Organic Theater Company
Encyclopedia
Organic Theater Company, a Chicago theatre
, was founded in the 1970s by artistic director Stuart Gordon
. The theater company was incorporated in 1972. Some productions were taken on the road, touring to New York City venues such as The Performing Garage
, The Public Theater
, and The Ambassador Theatre.
's leadership included:
- "Warp," by Stuart Gordon
and Bury St. Edmund, an original science-fiction epic adventure in three parts
- "Sexual Perversity in Chicago
" by David Mamet
, world premiere production
- "Cops" by Terry Curtis Fox, starring Dennis Franz
and Joe Mantegna
- "Bleacher Bums" concept by Joe Mantegna
, (there was also production for WTTW
television that aired in 1979)
- “E/R Emergency Room” conceived and written by the Organics under the supervision of Dr. Ronald Berman
- "The Sirens of Titan
" (1977) adapted by Stuart Gordon
from the 1959 novel by Kurt Vonnegut
After “E/R Emergency Room,” Stuart Gordon went to the west coast to make his cult classic sci-fi film “The Re-Animator.” Artistic directors after Stuart Gordon
included Thomas Riccio
and Richard Fire. In 1996 Organic Theater Company and Touchstone Theatre merged under the leadership of Touchstone’s artistic director Ina Marlowe. (For two years the organization did business as Organic Touchstone but is now known again as Organic Theater Company.)
Notable productions during artistic director Ina Marlowe’s leadership included:
- “The Steward of Christendom” by Sebastian Barry
, director Ina Marlowe worked closely with Irish playwright Sebastian Barry on this Midwest premiere
- “An American Daughter” by Wendy Wasserstein
, director Ina Marlowe worked closely with playwright Wendy Wasserstein (including significant rewrites) on this Midwest premiere
- “Belfry” by Billy Roche
, director Ina Marlowe worked closely with Irish playwright Billy Roche
on this American premiere (of both the play and the playwright’s work)
- “The Last Seder” by Jennifer Maisel, 2001 Kennedy Center Award for New Plays, World premiere
- “The Lady from Dubuque” by Edward Albee
, director Ina Marlowe worked closely with Edward Albee on this Chicago premiere
Ina Marlowe passed the torch to artistic director Alexander Gelman
at the beginning of 2006. Gelman’s Organic Theater Company is now a company of actors touring with a rotating repertory. Since then the company has produced The $30,000 Bequest by Mark Twain
, Bartleby the Scrivener
by Herman Melville
, and Joseph Conrad
's The Secret Agent
. He also directed Eugene Ionesco
's Man with Bags, Friedrich Durrenmatt
's Play Strindberg, and Shimizu Kunio's The Dressing Room.
3319 N. Clark Street, Chicago
2851 N. Halsted Street, Chicago
Loyola University’s Kathleen Mullady Theatre, Chicago, Ruth Page Theatre, LaCosta Theatre, and the Greenhouse Theater Center (formerly Victory Gardens Greenhouse Theater).
Chicago theatre
Chicago theatre refers not only to theatre performed in Chicago, Illinois but also to the movement in that town that saw a number of small, meagerly-funded companies grow to institutions of national and international significance. Chicago had long been a popular destination for tours sent out from...
, was founded in the 1970s by artistic director Stuart Gordon
Stuart Gordon
After the University of Wisconsin demanded future theatrical productions by Screw Theater be overseen by a University Professor, Gordon cut his University ties to form Broom Street Theater. Its first production, the new translation of the risque Lysistrata, premiered in May 1969. Gordon is...
. The theater company was incorporated in 1972. Some productions were taken on the road, touring to New York City venues such as The Performing Garage
Performing Garage
The Performing Garage is an off-Broadway theater in SoHo, New York City. Established in 1968, it is the permanent home of the experimental theater company originally named The Performance Group that morphed in 1980 into The Wooster Group , and their primary performance venue.Since 1978, it also...
, The Public Theater
Public Theater
The Public Theater is a New York City arts organization founded as The Shakespeare Workshop in 1954 by Joseph Papp, with the intention of showcasing the works of up-and-coming playwrights and performers. It is headquartered at 425 Lafayette Street in the former Astor Library in the East Village...
, and The Ambassador Theatre.
