2nd Story: Storytellers: K

Susan McLaughlin Karp

Susan McLaughlin Karp began her professional life as an actor, which led to improv, which somehow led to marriage, which absolutely led to pregnancy, which led to writing, which led to solo performance, which led to co-founding The Uptown Writer’s Space. Susan is a regular contributor to Chicago Public Radio's Writers Block Party and a member of the performance collective BoyGirlBoyGirl. Her monologues have been performed at Live Bait Theater and Steppenwolf Theatre and her critically acclaimed solo show Still was part of the New York Fringe Festival in 2002. Susan likes dogs… a little too much.

Nick Kawahara

Nick Kawahara hails from an unusual collection of places around the US, and his interests cross the creative gamut similarly. You might find him working with visual artists on community murals, producing audio for this Serendipity Theatre Collective, and sometimes even producing publishable writing. He's a recent grad of Columbia College Chicago with a degree in Audio Arts and Fiction Writing, hoping to work and stay in the city, creating at least...something sustainable.

Sara Kerastas

Associate Artistic Director, Curator // Sara Kerastas is a director, writer and performer who loves her some storytelling! She has directed across Canada with Pi Theatre, The Havanna, Le Cagibi, F4L Productions, and Théâtre Ste. Catherine. She received her BA in English-Drama & Theatre and Women’s Studies from McGill University in Montreal, Quebec. In Chicago, she has worked with About Face, Strawdog, The Plagiarists, Theatre Seven, New Leaf, Redmoon, and DirectorsLabChicago, among others. Sara no longer has a po-mo swoop...but she can tell a great story about it!

Larry Kerns

Lawrence Kerns is a writer and a child psychiatrist who set out one summer to build a replica of Thoreau’s cabin…with his four teenage children…in his own backyard. Needless to say, it did not go well. The teenagers were recalcitrant, the weather was fickle, and building a simple cabin turned out to be very complicated. As for Thoreau’s directions, they were more metaphorical than real. Dr. Kerns is glad to be a part of the 2nd Story Festival so that he can tell somebody what really happened.

Nicolette Kittinger

Nicolette Kittinger is a writer, editor, freelancer, and Assistant Producer of Windy City Story Slam, which she represented at Opium Magazine’s Literary Death Match Chicago Ep. 2. in May, 2009. She didn’t win, but judge T.J. Jagodowski said, "Her story was like a toy gun where you pull the trigger, and out comes a BANG flag, then seconds later, out comes a real bullet!" She’s currently part of the editorial staff at Avery: An Anthology of New Fiction and a Creative Writing MFA candidate at Columbia College Chicago.

Katie Klemme

Guest Director // Katie Klemme is pleased to be working on 2nd Story for the first time. Having worked as a director, stage manager, and /or producer for over 40 productions in Chicago, recent directing credits include Philip Dawkins' Saguaro (Estrogen Fest 2007 & 16th St Theatre, Berwyn) and The Visit at Loyola University Chicago, where she is a part time faculty member in the Department of Fine and Performing Arts. Other recent forays include Rabbit Hole (Stage Manager, Buffalo Theatre Ensemble) and work with Pegasus Players, where she was Managing Director from 2004-2007. She holds degrees in Theatre and Management from Loyola University Chicago.

Kareem Khubchandani

Kareem moved to Chicago in 2008 to begin a Ph.D. program in Performance Studies at Northwestern University. Committed to both theory and practice, Kareem is interested in the experiences of queer South Asians living in the diaspora, and the ways in which they employ performance as a means of negotiating socio-political identity. In the last year, Kareem has titillated audiences at The Homo Show (About Face Theater), VOR8 (Old Town School of Folk Music), Jai Ho! (Big Chicks), Entertaining Julia (Town Hall Pub); he also adapted and performed a solo show, "Material Boy" (Northwestern Theater and Interpretation Centre).