Theater in all the wrong places
Chicago theaters continue tradition of hard-to-find locations
There's a bunch of cherry trees in an attic you'll have trouble finding
Chicago’s theater scene brings to mind Steppenwolf Theatre's first home—the basement of Highland Park’s Immaculate Conception Church. Within 20 years of its founding, Steppenwolf went from church basement to multi-million dollar facility in Lincoln Park. This DIY story leads to the belief that a theater company in Chicago can start anywhere. Sometimes the more remarkable stories are those companies that last for decades in lousy locations, embodying Chicago theater's workingman spirit. Just look at Profiles Theatre—which recently began its production of The Wonderful World Of Dissocia. Other companies have also thrived despite inadequate signage and inconvenient locations, which creates this romantic notion: the harder to find, the better the theater. Here are a few of Chicago's most noteworthy examples.
Chicago's own Broadway
Profiles Theatre is enjoying its greatest success thanks partly to its relationship with playwright Neil LaBute. But accomplishments aside, this gritty theater has terrible parking and is stuck in a row of tiny, identical storefronts. A tiny neon sign that reads, "Profile Theatre," in sex-shop font illuminates the theater's dark windows. Drive too fast, as in over 15 miles-per-hour, and it's gone.
Mary-Arrchie Theatre Co., which is staging Bartleby The Scrivener through April 11, is mostly known for its annual Abbie Hoffman Died For Our Sins Festival. Sadly, this theater is also known for its unfortunate location on a confusing two-block stretch between Grace Street and Irving Park Road. It is also on the second floor above a store with an unclever sign reading, “Food Liquor Beer”; signs for the theater's productions, however, are often limited to second-floor windows, where they appear to be ducked-taped to the glass. The company's attic-like space is also bold and sweat-inducing.
Strawdog Theatre is another second-floor space. It has managed to thrive for 21 seasons with an entrance squeezed between two storefronts encompassing the now-vacant El Mariachi Tequila Bar and Grill (which moved a block north). The theater does have the luxury of a sign hanging above the street, but it can be easily overlooked. Its space also resembles an attic, with plenty of pillars in the way, and it necessitates highly imaginative stage designs to create the illusion of space. Its current, critically acclaimed production of Cherry Orchard closes on March 28.
Holy script-ure
TimeLine Theatre Company is riding high after its first musical, Fiorello!, and its subsequent revival last year. While the theater takes on its biggest production to date—the Chicago première of Alan Bennett's Tony-winning The History Boys, beginning on April 22—it's located at Wellington Avenue United Church of Christ and uses a sandwich board on the sidewalk to point the way in for patrons (the main entrance of the church will only get you into the church).
Red Tape Theatre Company, which begins its run of Henrik Ibsen's An Enemy Of The People on May 4, is located at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, where the company has resided since 2004. Red Tape's shows take place in a 1950s-style gymnasium, which is an untheatrical space that requires some leaps of ingenuity. Getting to the space is also a bit of a leap: Patrons have to climb two flights of stairs through an inconspicuous doorway in the Parish building, which is west of the main chapel—a structure that consists primarily of maze-like hallways.
Still too easy to find?
Armed with just an address, the chances of finding the Trap Door Theatre are slim; Jane's Restaurant is the only thing visible at 1655 W. Cortland Ave. Despite its seeming invisibility (enter from the alley) and its dedication to experimental plays with a European bent, Trap Door has managed to stay in business for 15 years. The company takes its production of Horses At The Window to Romania after it wraps up its Chicago run on April 25.
Perhaps no theater space in Chicago is as remote and invisible as The Building Stage. Even the company’s website admits the nearest CTA bus has limited hours and service. Located between Kinzie and Hubbard in an almost-completely industrial area, there is little evidence of a theater. Its newest production, Objects In Motion, is a festival of puppetry, toy theater, and other object-based theater. It runs through April 5, and it's worth the trek.
There may be harder-to-find theater spaces in the city, but, for the time being, they remain hidden.
