About Me (Constance Kuntz)
I’m the creative director for Naked Angels Chicago where I’m also a playwright. Ive been the creative director since 2025, but have been the music and comedy director since 2020 and a playwright since 2019.
Since 1999, I have written 50+ plays that have received public readings or have been produced. My work peacefully expresses frustration with sexism, racism and abuse; and creates an environment for the audience and actors to laugh, cry and heal.
Comedy (Current)
In September, I received a Marin Mazzie Grant from Rockford Area Arts Council to write the first draft of a one-hour play, Gracie for President. It is a three-hander about Gracie’s 1940 “presidential campaign.” My play features Gracie, George Burns; and appearances from Al Capone, Harpo Marx and FDR. The idea for this play was conceived by Kelly Anne Clark and the play is being read at Naked Angels Chicago with public readings scheduled for Oct. 20, Nov. 17 and Dec. 15. (Two scenes have already been read on Sept. 22 and Sept. 29).
Drama (Last twelve months)
This past year I wrote the one-hour play, bodily where it was read at Naked Angels Chicago. Performed entirely in verse by two actors who portray the same person: one is a victim of sexual assault and the other is a survivor. This is a theatrical and poetic response to the Jeffrery Epstein scandal. I wrote this play to provide healing for those hurt by sexual abuse, in other words: everyone.
Social Concerns (January 2025-2026)
In January, I wrote and recorded a poem about the killing of Renee Good in Minneapolis by an ICE agent. The title was “about the type” and it aired on NPR. I wrote this poem to express my frustration with those who abuse their power and to honor the memory of Renee Good.
In March 2025, I wrote a 10-minute play about the killing of Sonya Massey. Hot Water was a gift to the family of Sonya Massey who attended the public reading of this play at Naked Angels Chicago. Being able to express my frustration with police killings with this family was the greatest professional honor of my life.
Past Experience – 2023- present
My full-length comedy Hotbed received a Naked Angels 1st Mondays staged reading in 2023. It also received a First Draft reading at Chicago Dramatists. I wrote this play as a response to society’s need to blame women. It was inspired by the blaming of Catherine O’Leary for the Great Chicago Fire and is narrated by the Ghost of Jane Byrne (the first woman mayor of Chicago).
A Little More About Me
I graduated from Cornell College in 1991 with a BA in theatre. I started off stage managing and directing, and moved to playwriting in 1999. Now I am a creative director and playwright hoping to fund another year of developing my plays with actors in front of an audience. I thank you for considering my application! -Constance Kuntz
