The Black Box Theatre

Black Box Theatre 12-Hour Play Competition, May 3

Sign Up Deadline: April 27

The popular Black Box Theatre 12-Hour Play Competition is back at MCC this spring. The Competition challenges groups of 2-6 people to write, rehearse, and perform a ten-minute play within 12 hours. Groups will arrive at 7 a.m. on Saturday, May 3, and work through the day until performances begin at 7 p.m. that evening.

There is a cash prize awarded for the winning play. Food and beverages will be provided throughout the day. There is a $25 entry fee per group. Be prepared to stay all day. The competition is open to the public.

Interested groups can sign up here through April 27 »

The competition will be held at The Black Box Theatre at MCC. Park in Parking Lot C and enter Building E.

For more information, email jgeller@mchenry.edu or call (815) 455-8746.

Arsenic and Old Lace — Fall 2025

MCC presents Arsenic and Old Lace, the classic dark comedy by Joseph Kesselring, directed by Jay Geller. 

Set in Brooklyn, New York, in the 1940s, Arsenic and Old Lace follows drama critic Mortimer Brewster as he discovers his sweet, elderly aunts have a deadly secret: they poison lonely old men with elderberry wine laced with arsenic. As Mortimer tries to deal with his eccentric family—including a brother who thinks he’s Theodore Roosevelt and another who’s a homicidal maniac—chaos and hilarity ensue.

The production features set design by Dan Frank, lighting design by Deb Homen-Madden, and costume design by Carol Foreman, with stage management by Nicole Weber and technical direction by Chris Adkins. Chelsea Boesiger is the assistant director, and Holly Adkins is the scenic painter.

The cast includes Holly O’Hair, Travis Greuel, Max Saunders, Kathie Comella, Robert Boyd, Robert Kaempfe, Greg Waldyn, Kae Schaefer, McKinley Shine, Mark Drinnenberg, Aidan McTague, Nathan Forrester, and Addyson Oates.

Meet the cast and crew of Arsenic and Old Lace by Joseph Kesselring

Top row left to right: Kae Schaefer, Max Saunders, Bob Boyd, Nathan Forrester, Greg Waldyn, Mark Drinnenberg

Second Row: Kathie Comella, Chelsea Boesiger, Derrick Wilson, Travis Greuel, Holly O'Hair, Bob Kaempfe

Third row on floor: Nicole Weber, McKinley Shines, Aidan McTague, Addy Oates

I'm No Shakespeare — Spring 2026

Don't miss the premiere of I'm No Shakespeare, featuring book, music, and lyrics by MCC Music Department Chair, Michael Hillstrom.

I'm No Shakespeare tells the story of Kinny, a guy trying to find the love of his life. Navigating the world of dating and aided by his friends, Kinny explores the question many people face: Do we need a significant other, or can we find happiness living a single life? This musical comedy satirizes the craziness of dating in the 21st century.

The production will be directed by Jay Geller with musical direction by Michael Hillstrom.

Meet the cast and crew of I'm No Shakespeare by Michael Hillstrom

Top row left to right: Emiliano De Casas, Michael Hillstrom, McKinley Shines, Chelsea Boesiger, Jake Seelye, Aidan McTague, Cesar Pelayo, Ivan Leiva, Misty Hansen, Spencer Alvarez, Molly Stockwell.

Second Row: Addyson Oates, Skye Schoen, Lorelei Galvilius, Morgan Tolentino-Siazon, Kendall Berg, Carla Rivera-Soto

Not pictured: Randi Jonites and Josie Hannon-Geller

Performance Schedule

• Evening Shows (7 p.m.): February 27, 28, March 6, and 7
• Sunday Matinees (2 p.m.): March 1 and 8

Reservations

Seats are $17.85 for Students, MCC Employees, Seniors, Veterans, and Alumni ($15 at the door) and $23.18 for General Public ($20 at the door). 

•  Register: Friday, February 27, from 7 to 9:30 p.m.
•  Register: Saturday, February 28, from 7 to 9:30 p.m.
•  Register: Sunday, March 1, from 2 to 4:30 p.m.
• Register: Friday, March 6, from 7 to 9:30 p.m.
• Register: Saturday, March 7, from 7 to 9:30 p.m.
• Register: Sunday, March 8, from 2 to 4:30 p.m.

Auditions for Calendar Girls - Spring 2026

Theatre 121 and The Black Box Theatre at McHenry County College will hold open auditions for Calendar Girls, based on the Miramax film by Juliette Towhidi and Tim Firth. Auditions will be held in The Black Box Theatre from 6–9 p.m. on Monday and Tuesday, March 9 and 10, with callbacks held on Thursday, March 12, from 6–10 p.m.

Director Jay Geller is casting adults for a heartfelt, humorous play inspired by a true story. Calendar Girls follows women from a rural English village who, after losing a friend, pose nude for a charity calendar. The act transforms into a global phenomenon, celebrating grief, friendship, body positivity, and courage. All ethnicities, genders, and body types are encouraged to audition.

• Calendar Girls Roles

  Chris, 50s

  You want Chris at your party. She will talk to people she doesn’t know, and things to say to all silences, and generate laughter. Part of this is because Chris is at home in crowds, holding court, being the center of attention. Without Chris in her life, Annie would be better behaved, her life less fun. The two of them are like naughty schoolgirls. Ideal car: who cares, as long as it’s a cabriolet. Ideal holiday: Algarve.

