End of the Zeroes: Chicago Theaters on Chicago Theater

Anthony Moseley

Anthony Moseley
Executive and Artistic Director, Collaboraction (founded 1996)

Any observations or thoughts about Chicago theater in the last decade?
In the last decade, the Chicago non-profit theater/storefront movement has blossomed into the most creative, robust, and diverse theater market in the country and perhaps the world. Thanks to Chicago’s environment of hundresds of theater comapnies, relative low living costs, high quality of living, ample opportunity to create work and enormous resevoir of passionate, heartfelt artists, Chicago is poised to lead the field for the next decade.

Is there a “Chicago style” anymore (if there ever was) and has it changed? What, today, distinguishes Chicago theater from anywhere else?
No. Midwestern attributes of good natured people who work hard, supported by an non-commercial environment that allows for creative risk.

Outside of your own company, who or what excites you most about local theater right now?
That more of our incredibly talented artists and companies are beginning to have the ability to reach a level of national acclaim, without having to leave Chicago for New York or LA.

Matt Elwell
Artistic Director, The ComedySportz Theatre (founded 1987)

Any observations or thoughts about Chicago theater in the last decade?
Answering in terms of the Chicago improv scene, I think 9/11 was the defining moment between the last two decades. In the time following, Americans turned inward and if they watched comedy, they did it in their homes with their families. The communal experience of comedy would take several months to regain its audience. Other than its effect on how many people went out to laugh, it also changed what they would laugh at. I believe it was ComedySportz’s “all American” feel that helped us to actually thrive in the ensuing spirit of Nationalism that gripped the country over the following years.

Is there a “Chicago style” anymore (if there ever was) and has it changed? What, today, distinguishes Chicago theater from anywhere else?
In improv, definitely. Our penchant for 3-person scenes, slow play, and a character/relationship-driven approach seems to define us in the larger improv community.

Outside of your own company, who or what excites you most about local theater right now?
I am beginning to see talent flow back into the city from other major markets. Where most of the time improvisers establish themselves in Chicago and then make mass exodus to L.A. or New York, I am now seeing performers with those cities on their resumes making the trek to the Windy City. While this may be attributed in large part to the economy, I can’t help but believe that Chicago’s reputation of great work through ensemble is luring a new generation of theater artists who, beleaguered with a world gone wired, seek to find the same authentic, transformative opportunities that also draw our audiences.

Court Theatre's Charles Newell/Photo: Michael Brosilow

Charles Newell
Artistic Director, Court Theatre (founded 1955)

Any observations or thoughts about Chicago theater in the last decade?
Chicago has always been a place that producers in television, film, and commercial theater on the coasts have looked to for emerging actors and playwrights. In the past decade, however, we’ve seen a notable increase in the attention paid by internationally-recognized artists such as Tony Kushner or Tom Stoppard in post-NYC productions of their work in Chicago. I think a larger world is waking up to the quality of the work going on here, not just the quality of talent to be poached.

Is there a “Chicago style” anymore (if there ever was) and has it changed? What, today, distinguishes Chicago theater from anywhere else?
These days, the lie has been put to the stereotype of the Chicago school of gritty realism. That work is still being produced by companies of all sizes with a high degree of quality, but the diversity of performance styles and aesthetic priorities is greater than ever before. The integration of disciplines such as clown, circus arts, live music, large-scale spectacle, puppet and toy theater, Butoh, etc. into the work of theater companies and producers at all experience levels has become, to me, the hallmark of Chicago theater: productions with an immensely wide theatrical vocabulary and frame of reference.

Chicago is distinguished among America’s theater communities by the attention of producers and critics on the coasts, who I think view Chicago as a place where vital and successful theater originates, as well as by the extraordinary community of theater artists. Nowhere else can you find such cross-fertilization of artists collaborating at every level.

Outside of your own company, who or what excites you most about local theater right now?
I am consistently impressed and fascinated by the work Sean Graney is doing with the Hypocrites. I’m thrilled that Theater Oobleck has found an extremely dedicated audience who support their groundbreaking new plays. Congo Square is producing important work by African-American playwrights at a consistently high level. And the student-run University Theater company at the University of Chicago (Court’s Hyde Park neighbors) are doing really fun, risk-taking theater that can stand next to any number of independent storefront companies for ambition, wit, and style.

Carrie J. Sullivan
Executive Director, The Factory Theater (founded 1992)

Any observations or thoughts about Chicago theater in the last decade?
When I moved here 10 years ago from Michigan, I remember seeing the posters for Defiant’s “Burning Desires” and I thought, “What the heck kind of theater is this?” I didn’t actually SEE a Defiant show until a few years later but I clearly remember that poster putting the seed in my brain that the theater around here might not be what I was used to seeing. What I was used to seeing were standards (“Nunsense!”) at the (one) local theater house in my home town of Escanaba. What a revelation it was when I did finally see that first Defiant show! (“Sci-Fi Action Movie In Space Prison” – I actually Assistant Stage Managed and ran the sound.) Irreverent, hilarious and downright gutter-tastic, I had never seem theater like it. Blew my mind.

Is there a “Chicago style” anymore (if there ever was) and has it changed? What, today, distinguishes Chicago theater from anywhere else?
Chicago-Style, with out a doubt, is gritty, determined, passionately creative, in-your-face and resourceful. There are really brilliant shows (and yes, some junk), being put up around town for a few hundred dollars on a regular basis. It is done for the love of the craft and, let’s be honest, for the fun of it too. There are not many creative endeavors that can encompass so many people working toward the same goal of putting up a show. I believe It is one of the most intense bonding experiences you can have with a group of people since it blends creativity, passion and a necessary grasp (however tenuous) of logistics and basic finance. I love the theater that we do at the Factory and that love is only eclipsed by the affection I have for my fellow ensemble members, many of whom I wouldn’t hesitate to categorize as family. Love, passion, theater and ball-sack jokes… that’s Chicago Style.

Outside of your own company, who or what excites you most about local theater right now?
Right now I am actually quite excited about the League of Chicago Theaters. Factory is relatively new to the organization and I’m having a great time discovering all of the wonderful resources and programs that they provide and projects they are working on. I am also excited to see that theaters are slogging on. This has been a really tough year – I mean, it is epic how difficult it is to turn a profit right now but folks are working through it and shows are getting put up. As ever, theater in this town just won’t die.