Songs Without Words
(or, The Mendelssohn Play)
Songs Without Words (or, The Mendelssohn Play) is the humorous, heartbreaking story of one artistic soul inhabiting two very different artists. Featuring the playwright's tour-de-force performance as sibling-composers Fanny and Felix Mendelssohn, Songs Without Words wrestles with enduring questions of gender and genius, family and fame, siblinghood and the power of art.
CRITICAL ACCOLADES:
*Winner of the 2024 M. Elizabeth Osborn New Play Award from the American Theater Critics Association*
Critics' Pick, Cincinnati Fringe Festival (2024)
Pick of the Fringe, Green Bay Fringe Festival (2024)
Audience Favorite, Green Bay Fringe Festival (2024)
Best International Show, Saskatoon Fringe Festival (2024)
Members' Pick, Minnesota Fringe Festival (2025)
Venue Pick, Minnesota Fringe Festival (2025)
Audience Favorite, Elgin Fringe Festival (2025)
"An astonishing, triumphant harmony...Songs Without Words is a revelation."
-Julia Peterson, Saskatoon StarPhoenix
"A masterpiece."
-Rob Hubbard, Pioneer Press
"Simply incredible."
-Jessica Armbruster, Racket
"An epic journey of creation, family, ambition, disappointment, and triumph."
"A rich and beautiful tapestry of two composers' lives that is well told and wonderfully acted."
-Alan Jozwiak, League of Cincinnati Theatres
"What can only be described as a flawless performance of two very different characters who share the same soul."
-Katrina Reynolds, LoCT
Written & Performed
by Jennifer Vosters
Jennifer Vosters (she/her) is a Chicago-based writer and theatre artist. Her original solo play, Songs Without Words (or, The Mendelssohn Play), won the M. Elizabeth Osborn Award from the American Theatre Critics Association in 2024 before touring various theatres, universities, and festivals in the U.S. and Canada. Other awards for Songs Without Words include Critics' Pick (Cincinnati Fringe), Pick of the Fringe and Audience Favorite (Green Bay Fringe), Best International Show (Saskatoon Fringe), Members' Pick and Venue Pick (Minnesota Fringe), and Audience Favorite (Elgin Fringe). A proud member of Actors' Equity Association and the Dramatists Guild, Jennifer has worked professionally as an actor, director, playwright, and occasional musician for more than ten years. She fell in love with the Mendelssohn/Hensel siblings and their music as a middle school orchestra student—so keep the arts funded in schools!
Sound Design
by Peter Clare
Peter Clare (they/them) is a multi-disciplinary theatre artist and musician originally from Milwaukee and currently based in Chicago. Select sound design and music credits include: In His Hands (First Floor Theatre); a home what howls (Steppenwolf for Young Adults); Blues for an Alabama Sky, Anna in the Tropics, Routes (Remy Bumppo Theatre); The Not-So-Accidental Conviction of Eleven Milwaukee Anarchists, Hoops, The Island (Milwaukee Chamber Theatre); Natural Shocks (Third Avenue Playworks/Next Act Theatre); Quality Street (Acacia Theatre); and The Nautical Tragedy of Dick III (Quasimondo Physical Theatre). A classical violinist by training and a Scottish folk fiddler by vocation, they are so grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with Jennifer to build the sonic world of Fanny and Felix!