Productions
Notable productions during founding artistic director Stuart GordonStuart Gordon
After the University of Wisconsin demanded future theatrical productions by Screw Theater be overseen by a University Professor, Gordon cut his University ties to form Broom Street Theater. Its first production, the new translation of the risque Lysistrata, premiered in May 1969. Gordon is...
's leadership included:
- "Warp," by Stuart Gordon
Stuart Gordon
After the University of Wisconsin demanded future theatrical productions by Screw Theater be overseen by a University Professor, Gordon cut his University ties to form Broom Street Theater. Its first production, the new translation of the risque Lysistrata, premiered in May 1969. Gordon is...
and Bury St. Edmund, an original science-fiction epic adventure in three parts
- "Sexual Perversity in Chicago
Sexual Perversity in Chicago
Sexual Perversity in Chicago is a play written by David Mamet that examines the sex lives of two men and two women in the 1970's. The play is filled with profanity and regional jargon that reflects the working-class language of Chicago. The characters' relationships become hindered by the caustic...
" by David Mamet
David Mamet
David Alan Mamet is an American playwright, essayist, screenwriter and film director.Best known as a playwright, Mamet won a Pulitzer Prize and received a Tony nomination for Glengarry Glen Ross . He also received a Tony nomination for Speed-the-Plow . As a screenwriter, he received Oscar...
, world premiere production
- "Cops" by Terry Curtis Fox, starring Dennis Franz
Dennis Franz
Dennis Franz is an American actor best known for his role as Andy Sipowicz, a hard-boiled police detective in the television series NYPD Blue. He previously appeared as Lt...
and Joe Mantegna
Joe Mantegna
Joseph Anthony "Joe" Mantegna, Jr. is an American actor, producer, writer,director, and voice actor. He is best known for his roles in box office hits such as Three Amigos , The Godfather Part III , Forget Paris , and Up Close & Personal...
- "Bleacher Bums" concept by Joe Mantegna
Joe Mantegna
Joseph Anthony "Joe" Mantegna, Jr. is an American actor, producer, writer,director, and voice actor. He is best known for his roles in box office hits such as Three Amigos , The Godfather Part III , Forget Paris , and Up Close & Personal...
, (there was also production for WTTW
WTTW
WTTW channel 11 is one of three Public Broadcasting Service member public television stations serving the Chicago, Illinois market; the others are WYCC and WYIN. WTTW began broadcasting on September 6, 1955 and it is owned and operated by Window to the World Communications, Inc., a not-for-profit...
television that aired in 1979)
- “E/R Emergency Room” conceived and written by the Organics under the supervision of Dr. Ronald Berman
- "The Sirens of Titan
The Sirens of Titan
The Sirens of Titan is a Hugo Award-nominated novel by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., first published in 1959. His second novel, it involves issues of free will, omniscience, and the overall purpose of human history...
" (1977) adapted by Stuart Gordon
Stuart Gordon
After the University of Wisconsin demanded future theatrical productions by Screw Theater be overseen by a University Professor, Gordon cut his University ties to form Broom Street Theater. Its first production, the new translation of the risque Lysistrata, premiered in May 1969. Gordon is...
from the 1959 novel by Kurt Vonnegut
Kurt Vonnegut
Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. was a 20th century American writer. His works such as Cat's Cradle , Slaughterhouse-Five and Breakfast of Champions blend satire, gallows humor and science fiction. He was known for his humanist beliefs and was honorary president of the American Humanist Association.-Early...
After “E/R Emergency Room,” Stuart Gordon went to the west coast to make his cult classic sci-fi film “The Re-Animator.” Artistic directors after Stuart Gordon
Stuart Gordon
After the University of Wisconsin demanded future theatrical productions by Screw Theater be overseen by a University Professor, Gordon cut his University ties to form Broom Street Theater. Its first production, the new translation of the risque Lysistrata, premiered in May 1969. Gordon is...
included Thomas Riccio
Thomas P. Riccio
Thomas P. Riccio is an American multimedia artist and academic. He received his BA from Cleveland State University in English Literature in 1978, his MFA from Boston University in 1982, and studied in the PhD program in Performance Studies at New York University from 1983 to 1984...
and Richard Fire. In 1996 Organic Theater Company and Touchstone Theatre merged under the leadership of Touchstone’s artistic director Ina Marlowe. (For two years the organization did business as Organic Touchstone but is now known again as Organic Theater Company.)
