The Free Associates are now free to move about the city. The company has left their most recent roost at the Royal George Theatre Center in favor of the autonomy and flexibility of a nomadic experience.

The Royal George made a good transitional space from the company’s home at the Ivanhoe, which closed in 2001 in favor of a liquor store expansion. The Free Associates was never able to fully capitalize on the advantages of being at the Royal George, said Adrienne Smith, a long-time ensemble member. The expense of the space pushed up ticket prices and it was frustrating to not always have their shows listed on the theatre marquee—their presence on the sign would be determined by what else was showing each weekend.

While the Free Associates are itinerant, they will be led by new co-artistic directors Adrienne Smith and Robyn Okrant. Smith joined the ensemble in 1994, performing in the detective murder mystery spoof Pick-A-Dick. Okrant became a company member three years ago after joining the cast of the “ER” spoof BS. The women replace Joe Reilly who served as artistic director for the last two years.

Smith and Okrant head up an expanded ensemble. In recent months the Free Associates has bolstered its ranks to include 13 members. The ensemble had been down as low as three core members a few years ago, but now, through fostering associations with guest artists, the Free Associates have filled out their roster again.

Recruiting of new members became more serious when Okrant and Smith realized they were casting shows they were developing for the Free Associates without any ensemble members to play the parts. When doing What the Dickens? Smith had to teach her cast not only the style of Charles Dickens but also the Free Associates style of improvised character work. 

This is the first time in the company’s 13 years that it has had co-artistic directors. “The company has always been founded on the idea that one person would do absolutely everything,” Okrant said. But that format runs the risk of burning people out, Smith said.

“We knew we would probably evaporate if we didn’t restructure,” Okrant said. Now she says the company is newly refreshed as it looks to capitalize on the new and fresh ideas from the expanded ensemble.

The Free Associates’ next show is scheduled to be a parody of the “West Wing” television show. Set to open in March 2005 the show, created by Okrant, will follow the structure of the NBC program but will use politicians from the current U.S. government.

The current break in production “will be nice and cathartic for us,” Smith said. “Since I joined the company in 1994 we have been in continuous production. We never missed a weekend.”

Smith and Okrant want to see the company move away from long-running shows in favor of developing a number of comic new works, eventually offering a season of choices at a new home venue. “Because we’re so used to having a home space we’ll be heading back to that when we’re able,” Okrant said. “We definitely wanted to move to a space where we could make our shows more accessible to viewers.”

A place of worship probably isn’t the kind of home the Free Associates will be looking for, but the city’s oldest church is building a theatre in its basement. The Chicago Temple at 77 W. Washington St. is working to develop an 80-seat theatre space below the first floor sanctuary. There is an existing “junior high-type of stage,” in the basement, but this will be replaced with an approximately 800-square-foot performance space.

“Our plan is to completely reconfigure the stage area,” said senior pastor Phil Blackwell. There will be a functional performance space which will be flexible-use so the First United Methodist Church at the Chicago Temple can also use the basement for its own events as well as poetry readings, seminars and press conferences.

The idea for revamping the basement space was born when the lower level of the church was torn up for construction work on the sidewalks around the temple building. Having made a mess, the church leaders asked themselves, “How are we going to put it back together?” Blackwell said.

The relationship between theatre and the church dates back 2000 years, Blackwell said, also noting that Steppenwolf started in a church basement. “So there’s precedent for all of this.”

The theatre’s primary tenant will be Silk Road Theatre Project, which has been in residence at the Chicago Temple for the past two years. The group, devoted to presenting multi-ethnic theatre, will be responsible for contributing sound and lighting equipment. “It’s a very expensive endeavor but they’re very much committed to our theatre and our mission,” said Silk Road executive director Malik Gillani. “They want people to align the Chicago Temple with culture.”

The goal is to transform the space by mid-2005. Blackwell can imagine in the future the space may be open to use by other theatres and groups.

First established in 1831, The Chicago Temple has one of the city’s most diverse memberships. Its congregation is said to represent every zip code in Chicago.

While the congregants at Chicago Temple are ramping up for December’s holy days, many of us will be preparing for the holiday season by shopping for presents. Stage Left Theatre, The Box Theatre Group and Concert Dance are a few of the companies registered as a cause at iGive.com, an online charity mall. As people shop at any of more than 400 stores, the site tracks their purchases. Up to 39 percent of the purchase value is sent to the shopper’s favorite cause. Stores in the mall include Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, Lands’ End and Coldwater Creek. There are more than 26,000 causes from the United States and Canada currently registered. Shoppers and causes sign up at www.igive.com.

Are you eager to see your name in bold print? Looking to share your latest industry news? E-mail Jenn at [JQGODDU@SBCGLOBAL.NET] if you have announcements for Behind the Curtain.

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