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]
The original Co-Artistic Directors were Sean Abley and Amy Seeley (1992-97), with Michael Beyer as Board President. Abley departed for Los Angeles in 1997 (the day after Battleaxe Betty opening night). Nick Digilio took over as Artistic Director from 1998-2007, with Molly Brennan as Board President / Managing Director beginning in 1998. Scott OKen would replace Digilio as Artistic Director in 2007, a position he'd hold until 2017. In 2017, the Factory announced the election of their new artistic leadership team, Co-Artistic Directors Stacie Barra and Manny Tamayo, replacing OKen. 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.
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.