September 2021. Picked up for streaming by Broadway On Demand through July 2021.
Directed by Denise Yvette Serna
Written by Chloe Johnston, Sharon Greene, Genevra Gallo-Bayiates, Bilal Dardai and Andy Bayiates
Tangles and Plaques
October 2017, September 2018 and August 2019
"...the production is able to not only achieve its goal of “demystifying” the experience of this affliction but also connect with the audience in a personal yet painstakingly artful way." —Newcity Chicago
Tangles & Plaques was an attempt to demystify the experience of dementia in the language of theatre—offering a vivid, poignant, participatory experience that is unique to each audience and different every performance.The ensemble interrogated the life and death of memories—how they persist, when they depart and the ways they distort over time.
World Premier at Neo-Futurist Theater in 2017. Re-mounted at Neo-Futurist Theater in 2018 and again as part of Theater On The Lake’s season in 2019.
Directed by Jen Ellison
Created by KR Riiber
Featuring the performances of KR Riiber, Kaitlyn Andrews, Ida Cuttler, Justin Deming, Mike Hamilton, Nick Hart and Dan Kerr-Hobert
That’s Weird, Grandma!
2017 to Current
“That’s Weird, Grandma! is for everyone. Everything about [PlayMakers Laboratory] is amazing—their talent for teaching and acting, their mission and vision, their impact, and how they put a smile on everyone’s face.” –Buzz Chicago
That’s Weird, Grandma! features adaptations of stories written during the company’s creative writing residencies in Chicago elementary schools. PlayMakers Laboratory is an ensemble of professional actors, comedians and musicians who bring the young authors’ stories to life as raucous sketches, songs and movement pieces, performing first for students in their schools and then for the public.