FUCKING STRANGERS By Erik Patterson
Directed by Jack Dugan Carpenter
January 22–February 7, 2027
Thursdays, Fridays & Saturdays at 7:30 PM | Sundays at 3:00 PM
Open Space Arts, 1411 W. Wilson Avenue, Chicago
$30 General Admission | $25 Students & Seniors
Ru hasn’t left his bedroom in years.
Mick can’t stop paying for affection.
Julianne mourns the person she never became and the dreams she once had.
Dylan will sell himself to anyone if the price is right.
In FUCKING STRANGERS, four people who seem to have nothing in common discover that their lives are connected in ways they never expected.
Provocative, funny, sexy and ultimately deeply human, Erik Patterson’s dark comedy explores sex, loneliness, desire, shame and the complicated ways we search for connection.
What do we reveal to strangers that we cannot reveal to the people closest to us? And what happens when a seemingly anonymous encounter becomes something much more?
Bold and contemporary, FUCKING STRANGERS moves between physical and online worlds as its four characters search for intimacy—sometimes by buying it, sometimes by hiding from it, and sometimes by finding it where they least expect it.
The play received its world premiere in Los Angeles at Echo Theater Company. Critics responded particularly strongly to its humor, unpredictability and emotional seriousness, noting that beneath its provocative title is a story concerned with loneliness, secrecy, family and the need for human connection.
ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT
Erik Patterson is an award-winning playwright, screenwriter and writing teacher. His plays include ONE OF THE NICE ONES and HANDJOB, and his work has been produced or developed by organizations including Echo Theater Company, Playwrights’ Arena, the Mark Taper Forum and The Lark. His television and screenwriting work has earned a Writers Guild of America Award, a Humanitas Prize and Emmy Award nominations.
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR
Jack Dugan Carpenter returns to Open Space Arts after directing SMILEY and the staged reading of BREAKING THE CODE. A Chicago director and theatre artist, Carpenter has also directed with St. Sebastian Players and The Plagiarists, where he served as Managing and Development Director from 2011 through 2025. He holds an MFA in Directing from Illinois State University.
PERFORMANCE INFORMATION
FUCKING STRANGERS
By Erik Patterson
Directed by Jack Dugan Carpenter
January 22–February 7, 2027
Thursdays, Fridays & Saturdays at 7:30 PM
Sundays at 3:00 PM
Open Space Arts
1411 W. Wilson Avenue
Chicago, IL 60640
$30 General Admission
$25 Students & Seniors
openspacearts.org