  Annie, 50s

  Annie will join in mischief but is at heart more conformist and less confrontational than Chris. After Chris has put a waiter’s back up in the restaurant, Annie will go in and pour calm. The mischievousness Chris elicits saves Annie from being a saint. She has enough edge to be interesting, and enough salt not to be too sweet. Ideal car: who cares, as long as it’s reliable. Ideal holiday: walking in English countryside.

  Cora, around 40

  Cora’s past is the most eclectic, her horizons broadened by having gone to college. This caused a tectonic shift with her more parochial parents. She came back to them pregnant and tail-between-legs, but Cora has too much native resilience to be downtrodden. She is the joker in the pack but never plays the fool. Her wit is deadpan. It raises laughter in others, but rarely in herself. Her relationship with her daughter is more akin to that between Chris and Annie. Cora doesn’t need to sing like a diva but must be able to sing well enough to start the show with Jerusalem and sing the snatches of other songs required. The piano keyboard can be marked up to enable her to play basic chords should she not be a player. Ideal car: who cares, as long as the sound system is loud. Ideal holiday: New York.

  Jessie, late 60s/70s

  Get on the right side of Jessie as a teacher and she’ll be the teacher you remember for life. Get on the wrong side and you will regret every waking hour. A lover of life, Jessie doesn’t bother with cosmetics. Her elixir of life is bravery. Jessie goes on roller coasters. Her husband has been with her a long time and is rarely surprised by her actions. Jessie bothers about grammar and will correct stallholders regarding their abuse of the apostrophe “s”. Ideal car: strange-looking European thing which is no longer manufactured. Ideal holiday: walking in Switzerland or Angkor Wat.

  Celia, age anything 35–50

  The fact that Celia is in the WI is the greatest justification of its existence. A woman more at home in a department store than a church hall, she may be slightly younger than Chris or the same age, but she always feels like she’s drifted in from another world. Which she has. She is particularly enamored of Jessie, and despite the fact Jessie has very little time for most Celias of this world, there is a rebelliousness in Celia to which Jessie responds. It’s what sets Celia apart from the vapid materialism of her peer group and made her defect. Ideal car: Porsche, which she has. Ideal holiday: Maldives, where she often goes.

  Ruth, 40s

  Ruth’s journey is from the false self-confidence of the emotionally abused to the genuine self-confidence of the woman happy in her own skin. Ruth is eager to please but not a rag doll, and despite being Marie’s right-hand woman she is desperate to be the cartilage in the spine of the WI and keep everyone happy. She has spine herself. If she was too wet, no-one would want her around. But they do, and they feel protective of her because they sense there is something better in Ruth than her life is letting out. They are proved right. Ideal car: at the start, whatever Eddie wants; at the end, whatever she wants. Ideal holiday: at the start wherever Eddie is, at the end wherever he isn’t.

  Marie, 50s

  Marie has gradually built the current “Marie” around herself over the years as a defense mechanism. She went to her Oz, Cheshire, and found Oz didn’t want her. She came back scorched. The WI is a trophy to her, which justifies her entire existence. There is a lingering part of Marie that would love to be on that calendar. Ideal car: something German and well-valeted. Ideal holiday: a quasi-academic tour of somewhere in Persia advertised in a Sunday Supplement which she could then interminably bang on about.

  John, Annie’s husband, 50s

  John is a human sunflower. Not a saint. Not a hero. Just the kind of man you’d want in your car when crossing America. When he dies it feels like someone somewhere turned a light off.

  Rod, Chris’s husband, 50s

  You have to be a certain kind of guy to stick with Chris, and Rod loves it. He can give back what he gets and has a deadpan humor that has always made Chris laugh. He drinks a lot but never so much as to have a problem. He would work every hour to make his shop a success. And John was his mate, even though the relationship was originally channeled through their wives.

  Lawrence, late 20s

  Hesitant without being nerdy, Lawrence is a shy young man with enough wit to make a joke and enough spirit to turn up at the WI hall in the first place. When he arranges the shots, he is close to female nudity but sees only the photo.

  Lady Cravenshire, 60s

  Lady Cravenshire really doesn’t mean to be so patronizing. But the WI girls seem from another world. The world of her estate workers. Dress: when she makes an entrance, she must make an entrance. Largely white or cream to outplay the others, with a bigger hat than Marie. She is not a tweed-wearer. She must glide in like a galleon.

  Elaine, 20s

  Elaine really doesn’t mean to be so patronizing. But Jessie seems from another world. The world of her gran. Dress: her clinical whites slice through like a knife. You feel you could cut yourself on that dress.

  Liam, late 20s

  Liam would like to be directing other things than photo shoots for washing powders. He’s not so unprofessional as to let it show, but we can sense a slight weariness at having to deal with these women. There’s a resigned patience to his actions and each smile he makes we feel is professional. For Liam, this photo shoot is a job. And not the job he wanted. Dress: avoid wearing shades inside a building. If you’ve gone down that route, you’ve made the weary boy a wideboy.

Participants are asked to prepare a two–to three-minute monologue in a British accent. Please read the play in advance so you understand what each role calls for. Note: The role of Cora also plays the piano.

The play is open to MCC students and community members of all backgrounds and experience levels. All roles are open. We encourage actors of all ethnicities, genders, and body types to audition.

Rehearsal will begin Sunday, March 15, and take place Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 6-9:30 p.m. Additional Sunday intimacy rehearsals to be announced.

Shows run May 1–17, with evening performances Fridays and Saturdays at 7 p.m. and matinees Saturdays and Sundays at 2 p.m. (no show May 10).

For more information, call (815) 455-8746 or email jgeller@mchenry.edu.

Sign up to audition for Calendar Girls »