ROMEO AND JULIET KEEP THEIR EYES ON THE PRIZE
A Dwayne Finnegan novel
by Richard Engling
In this hilarious follow-up to Give My Regards to Nowhere, Chicago director Dwayne Finnegan has another crack at the big time if only his production of Romeo and Juliet can shine. However, Dwayne shares rehearsal space with a cult that takes trips on LSD-like ayahuasca and believes Dwayne’s production is evil. The cult sabotages him. His actors rebel. His publicist gets entangled with a loan shark. Bones are broken, the production drops into chaos, Dwayne’s marriage hangs by a thread, but despite it all, the show must go on.
"Richard Engling knows Chicago's famously chaotic and glorious storefront theater scene like the back of his hand. It's the perfect setting for absurd comic hi-jinx."
– Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune, author of Rise Up! and Bigger, Brighter, Louder
Praise for Romeo and Juliet Keep Their Eyes on the Prize
"Fans of Evanston writer Richard Engling's 2023 comic novel about Chicago theater, Give My Regards to Nowhere, will be delighted to learn he has written a follow-up. The rollicking sequel, Romeo and Juliet Keep Their Eyes on the Prize, lovingly pokes fun at the backstage world of squabbling actors, amateur wannabes, dilapidated stages, financial crises, and chaotic rehearsals that may or may not lead to theatrical magic. Engling knows this landscape well. He has a long history of acting, writing and directing in Chicago and was artistic director of Polarity Ensemble Theater for more than a decade in the early 2000s, launching new plays as well as fresh versions of classic works. He finds comic gold in some unlikely places."
– Evanston RoundTable
Praise for the Dwayne Finnegan series
“As Carl Hiaasen does with his Florida-based satirical crime novels, Engling’s gloriously silly narrative allows his readers to witness how the sausage gets made, which isn't always pretty but is often eye-opening. Engling’s satire on storefront theatre is thoroughly entertaining from start to finish.”
– ChicagoOnStage
“rollicking ride through the underbelly of the acting world”
– Midwest Book Review
“very funny, briskly written, and often touching”
– Mark Larson, author of Ensemble: An Oral History of Chicago Theater
“A scrappy, big-hearted backstage comedy layered with mordant wit and full of a deep, abiding love for its characters”
– Adam Langer, author of Cyclorama
“a magic trick performed in plain view. The novel is comic, wise, and riveting.”
– Liam Heneghan, author of Beasts at Bedtime
“Without a doubt, the best examination of the theatre trade I’ve ever read. Insightful, satirical, painful, but joyous.”
– Darren Callahan, dramatist for the BBC and SyFy
“Entire chapters are laugh-out-loud funny”
– Nadeem Zaman, author of The Inheritors and Up in the Main House and Other Stories
