Ex-Stevenson teacher devotes time to writing

Lots of high school drama teachers dream of making a career for themselves in professional theater.

Joel Drake Johnson is living that dream.

After teaching drama at Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire for 20 years, he retired five years ago and has been working steadily as a playwright. His most recent play, "A Guide for the Perplexed," is currently running at the Victory Gardens Biograph Theater in Chicago.

In college, at Illinois State University, Johnson studied both theater and education. "When I was a kid I was more interested in acting and directing," he says. "But I wasn't a very good actor because I was too shy."

After graduation, Johnson worked for a while as a front desk clerk at a hotel while he knocked around the theater scene. "But I found I really missed teaching," he says.

So he went to work teaching drama at a high school. While teaching, he tried his hand at writing.

"I was in my late 20s; I wrote my first play," Johnson says. "Once I finished that play I said, 'Oh this is what you have to do to get a play written.'"

From that point on, he kept writing plays every chance he got.

"The thing about teaching is that there is Christmas break and summer break, when I could write," Johnson says.

He balanced writing and teaching for 20 years, until he had an opportunity to retire early. "I told myself that if I was going to retire early that I was going to write," Johnson said.

That was five years ago. Johnson has stuck to his plan.

His latest play, "A Guide for the Perplexed," just opened at Victory Gardens.

"I have been working on it for about two years," Johnson says. "The play is about an ex-convict who has just been released from prison. He goes to live with his sister in Glencoe. His brother-in-law is not thrilled he is there. He has a history of outrageous behavior due to drinking and drugs. But their teenage son is really thrilled."

The title comes from the most famous book by the 12th century Jewish philosopher, Maimonides. "I saw the name for that book and I thought, 'Oh my God, I love this title for my play,'" Johnson says. "I knew nothing about the book. So I started researching. I said to myself that I can't use it unless it is appropriate. And it really spurred my imagination. I use some passages from the book in the play.

"I am interested in writing about how people redeem themselves," he adds, "and wanted to explore the idea of how people adjust to life after they have been in jail."

• "A Guide for the Perplexed" runs through Aug. 15 at the Victory Gardens Biograph Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago. For tickets, visit the box office, call (773) 871-3000 or go to victorygardens.org.