Chicago
Music, theater and performing arts in Chicago
The Factory Theater is a Chicago theatre company founded in 1992. Originally working out of a 50-seat storefront theater in the Rogers Park neighborhood in the northern part of Chicago, the company has produced over 100 shows during its existence (all original scripts written by ensemble members). The typical schedule during the first five seasons of the Factory Theater was a Thursday evening show, a Friday/Saturday mainstage show, and a Friday/Saturday late-night show. In 1997, after years of ongoing improvements and renovations to the theater in an unsuccessful attempt to satisfy building-code requirements, the company moved out of its Rogers Park storefront and into the Footsteps Theater's space on Clark Street in the Andersonville neighborhood. They were itinerant from 2000-2003 then took residence at the Prop Thtr in Chicago. As of 2015, they have moved into their new 70-seat space right back in Rogers Park on Howard Street right by the CTA Red Line.[1]
In the resurgence of live theater at the tail end of the pandemic, the Factory announced new Co-Artistic Directors--long time ensemble members Timothy C Amos and Shannon O'Neill. In 2017, the Factory announced the election of their new artistic leadership team, Co-Artistic Directors Stacie Barra and Manny Tamayo. Barra and Tamayo replaced Scott OKen who had served as Artistic Director since 2007.[2] Prior to 2007, the Artistic Director was founding member and radio personality Nick Digilio.
The Factory Theater West, composed of Factory Theater ensemble members who had relocated to Los Angeles, produced five productions from 1999-2001. All productions were either remounts of past Factory Theater shows or original works.