The New Colony

Not yet done with their second season, The New Colony has made an impressive ripple in the crowded pool of Chicago Theater. Having wrapped 10 productions, including 5 mainstage shows and 5 additional short form shows and festival appearances, The New Colony and artistic director Andrew Hobgood still have at least two more shows to go before starting it all over again.

But despite any exhaustion, or perhaps because of it, the young company is still flush with enthusiasm. Hobgood reflects on the inspiration for the company, which uses improvisation and collaborative writing to create the world premiere shows, "We started mostly out of an interest in seeing if the brilliant spontaneity that comes from watching two great actors improvise together could be harnessed in some way and brought in to traditional theatre. We wanted to create a hybrid world."

This hybrid world has resulted in shows as diverse as a musical comedy about the birth and gender politics of the Tupperware party (Tupperware: An American Musical Fable) and a gripping drama about a young couple with a horrible secret (Calls To Blood), as well as plenty of stops along the way. Hobgood cites the company's second production, 2009's Frat by Evan Linder, as the one in which they "stumbled upon the real New Colony experience. Ever since that we almost always go back to that as a model." What about the show do they return to? Not the plot, the subject matter, or the staging, but, In Hobgood's words, "We found that our audiences were looking for a social experience beyond the show itself. They wanted to hang out talk and drink before the show and after the show, they wanted the character to be introduced to them before the show itself started."

This ability to react dynamically to perceived audience desires, is something Hobgood takes seriously. He cites the New Colony's unique script-writing process as part of this desire to continue to serve and engage an active audience. "We start with actor improvisations from which the writers and directors pick out the gems, then the actors pick out the gems from the drafts, then the designers pick out the gems from the second drafts, then the audience pick out the gems from the staged readings." Hobgood laughs at his own metaphor before adding, "At the end, everyone's had a say in how to make it more beautiful."

You can learn more about The New Colony at their website, by following them on Twitter, or by becoming a fan on Facebook.

Full Disclosure, Benno is a company member with The New Colony celebrating his first anniversary with TheatreInChicago.com by spotlighting this unique company he's proud to call home.

Benno Nelson

You can read more of Theatre In Chicago contributor Benno Nelson's writing at The@er (http://the-at-er.blogspot.com)

Full Storefrontal

Read the other articles in Benno Nelson's "Full Storefrontal" series that focuses on small theatre companies around Chicago on the Full Storefrontal page.