Robert Tenges is a playwright and musician. His play STRANGERS KNOCKING was produced by the side project in May/June 2005 and subsequently presented Off-Broadway by The New Group in May/June 2007. STRANGERS KNOCKING was named to the Chicago Tribune’s list of Best Plays of 2005. In 2010, the side project produced his play PEOPLE WE KNOW, which went on to receive a Joseph Jefferson Award nomination for Best New Work. His play FOUND was awarded the 2004 Illinois Arts Council Playwriting Fellowship and was workshopped at Victory Gardens Theater and subsequently presented at Ensemble Studio Theatre and the Abingdon Theater, both in New York. His play THREE HYMNS OF APATHY was produced by the side project in 2008 (dir. Brandon Ray), and he has also written English-language adaptations of Chekhov’s UNCLE VANYA and THE THREE SISTERS, both of which have been produced in Chicago.

His play ELSEWHERE was developed and workshopped Off-Broadway at The New Group in April 2012, under Ian Morgan’s direction, and was given a full production in April 2013 by the side project, under Adam Webster’s direction. His play KANSAS, was workshopped by The New Group in June/July 2014, given a public reading by Chicago Dramatists in March 2015 and subsequently produced in 2016; and his play WHATEVER was produced by the side project in July-August 2015, directed by Adam Webster, and was named to the Chicago Tribune’s list of Best Plays of 2015.

His latest play, ARIANA, is being developed by Chicago Dramatists and The New Group. He is a member of New River Dramatists, an artist with The New Group, and a Resident Playwright at Chicago Dramatists in 2014. Since 2025, he has served as Co-Artistic Director of Chicago Dramatists.

Selected Plays:

Chekhov’s UNCLE VANYA (English Adaptation)

Chekhov’s THE THREE SISTERS (English Adaptation)

FOUND

STRANGERS KNOCKING

PEOPLE WE KNOW

THREE HYMNS OF APATHY

A SLOW AND STEADY FALL

ELSEWHERE

WHATEVER

KANSAS

ARIANA