Notable productions during artistic director Ina Marlowe’s leadership included:
- “The Steward of Christendom” by Sebastian Barry
Sebastian Barry
Sebastian Barry is an Irish playwright, novelist, and poet. He has been shortlisted twice for the Man Booker Prize for Fiction and has won the 2008 Costa Book of the Year....
, director Ina Marlowe worked closely with Irish playwright Sebastian Barry on this Midwest premiere
- “An American Daughter” by Wendy Wasserstein
Wendy Wasserstein
Wendy Wasserstein was an American playwright and an Andrew Dickson White Professor-at-Large at Cornell University...
, director Ina Marlowe worked closely with playwright Wendy Wasserstein (including significant rewrites) on this Midwest premiere
- “Belfry” by Billy Roche
Billy Roche
Billy Roche is an Irish playwright and actor. He was born and still lives in Wexford and most of his writings are based there...
, director Ina Marlowe worked closely with Irish playwright Billy Roche
Billy Roche
Billy Roche is an Irish playwright and actor. He was born and still lives in Wexford and most of his writings are based there...
on this American premiere (of both the play and the playwright’s work)
- “The Last Seder” by Jennifer Maisel, 2001 Kennedy Center Award for New Plays, World premiere
- “The Lady from Dubuque” by Edward Albee
Edward Albee
Edward Franklin Albee III is an American playwright who is best known for The Zoo Story , The Sandbox , Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? , and a rewrite of the screenplay for the unsuccessful musical version of Capote's Breakfast at Tiffany's . His works are considered well-crafted, often...
, director Ina Marlowe worked closely with Edward Albee on this Chicago premiere
Ina Marlowe passed the torch to artistic director Alexander Gelman
Alexander Gelman
For the writer Alexander Gelman, see Alexander Isaakovich Gelman. Alexander Gelman , born: Aleksandr Simonovich Gelman is an American theater director and the current Producing Artistic Director of Organic Theater Company in Chicago, Illinois.-Early life:Alexander Gelman was born in Leningrad,...
at the beginning of 2006. Gelman’s Organic Theater Company is now a company of actors touring with a rotating repertory. Since then the company has produced The $30,000 Bequest by Mark Twain
Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist...
, Bartleby the Scrivener
Bartleby the Scrivener
Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street is a short story by the American novelist Herman Melville . It first appeared anonymously in two parts in the November and December 1853 editions of Putnam's Magazine, and was reprinted with minor textual alterations in his The Piazza Tales in...
by Herman Melville
Herman Melville
Herman Melville was an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and poet. He is best known for his novel Moby-Dick and the posthumous novella Billy Budd....
, and Joseph Conrad
Joseph Conrad
Joseph Conrad was a Polish-born English novelist.Conrad is regarded as one of the great novelists in English, although he did not speak the language fluently until he was in his twenties...
's The Secret Agent
The Secret Agent
The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale is a novel by Joseph Conrad published in 1907. The story is set in London in 1886 and deals largely with the life of Mr. Verloc and his job as a spy. The Secret Agent is also notable as it is one of Conrad's later political novels, which move away from his typical...
. He also directed Eugene Ionesco
Eugène Ionesco
Eugène Ionesco was a Romanian and French playwright and dramatist, and one of the foremost playwrights of the Theatre of the Absurd...
's Man with Bags, Friedrich Durrenmatt
Friedrich Dürrenmatt
Friedrich Dürrenmatt was a Swiss author and dramatist. He was a proponent of epic theatre whose plays reflected the recent experiences of World War II. The politically active author's work included avant-garde dramas, philosophically deep crime novels, and often macabre satire...
's Play Strindberg, and Shimizu Kunio's The Dressing Room.
Venues
Over the years, Organic Theater Company venues have included:3319 N. Clark Street, Chicago
2851 N. Halsted Street, Chicago
Loyola University’s Kathleen Mullady Theatre, Chicago, Ruth Page Theatre, LaCosta Theatre, and the Greenhouse Theater Center (formerly Victory Gardens Greenhouse Theater).