Playwright Emily Zemba

A play written by Emily Zemba, who graduated from Lyme-Old Lyme High School in 2006, opened Saturday in its world premiere at Chicago’s Den Theatre, where First Floor Theater is the resident theater company.

Zemba’s “Deer and the Lovers” is a bold new farce about being lost in love, lost in the woods, and forging a new path when life veers off track. Qiana and Peter take a romantic weekend getaway to New Hampshire only to find that a deer has crashed through the window and died. Things really go off the rails when Peter’s brash sister, Marnie, and her daft husband, Felix, show up unannounced. The dead deer, a mysterious animal control officer, and nightfall in the forest expose the harsh truths of each lover’s life.

First Floor Theater’s 2016-17 season features comedies from three women playwrights, with Zemba’s play having the opening spot from Nov. 5 through Dec. 4. First Floor Artistic Director, Hutch Pimentel comments, “I am so thrilled to have this astonishing collection of new plays by women in our fifth season. All of these stories of personal revolution are pulse-pounding, brutally honest and unbelievably funny. They are a testament to how we find humor, hope, and rebirth even in our darkest moments.”

Zemba, who currently lives in Brooklyn, N.Y., graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 2010 and completed her MFA from the Yale School of Drama in 2015.

Proud parents, Catherine Frank and Kurt Zemba of Old Lyme, were on hand in Chicago to celebrate opening night with their daughter.

Congratulations, Emily!