It's no stretch to compare wrestling and theatre. But this isn't about the goings on within the ring – those poor players who strut and fret their hours upon the stage. It's about the intersection of art and commerce. The structures of power that prey upon desperate artists, using and abusing them in a never-ending game of he-said, she-said. It's about co-opted social movements. It's about the normalization of crypto-fascism and the American theatre's complicity.

This new rock infused musical challenges the conventions of the stage through the world of professional wrestling in the sort of chaotic, frenzied, and raw way that Chicago storefront theatre does so well.

A concert reading of Heel Turn will be presented at The Mixtape New Works Festival Vol. 2 by Instrumental Theatre Company on May 20th, 2026. Tickets available now.