The Network of Ensemble Theaters to Present NETWeek in Chicago

The Network of Ensemble Theaters (NET), in partnership with artEquity, Culture Change Lab, HowlRound, League of Chicago Theatres, Studio Luna, Theatre Communications Group, and (X) Collective, is bringing NETWeek to Chicago March 22-28, a week of programming that connects national ensemble infrastructure directly with the city's storefront theater community and the cultural workers who sustain it. The week includes four events across the city: a physical theater workshop, a working breakfast on cooperative and solidarity economics for cultural workers, a direct resource exchange between Chicago's storefront companies, and a nationally livestreamed conversation featuring six Black women directors, makers, and leaders archived on HowlRound.

Chicago's ensemble and storefront theater ecosystem is one of the most significant in the country, with roots stretching back to Hull House in 1889, through the founding of eta Creative Arts Foundation and Free Street Theater in 1969, Black Ensemble Theater in 1976, and generations of companies that built collective practice from the ground up. That ecosystem is under extraordinary pressure from both local contraction and federal divestment. In 2019, 127 theater companies produced full seasons in Chicago. Today, 51 do. Nineteen stages that fostered storefront theater have closed or become unsuitable since the pandemic. At the federal level, eliminating the National Endowment for the Arts in its 2026 budget was proposed. Congress preserved the agency's funding at $207 million, but the damage was already in motion. In May 2025, the NEA terminated hundreds of grants to arts organizations across the country, including the Chicago Latino Theater Alliance, and eliminated Challenge America, its longest-running program serving underserved communities. BIPOC-led organizations have been hit hardest: Arts Alliance Illinois data shows that smaller BIPOC organizations suffered 20% more revenue loss than their white-led counterparts during the pandemic, and two-thirds of unemployed arts workers nationally self-reported as BIPOC. NETWeek Chicago arrives at a moment when the infrastructure that ensemble practitioners need to survive is being dismantled at every level, and the practice itself has never been more necessary. 

NETWeek Chicago marks the beginning of a multi-year commitment by NET to build alongside Chicago's ensemble practitioners. Over thirty years, Chicago member theaters helped shape what NET became. Some of the lessons that humbled the network and made it sharper were learned in Chicago rooms, with Chicago artists, over three decades of relationship.

On Record | Chicago: Black Women Directors, Makers + Leaders on Brilliance, Glass Ceilings + What's Next Saturday, March 28 | 2:00 PM CT | Livestreamed on HowlRound TV

Black women in Chicago direct, devise, produce, and lead at extraordinary levels. And the ecosystem doesn't match it. Directors without health insurance. Leaders building institutions with no safety net underneath them. Brilliance that the city celebrates and then fails to sustain. On Record puts that gap on the table. Panelists: Jackie Taylor (Black Ensemble Theater), Ericka Ratcliff (Chicago Shakespeare Theater), Lili-Anne Brown (director/educator), J. Nicole Brooks (Lookingglass Theatre), Miranda Gonzalez (UrbanTheater Company), and Roxanna Conner (NIU School of Theatre and Dance). Facilitated by Carmen Morgan of artEquity. The conversation will be livestreamed and permanently archived on HowlRound as part of the field's public record. Live captioning and ASL interpretation provided.

Physical Theater 101: Big Stories in Small Spaces Thursday, March 26 | 12:00-2:00 PM CT | UrbanTheater Company Workshop by Alice da Cunha of Physical Theater Festival.

A playful and physical workshop exploring storytelling in constrained spaces through Jacques Lecoq's "platform" style. Participants work in small groups to create epic stories using only their bodies, voices, and imagination. Combining elements of mime, dance, and music with fun and precision.

The Federation Table: Collective Practice, Cooperative Power Friday, March 27 | 10:00 AM-12:00 PM CT | Dawn Chicago

For thirty years, ensemble artists have been rehearsing collective governance, shared resource management, and mutual accountability inside their companies. The NET Federation takes that rehearsal to scale. NET is piloting a national cooperative infrastructure for cultural workers: pooled benefits, mutual aid protocols, portable healthcare, and shared purchasing, in partnership with labor organizations including the United Steelworkers. This working breakfast brings ensemble leaders, solidarity economy practitioners, cooperative organizers, and cultural workers to one table to shape what this infrastructure looks like rooted in Chicago.

Ground Floor Friday, March 27 | 2:00-4:00 PM CT | Definition Theatre

Chicago's storefront theaters and ensemble companies in direct exchange: sharing practice, sparking co-producing partnerships, and doing what ensemble makers do best: build from the room. Isolation is a weapon. Relationship is the resource.

NETWeek Chicago is produced in partnership with artEquity, Culture Change Lab, HowlRound, League of Chicago Theatres, Studio Luna, Theatre Communications Group, and (X) Collective.