"Home" and "family" crop up frequently during interviews with individuals—playwrights, actors, administrators, board members—sharing their reasons for Victory Gardens Theatre’s endurance over the past 28 years up to its current banner year, which included the 2001 Tony Award for Regional Theatre and subscriptions surpassing the 5,000 mark—12 percent more than the previous season.

Considered one of the founders of the off-Loop theatre movement, Victory Gardens got off the ground in 1974 when Warren Casey, Cordis Heard, Roberta Maguire, Mac McGuinnes Cecil O’Neal June Pyskacek and David Rasche each put up $1,000 (and Stuart Gordon added a light board) to start a theatre whose initial mission was to support Chicago talent. The mission soon got more specific: developing and producing new plays—most of them world premieres—with an emphasis on Chicago playwrights and a commitment to diversity.

The theatre’s current artistic-administrative team—artistic director Dennis Zacek; his wife, managing director Marcelle McVay; and associate artistic director Sandy Shinner (all affiliated with the theatre since its first decade)—pride themselves in remaining true to that challenging mission. Five years ago, the theatre expanded on that commitment by establishing a 12-member Playwrights Ensemble.

"Over the last five years, the mission has become strongly defined," says resident playwright Dean Corrin, who has been involved with Victory Gardens for close to 20 years. "It’s clear to the public and to the people inside that the focus is on new work, with an emphasis on Chicago artists. That’s given the theatre a real drive and clarity."

Corrin, who refers to Victory Gardens as his "home," will premiere his mid-life crisis comedy, Battle of the Bands, there in the spring. He values the Playwrights Ensemble, calling it "a safe way to get feedback early in the process."

Zacek shares the rather unexpected way the Playwrights Ensemble was formed: "I was asked to speak extemporaneously at a board meeting about Goodman, Steppenwolf and Victory Gardens. As I began to talk, it became pretty clear to me that Goodman was a directors’ theatre, Steppenwolf an actors’ theatre and Victory Gardens a playwrights’ theatre….It then occurred to me that it was necessary to formalize the playwrights ensemble.

"I came up with the number 12. It started with who was conspicuous, and it was important to have a balance: diversity of race, gender, age and a variety of approaches to the craft."

Adds McVay, "Most all of them [members of the Playwrights Ensemble] were produced on the mainstage. These are writers who had proven themselves."

For Corrin, the luxury of having a home base where his plays can be workshopped and revised is invaluable. "It’s really freeing," he notes, "in that I’m not second-guessing myself about what people would produce. I can take a script that’s unpolished or unfinished to the theatre, and the artists there can respond to it and help move it forward. It’s also great to have a place that has allowed me to write without requiring that I get a play produced there every season."

Actor-playwright Kristine Thatcher, a Playwrights Ensemble member for the past five years, credits Zacek and McVay with creating a place where "people are not afraid to fail—a place for grown ups to play." Thatcher’s works produced at Victory Gardens are Emma’s Child, Among Friends and Voice of Good Hope. She recently starred in Jeffrey Sweet’s Immoral Imperatives.

Joyce Sloane, producer emeritus of The Second City and long-time Victory Gardens board member, commends the troupe for developing and nurturing their own work—"not [engaging] in a bidding war over the latest Broadway show." She recalls talking with playwright Sweet in the late 1970s about his script for Porch and then sending him over to Victory Gardens, which presented a studio premiere of Porch—the first of 10 plays by Sweet produced at Victory Gardens.

Porch was remounted on the Victory Gardens mainstage later that year, and has since been staged by more than 100 theatres. The theatre has been an important base for this prolific writer’s works, including the more recent Flyovers, Bluff and Immoral Imperatives. Sweet, who has built a successful TV and film writing career. is a member of the Playwrights Ensemble.

Other Playwrights Ensemble success stories include John Logan (Never the Sinner, Hauptmann, Music from a Locked Room), an Emmy winner whose HBO film, RKO 281, received an Emmy nomination; and Rick Cleveland (Danny Bouncing, Kids in the Dark, Dogman’s Last Stand), who won an Emmy for "The West Wing."

In 1981, Esther Rolle became the first national star to appear on the Victory Gardens stage in Steve Carter’s Dame Lorraine. McVay remembers how graciously Rolle reacted to riding around Chicago in Zacek’s half-painted El Camino. "Esther had a passion for our mission," stresses McVay.

And Shinner cites a similar burning commitment from Julie Harris, who was pivotal in helping Victory Gardens garner national attention. She starred in Claudia Allen’s Winter and Fossils (sadly falling ill during the latter play’s run).

"Celebrities like Julie Harris shone the spotlight on our theatre," says Shinner. "But we were not just putting stars in our shows to sell tickets. Julie really loved Claudia’s writing and was part of the process. She respects the fact that theatre begins with the playwright."

McVay points out that the theatre has been on a continuous journey toward national exposure, culminating in the 2001 Tony Award for Regional Theatre. "The Tony Award was a dream come true for us," she enthuses. "It’s given us national recognition and has added a potential broader base of support (as shown in the recent record-breaking subscriptions). The Tony is also pushing our explorations of a new facility."

