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Lance
Stuart Baker as Nick and Barbara E. Robertson in Edward Albee's
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, directed by Charles
Newell (2004). Photo by Michael Brosilow.
In 1955, a small group of artists and neighbors came together to produce three Molière plays under the stars in the Hutchinson Courtyard at the University of Chicago. . .
In 1975, Executive Director Nicholas Rudall led the negotiations with
Actors' Equity Association that established Court as a professional,
not-for-profit theatre. Court opened its first five-play subscription
season in the new, 251-seat Abelson Auditorium in 1981. Artistic Director
Charles Newell took over the leadership of Court Theatre in 1994 and
was joined by Executive Director Diane Claussen in 1998. When Executive
Director Claussen left Court in 2004 for the Papermill Playhouse in
New Jersey, Court welcomed a new Executive Director in Dawn Helsing.
Since 1955, Court has produced more than 200 productions, including 39 of Shakespeare's plays, 16 by Molière and ten of Shaw's masterpieces.
Court's mission has remained relatively unchanged throughout close to five decades of theatrical producing activity:
Court Theatre exists to celebrate the immutable power of classic theatre.
Today,
Court enjoys the support of 4,000 subscribers, plays to an annual
attendance of more than 45,000 and reaches 3,500 students both in
their own classrooms and at substantially discounted student matinee
performances through our innovative CAST (Classics, Artists, Students
and Teachers) Partners Program.
In the last five years, two of Court Theatre's world premiere productions have moved to venues off-broadway (THE IPHIGENIA CYCLE in 1998 and IN THE PENAL COLONY in 2001), while Court has also co-produced with other nationally-prominent, regional theatres in Philadelphia and Seattle. |
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