Chicago Dramatists is a

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

in River West,

West Town, Chicago West Town, northwest of the Loop on Chicago's West Side, is one of the city's officially designated community areas. Much of this area was historically part of Polish Downtown, along Western Avenue, which was then the city's western bounda ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

, USA, focused on nurturing playwrights and developing new plays. It was founded in 1979 by Russ Tutterow and is notable for its Network Playwright Program, which offers classes, readings and critiques to writers of all abilities, and readings of new works for the general public. In 1998, the theatre received a special

Jeff Award The Joseph Jefferson Award, more commonly known informally as the Jeff Award, is given for theatre arts produced in the Chicago area. Founded in 1968, the awards are named in tribute to actor Joseph Jefferson, a 19th-century American theater star ...

for its almost two decades of developing plays and playwrights in a manner that has enhanced Chicago's reputation for being a cradle for new theatre works. The theater space itself is small and intimate, seating 77. As well as nurturing new playwrights, Chicago Dramatists lists many established playwrights as part of its community. Resident playwrights have included Keith Huff (whose award-winning play ''

A Steady Rain ''A Steady Rain'' is a play by Keith Huff. With a plot similar to a real-life event involving Jeffrey Dahmer, it focuses on two Chicago policemen who inadvertently return a Vietnamese boy to a cannibalistic serial killer who claims to be the chil ...

'' was developed at Chicago Dramatists), Lydia R. Diamond,

Kristiana Rae Colón Kristiana Rae Colón (born April 16, 1986) is an American poet, playwright, actor, educator, Cave Canem Fellow, creator of #BlackSexMatters and co-founder of the #LetUsBreathe Collective. She was awarded 2017 Best Black Playwright by The Black ...

, Sandra Delgado and Mary Ruth Clarke. The current artistic director is Carson Becker.

Notable productions

*''The Angel of Lemnos'' by resident playwright Jim Henry (1999

Joseph Jefferson Award The Joseph Jefferson Award, more commonly known informally as the Jeff Award, is given for theatre arts produced in the Chicago area. Founded in 1968, the awards are named in tribute to actor Joseph Jefferson, a 19th-century American theater sta ...

for outstanding New Work) *''The Liquid Moon'' by resident playwright John Green (2002 Joseph Jefferson Award for outstanding New Work) *''Only the Sound'' by resident playwright Jenny Laird (2003 Joseph Jefferson Award for outstanding New Work) *''Voyeurs'' de Venus by resident playwright Lydia R. Diamond (2006 Joseph Jefferson Award for outstanding New Work) *''

'' by resident playwright Keith Huff (2008 Joseph Jefferson Awards for outstanding New Work and an outstanding Midsize Production Play)

References

External links

* {{Chicago Theatre in Chicago Theatre companies in Chicago

Notable productions

See also

References

External links