Chicago Dramatists Continues Transformation

Over the past year Chicago Dramatists, 1105 W. Chicago Ave., has begun to re-brand with improvements to the exterior of the building and a more contemporary lobby design. The theatre has continued on that path of change in 2011 with fresh coursework, new staff and partnerships, and an expansion of its working space, all while staying true to its mission to nurture the next generation of outstanding playwrights.

Promising new relationships with the Chicago theatre community will include Chicago Dramatists' first ever collaboration with About Face Theatre for the co-production of The Kid Thing this fall. The theatre will also link up with The Goodman Theatre to provide new play development services for their Playwrights Unit among other opportunities. As part of the new musical theatre development, Chicago Dramatists will also partner with American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) for two cabaret events in the fall 2011 and spring 2012.

On the programming front, Chicago Dramatists will expand its class offerings, including a new corporate division that will provide story classes to marketing and sales clients like Google. Chicago Dramatists also launched its new website this month, and will be moving its administrative offices up to the second floor of the building, and adding two new classrooms. The theatre has recently announced that they will be hiring a new Associate Artistic Director to work under the acclaimed Artistic Director Russ Tutterow who is celebrating his 25th year with the organization this year.

Recently, the look of Chicago Dramatists' home has experienced a facelift thanks to Harrington College's winning design team. They just completed the renovation of the lobby interior, and are just putting the finishing touches on its upgraded theatre entrance which will feature two side billboards and banners on the front of the building that will unveil Chicago Dramatists' new branding. In addition, this modern development will include a full liquor bar, complete with a liquor license active in June, opening the doors for rental opportunities.

Chicago Dramatists is the only theatre in the country that is both a playwrights' development center and a full producing theatre which continues to push the envelope with the newest plays and most promising playwrights. Through its long-standing Residency program, Chicago Dramatists seeks to nurture accomplished, Chicago-based dramatists who will make significant contributions to the American theatre repertory. Every year, Chicago Dramatists' playwrights earn literally hundreds of accomplishments from productions and awards to other honors at large and small theatres in Chicago and around the world; enriching the lives of hundreds of thousands of theatre patrons, exporting Chicago voices across the globe, and significantly boosting Chicago Dramatists' reputation as one of the nation's foremost new play development theatres.

About Chicago Dramatists

In the fall of 1979, four playwrights came together to hear their work read aloud and to hone their craft. Today, Chicago Dramatists' amazing record of achievement has landed them an invaluable place in the artistic community as a vital source of inspiration to 40 Resident Playwrights, 160 Associate Playwrights, 60 Associate Artists, and thousands of audience members. Over the past three decades, Chicago Dramatists has worked with over a thousand playwrights, produced and developed thousands of plays and stayed true to its mission to nurture compelling, challenging and diverse plays that move on to productions, earn awards, and define the American theatre. Chicago Dramatists has helped launch the career of hundreds of award-winning writers, including Tina Fey (30 Rock), Rick Cleveland (Mad Men), Rebecca Gilman (Spinning Into Butter), Sarah Ruhl (The Clean House), Lydia R. Diamond (Stick Fly) and Keith Huff (A Steady Rain). Each season Chicago Dramatists presents three world premiere productions and the signature Saturday Series, weekly staged readings of plays-in-progress. The theatre also conducts educational outreach to at-risk students at Chicago Public Schools, awakening the possibility of self-expression by writing for the theatre. Through passionate dedication, personal nurture and careful exposure, Chicago Dramatists carries on its thirty-two-year-old mission of developing new plays and playwrights for the next generation of theatre.

Chicago Dramatists is located just minutes from the Loop at 1105 W. Chicago Avenue, at the 24-hour Chicago Avenue stop of the Blue Line subway, and is just off the Ogden and Augusta exits of the Kennedy Expressway. Performances are Thursday through Saturday at 8 p.m., and Sundays at 3 p.m.; Individual ticket prices are $32, and student tickets are offered for all Thursday performances at $15. There is street parking available, a detailed parking map can be found at www.chicagodramatists.org/parking. For more information or reservations visit
www.chicagodramatists.org.

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