As a supplement to our comprehensive Focused Projects page, here’s a concise list of past, current, and upcoming shows we’ve sponsored and the theatre companies producing them.
2025
- Sweet Charity by Cy Coleman and Dorothy Fields (Blank Theatre Company, director Johanna McKenzie Miller)
- Passion by Stephen Sondheim (Blank Theatre Company, directed by Danny Kapinos)
- One Party Consent by Omer Abbas Salem (First Floor Theater, directed by Nadya Naumaan)
- Evanston Salt Costs Climbing by Will Arbery (First Floor Theater, directed by Micah Figueroa)
- The Winter’s Tale by William Shakespeare (Invictus Theatre Company, directed by Charles Askenaizer)
- Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes (Invictus Theatre Company, directed by Charles Askenaizer)
- Part 1: Millennium Approaches
- Part 2: Perestroika
- The House That Will Not Stand by Marcus Gardley (Invictus Theatre Company, directed by Aaron Reese Boseman)
- The Smuggler (remount) by Ronán Noone (Jackalope Theatre, directed by Gus Menary)
- Dummy in Diaspora by Esho Rasho (Jackalope Theatre, directed by Karina Patel)
- Neighborhood Watch by Rehana Lew Mirza (Jackalope Theatre, directed by Kaiser Ahmed)
- Living Newspaper Festival (Jackalope Theatre)
- At the Wake of a Dead Drag Queen by Terry Guest (The Story Theatre, director Mikael Burke)
- The Pot Girls by Paul Michael Thomson (The Story Theatre, director TBA)
2024
- By the Way, Meet Vera Stark by Lynn Nottage (The Artistic Home, directed by Risha Tenae)
- the love object by Justine Gelfman (The Story Theatre, directed by Jasmine B. Gunter)
- Beneath the Willow Tree by Isis Elizabeth (Pulse Theatre Chicago, directed by Aaron Reese Boseman)
- The Smuggler by Ronán Noone (Jackalope Theatre, directed by Gus Menary)
- The Singularity Play by Jay Stull (Jackalope Theatre, directed by Georgette Verdin)
- Living Newspaper Festival (Jackalope Theatre)
- On the Twentieth Century by Coleman, Comden, and Green (Blank Theatre, directed by Danny Kapinos)
- The Mad Ones by Kait Kerrigan and Bree Lowdermilk (Blank Theatre, directed by Wyatt Kent)
- A Bright Room Called Day by Tony Kushner (Blank Theatre, directed by Danny Kapinos)
- Topdog/Underdog by Suzan-Lori Parks (Invictus Theatre Company, directed by Aaron Reese Boseman)
- Three Sisters by Anton Chekhov, translated by Paul Schmidt (Invictus Theatre Company, directed by Charles Askenaizer)
- Network adapted by Lee Hall, based on the Paddy Chayefsky film (Invictus Theatre Company, directed by Charles Askenaizer)
- Macbeth by William Shakespeare (Invictus Theatre Company, directed by Sarafina Vecchio)
- Pro-Am by Brynne Frauenhoffer (First Floor Theater, directed by Rebecca Willingham)
- In His Hands by Benjamin Benne (First Floor Theater, directed by Micah Figueroa)
- The Blueprint Commission: a new play under development by Gloria Imseih Petrelli (First Floor Theater)
- Sondheim Tribute Revue (Theo Ubique Theatre, directed by Fred Anzevino)
- Wipeout by Aurora Real de Asua (Rivendell Theatre Ensemble, directed by Tara Mallen)
2023
- Promises, Promises by Bacharach and David (Blank Theatre Company, directed by Danny Kapinos)
- Once on This Island by Ahrens and Flaherty (Pulse Theatre at eta Creative Arts Foundation, directed by Aaron Reese Boseman)
- Merrily We Roll Along by Stephen Sondheim (Blank Theatre Company, directed by Danny Kapinos)
- Once on This Island by Ahrens and Flaherty (The Drama Group, directed by Aaron Reese Boseman)
- Living Newspaper Festival (Jackalope Theatre)
- The Mountaintop by Katori Hall (Invictus, directed by Aaron Reese Boseman)
- Hatefuck by Rehana Lew Mirza (First Floor Theater, directed by Arti Ishak)
- tick, tick … BOOM! by Jonathan Larson (BoHo Theatre, directed by Bo Frazier)
- The Blueprint Commission: a new play under development by NJ Draine (First Floor Theater)
2022
- Title X by Julie Proudfoot (Artemisia Theatre, directed by Julie Proudfoot and Willow James)
- The Wizards by Ricardo Gamboa (Concrete Content in conjunction with Chicago Latino Theater Alliance, et al, directed by Katrina Dion)
- Among the Dead by Hansol Jung (Jackalope Theatre, directed by Kaiser Ahmed)
- Botticelli in the Fire by Jordan Tannahill (First Floor Theater, directed by Bo Frazier)
- The Wild Party by Andrew Lippa (Blank Theatre Company, directed by Jason A. Fleece)
- Marie Antoinette and the Magical Negroes by Terry Guest (The Story Theatre, directed by Terry Guest)
- The Secretaries: A Parable by Omer Abbas Salem (First Floor Theater, directed by Laura Alcalá Baker)
- Living Newspaper Festival (Jackalope Theatre)
- The Blueprint Commission: a new play under development by Omer Abbas Salem (First Floor Theater)
2020-2021 (online productions)
Beginning in March 2020, the pandemic rewrote the book on theatrical possibilities, and the burgeoning social justice movement highlighted the need for new priorities in theatrical content. Consequently, we changed our focus from sponsoring traditional productions to facilitating new play development–with new stories told by new storytellers–in an online setting.
