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Exit Strategy

Oct 4—11, 2025

Theatre - L280
1044 W Harrison St. Chicago, IL 60607

By Ike Holter

Directed by Jerrell L. Henderson

Ricky the vice principal of a crumbling, mouse-infested Chicago high school has been trying to hide in his office after the mayor announced the school’s closure at the end of the year. Some teachers want to fight, others have lost hope but when a fired-up student wakes something in Ricky, they launch an unlikely campaign to save Tumbldn High.

Inspired by the 2013 mass closure of 49 Chicago public schools which displaced nearly 12,000 children – the majority from African-Americans and Latinx neighborhoods, EXIT STRATEGY rips open questions about class divisions and asks how we can inspire each other to keep hope alive to fight the system. 

Brutally funny, EXIT STRATEGY marks UIC’s first production of a play in Ike Holter’s epic 7-play cycle exploring life right now in Chicago.

Tickets on sale soon!

October 4, 2025

7:30 pm

$5-15

October 5, 2025

2:00 pm

$5-15

October 8, 2025

10:00 am

$5-15

October 8, 2025

7:30 pm

$5-15

October 9, 2025

7:30 pm

$5-15

October 10, 2025

7:30 pm

$5-15

October 11, 2025

2:00 pm

$5-15

October 11, 2025

7:30 pm

$5-15