StudioTheater

Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs Theater introduces the Incubator Series, a program designed to support the creation of new work by emerging Chicago theater companies.  Utilizing Chicago DCA Theater resources and rehearsal space in the Chicago Cultural Center, participants will explore new projects, develop and refine styles, and share their process with the public during a special showcase event.  The Monday evening showcase events will each offer a glimpse of the companies' projects through readings, performances, or works-in-process. 

Dog and Pony Theater Company will kick off the first Incubator Series this August, followed by projects by InFusion Theatre this September and The Plagarists this December.   The events are free, but reservations are encouraged by calling 312-742-8497 or by visiting www.dcatheater.org.

DCA Theater Incubator Series Showcase Events:

Dog and Pony Theater Company
Showcase Event for "Watering Hole"
Monday, August 25, 7:30 p.m.
Studio Theater in the Chicago Cultural Center

For the inaugural event in the series, Dog and Pony Theatre Company will showcase their work-in-progress, "Watering Hole."  Started in 2002, Dog and Pony Theatre is committed to producing vital works by new and emerging playwrights whose use of language and convention are daring and highly imaginative.  As an eclectic collective of artists with backgrounds in theatre, public broadcasting, political activism, and religious studies, Dog & Pony is particularly drawn to work with social and cultural relevance.

Infusion Theatre
Showcase Event for a New Play Development Reading Series
Monday, September 22, 7:30 p.m.
Studio Theater in the Chicago Cultural Center

Through the month of September, InFusion Theatre Company will work on its first annual play development series.  Since 2006, the company has sought out new plays and organically "infused" them with other elements of entertainment such as music, dance, and film.  By combining different forms of entertainment, their exciting and thought-provoking productions give voice to new works and look at older works in new ways.

The Plagiarists
Showcase Event for "The Wreck of the Medusa"
Monday, December 22, 7:30 p.m.
Studio Theater in the Chicago Cultural Center

During The Plagiarists’ month-long project in December, the company will develop its production of 'The Wreck of the Medusa," the story of unfortunate surviving crew and passengers of an 1816 shipwreck.  The Plagiarists steal from literature, visual art, history, and the culture-at-large to create new theater that finds the familiar in the strange, the unique in the common place, and ultimately enlarges the world.  The company is about to celebrate its first birthday.

Chicago DCA Theater programs foster the growth of Chicago’s emerging theater companies as well as encourage public awareness and cultural appreciation of the performing arts.  The Storefront Theater, at 66 E. Randolph Street, and the Studio Theater, in the Chicago Cultural Center at 77 E. Randolph Street, are an anchor of the downtown theater district.  The theaters offer downtown audiences the best off-Loop theater experience with an exciting look at the vibrant emerging and developing theater companies that call Chicago home.

Proposals for creative and innovative productions for the July to December 2009 season are now being accepted until October 17, 2008.  Chicago theater companies interested in the Incubator Program can learn more at www.dcatheater.org/shows/studio.