What comes to mind when the word rabbits is mentioned? A rabbit’s foot in a pocket for luck? An old TV commercial for Trix cereal? Or something along the lines of a wily trickster like Bugs Bunny or the folksy Br’er Rabbit, thwarting attempts of capture using their smarts? For playwright Kimberly Dixon-Mays, the latter was something she channeled in her play, “Rabbits in Their Pockets” — a production of Lifeline Theatre’s 2024 BIPOC Developmental Workshop. The program applies the theater’s organizational knowledge to support playwrights and writers of color who are adapting works for the stage. Dixon-Mays tapped into A.A. Milne’s poem “Cherry Stones” and “Br’er Rabbit stories” from African American, African and Caribbean oral traditions as source material for an original work of her own — her first produced play.
“Rabbits in Their Pockets” is a contemporary drama about the relationship between sisters Ash and Harley when they prepare to fix up and sell their childhood home. Both have plans on what the sale of the house could hold for their future, but that’s where third-party Inola comes in, stirring the pot between the pair in an ethereal way. (No spoilers.) The work melds Black joy, mental health, memory, magical realism and STEM. And it all comes from the mind of Dixon-Mays, a poet and poetry journal editor for RHINO; and a dramaturg with a doctorate in Interdisciplinary Theatre/Drama from Northwestern University. With internships at the Goodman Theatre and myriad studies at Chicago Dramatists, Dixon-Mays has loved stories from her days of show-and-tell in elementary school and creating her own storybook on her parents’ manual typewriter, with illustrations from her brother.
“She’s such a gorgeous writer,” said Christopher Wayland, the play’s director. “It’s a healing journey, and especially in our cultural moment, I think healing is important. The show touches on what home means, what creating space looks like and feels like to a family who’s gone through trauma and grief. I also think there’s something important to this play about Black joy, and how we pursue Black joy, how we revel in Black joy, how we find our Black joy where there seems to be no joy anywhere else. I think we’re in a moment where we need that joy out loud. I think this play really celebrates … the magic that we’re able to pull from out of nowhere to get us through and to get us by.”
We spoke with Dixon-Mays about her world premiere play and how poetry informs her playwriting practice, and why filling one’s pockets with joy in times of uncertainty is important. The following has been condensed and edited for clarity.
Q: The play speaks of the existential as well as happiness and what that means for one person from another. Is the play focused on thriving in this landscape?
A: I strive for all my plays to be survivor stories and by that I mean … what keeps me going is people who are surviving existential threats to who they see themselves to be in the world and figuring out how to navigate that. That’s my hope, that we can hold both in our in our consciousness at the same time, a consciousness of how bad things are and all the things that we need to do to push back against what’s bad and to hold ourselves accountable, hold others accountable, and hold that heaviness, but at the same time, hold an understanding and a memory of how we as humans, how we as Black people, how we as women, how we manage to hold all the heaviness and keep going, because what other choice do we have?
Playwright Kimberly Dixon-Mays and director Christopher Wayland pose for a portrait outside Lifeline Theatre. Dixon-Mays wrote the play, “Rabbits in their Pockets,” which Wayland directs. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune)
Q: Is that why you titled the play, “Rabbits in Their Pockets?”
A: That title has multiple meanings: About the resources we have at our disposal, the magic we have access to, but also the potential threat and vulnerability if we’re not careful about getting caught. There are levels.
Q: As an artist, do you feel a responsibility to write these kinds of stories in challenging times?
A: My mission as a writer is to contribute to the work that others are doing as well as contribute stories that make people think, that reward paying attention to language, to symbolism, to the psychology of being human that gives actors and all theater professionals what it takes to put a play on. My mission is to also tell stories that are meaningful, either because they resonate with an evergreen aspect of being human that never changes, no matter what sociopolitical era you’re in or have some resonance with the day. I want to contribute to the long standing tradition of theater that is substantive and that has a message and is great art and entertainment. I hope and think that audiences can come to this play and see the important themes (and issues) about the world we’re currently living in, but also get immersed in the world of the play and the world of these characters. That’s what I strive to do. I don’t think they have to be mutually exclusive.
Q: Does the play have any connection to your personal life?
A: Yes and no, because none of the events in this play have happened to me. But they are all informed by the life that I’ve lived and the things I’ve observed as I’ve lived my life–observed in other people, observed in my family and other families. Because I definitely believe in the notion that writers, by nature, are always taking in inputs that they can then apply. It’s not autobiographical in any way, but it does feel very true to what I think I know about human nature, and what I think I know about this theme of how do you face challenges, but still find a way to find joy and do it with some sort of style and flair and lightness.
“Rabbits in Their Pockets” runs through Oct. 5 at Lifeline Theatre, 6912 N. Glenwood Ave.; tickets $30-$55 at lifelinetheatre.com
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/09/12/rabbits-in-their-pockets-lifeline/