- First Floor Theater’s The Blueprint Commission
- The House of Audacity! by Ariel Zetina (directed by Hutch Pimentel)
- Jackalope Theatre’s New Frontier Series
- Cropt by Daria Miyeko Marinelli (directed by Mikael Burke)
- Pretty Shahid by Omer Abbas Salem (directed by Sophiyaa Nayar)
- Michael Jackson and the Devil’s Book and Whitney Houston and the Devil’s Book by Terry Guest (directed by Wardell Julius Clark)
- Jackalope Theatre’s Living Newspaper Series
- I Can’t Ride Trains Anymore by August Forman (directed by Catherine Miller)
- I Am Not This by Ike Holter (directed and edited by Ike Holter)
- Trust by Monet Felton (directed by Adia Alli)
- Sun on Ice by Tanuja Devi Jagernauth (directed by Arti Ishak)
- Belly Up by Preston Choi (directed by Lucky Stiff)
- Joyce by Beth Hyland (directed by Laura Alcalá Baker)
- Sam Kelly by Paloma Nozicka (directed by Paloma Nozicka)
- The Story Theatre’s New Play Festival
- A Laying on of Hands by Mallory Raven-Ellen Backstrom (directed by J. Nicole Brooks)
- Hippolytos by Lane Anthony Flores (directed by Am’Ber D. Montgomery)
- Nest by Eli Campbell (directed by Sophiyaa Nayar)
2020 (pre-pandemic)
In the following list of shows we sponsored in early 2020, the last four entries never opened due to the pandemic. Another show for Spring-Summer 2020 that we supported was never formally announced, and is not included below.
- Mlima’s Tale (Griffin, directed by Jerrell L. Henderson)
- A Raisin in the Sun (Invictus, directed by Aaron Reese Boseman)
- Fast Company (Jackalope, directed by Kaiser Ahmed)
- The Agitators (Remy Bumppo, directed by Cheryl Lynn Bruce)
- Night Creatures (Jackalope, directed by Gus Menary)
- Late, A Cowboy Song (The Story Theatre, directed by Matt Bowdren)
- Best of Enemies (eta Creative Arts Foundation, directed by Sonita Surratt)
2019
- Southern Comfort (Pride Films & Plays, directed by JD Caudill)
- Dutch Masters (Jackalope, directed by Wardell Julius Clark)
- Life on Paper (Jackalope, directed by Gus Menary)
- For Services Rendered (Griffin, directed by Robin Witt)
- Queen of the Mist (Firebrand, directed by Elizabeth Margolius)
- La Havana Madrid (Teatro Vista and Collaboraction, directed by Cheryl Lynn Bruce)
- At the Wake of a Dead Drag Queen (The Story Theatre, directed by Mikael Burke)
- His Shadow (16th Street, directed by Wardell Julius Clark)
- Sugar in Our Wounds (First Floor, directed by Mikael Burke)
- Call Me Madam (Porchlight, directed by Christopher Pazdernik)
- P.Y.G. or The Mis-Edumacation of Dorian Belle (Jackalope, directed by Lili-Anne Brown)
- Always, Patsy Cline (Firebrand, directed by Brigitte Ditmars)
2018
- The Light (The New Colony, also at Theater on the Lake, directed by Toma Langston)
- Traitor (A Red Orchid, directed by Michael Shannon)
- Franklinland (Jackalope, directed by Chika Ike)
- Moon Man Walk (Definition, directed by Tyla Abercrumbie)
- Dontrell, Who Kissed the Sea (First Floor, directed by Chika Ike)
- Ghosts of War (Griffin, directed by Jason Gerace)
- Letters Home (Griffin, directed by William Massolia)
- 9 to 5 (Firebrand, directed by Harmony France)
- The Light Fantastic (Jackalope, directed by Gus Menary)
- Sagittarius Ponderosa (Redtwist, directed by James Fleming)
- Hamlet (Gift, directed by Monty Cole)
- The Harvest (Griffin, directed by Jonathan Berry)
- Caroline, or Change (Firebrand, directed by Lili-Anne Brown)
- In the Canyon (Jackalope, directed by Elly Green)
- Gypsy (Porchlight, directed by Michael Weber)
2017
- peerless (First Floor, also at Theater on the Lake, directed by Hutch Pimentel)
- The Snare (Jackalope, directed by Elana Boulos)
- 1980 (Or Why I’m Voting for John Anderson) (Jackalope, directed by Kaiser Ahmed)
- Ideation (Jackalope, directed by Gus Menary)
- Ragtime (Griffin, directed by Scott Weinstein)
- An Octoroon (Definition, directed by Chuck Smith)
- Violet (Griffin, directed by Scott Weinstein)
- Lizzie (Firebrand, directed by Victoria Bussert)
2016
- Rolling (Jackalope, directed by Nate Silver)
- Prowess (Jackalope, directed by Marti Lyons)
- Octagon (Jackalope, directed by Tara Branham)
2015