But the Tony euphoria had been preceeded by a board conflict that seriously threatened the theatre’s future. In August 2000, there was a breakdown in communication between the board and senior management staff of the theatre over the aggressive pursuit of growth, namely a possible acquisition of the much-larger Royal George Theatre. The theatre community and the press drew much attention to the theatre’s plight, particularly the controversy over the potential removal of Zacek and McVay as key decision-makers.

A month later, the board reaffirmed its commitment to senior staff, and staff reaffirmed its commitment to the addition of a senior-level manager and to a new or greatly improved facility. In February 2001, board and staff reached consensus on specific criteria for a new facility. In April, Robert Alpaugh joined the Victory Gardens staff as director of institutional advancement, responsible for fundraising efforts, spearheading the search for a new facility and increasing the national visibility of the theatre and its writers.

In June, Victory Gardens entered into a purchase contract for the Biograph Theatre, a landmark movie theatre located two blocks north of the current 2257 N. Lincoln facility (the former Body Politic Theatre which, incidentally, became Victory Gardens home in 1981 when the theatre moved from its original space at 3730 N. Clark). An extended period of "due diligence" is permitting Victory Gardens to analyze the financial and organizational implications of operating a new facility and to conduct a fundraising feasibility study. McKinsey & Company (pro-bono) and Campbell & Company have been retained to assist the theatre in this effort.

In response to the controversy, Zacek recently offered this reflection: "As a director, I am always aware of how fragile the rehearsal process is and how delicate the creation of an ensemble can be. The same can be said of a board of directors. It can get out of balance and can be affected in a way that can be of concern." He adds, "I’ll never leave a board meeting again."

On the positive side, McVay notes that the crisis underscored their need for an improved facility that would not jeopardize their mission. And, according to Shinner, "We learned that our subscribers and the theatre community were very articulate about the mission of the theatre and the importance of Victory Gardens. On a grassroots level, we got an incredible amount of support."

At press time, Victory Gardens’ option for the Biograph was extended to Jan. 22. Alpaugh says the theatre will announce a decision by mid-February.

"Our current space is our home," says Alpaugh. "People feel very close to the artists here. It’s a warm, intimate place to see new work. But there have been limitations on the writers and designers to create worlds that take us to other places. The idea for the Biograph is that we would divide it into three performance spaces: a 299-seat mainstage and two smaller 150- or 170- seat theatres. It’s very important that we retain the intimacy."

At its current space, Victory Gardens consists of three smaller studios (regularly rented to a spectrum of theatre companies) in addition to its mainstage. The theatre also has been a pioneer in access for audiences and artists with disabilities. Shinner heads the Access Project, which Victory Gardens inherited from Remains Theatre. In addition to changes to the theatre’s physical space, the program supports captioned and sign-language performances and plays written and performed by artists with disabilities. Victory Gardens offers extensive writing classes and outreach programs.

James P. Grusecki, chairman and CEO of Northern Builders, Inc., was elected president of Victory Gardens Board of Directors in June. He was a board member for four years and insists on remaining committed to the theatre’s mission.

"I think there is an extremely strong working relationship between the board and staff," states Grusecki. "In hindsight, [the crisis prompted] a healthy element of stirring up the pot. Now we’re all on the same page and moving forward. I consider myself a good listener and encourage the board and staff to communicate well and reach harmonious conclusions.

"The future of the theatre is solidly grounded in good plays performed by good actors in an intimate setting. That will not be jeopardized [in relation to a potential move]. And we will continue to be financially solvent."

During the summer 2000 controversy, theatre critic Chris Jones drew a great deal of attention to Zacek’s and McVay’s plight. He attributes the theatre’s ongoing success to a number of factors.

"There’s no question that the Tony Award gave [Victory Gardens] heightened awareness and legitimacy," says Jones. "People—audiences, money types—in this town often wait for the recognition of outsiders before they will acknowledge their own. For Victory Gardens, this was the year that happened. It’s a one-off, of course, so they’ll need to keep up the momentum in other ways in the future.

"I think they have also ratcheted up the quality a good few notches. And they sprinkled their seasons with a few star actors, which has done a great deal to move them up in people’s minds. Sad, perhaps, but true. I greatly admire the way they remain committed to that ensemble of writers, even if there were flashier ways to go. And thank God they retained the creatives and that absurd coup went nowhere."

Thatcher underscores the theatre’s respect for its writers when she shares the enthralling experience of traveling with her 11 ensemble playwrights and the artistic staff of Victory Gardens to the Tony Awards. The group drank brandy at the Algonquin Hotel’s famed "round table," and Thatcher "strolled arm-in-arm" with playwright Tom Stoppard.

Tim Grimm, who starred with Thatcher in Immoral Imperatives, is based in Indiana but considers Victory Gardens "his home away from home."

"It strikes me as a true family," Grimm observes. "I lived in L.A. for about seven years and found that the writer plays a small part in the process. At Victory Gardens, they honor the playwright and are willing to take risks.

"It’s all about the story. I came back to the Midwest to tell stories."

Sloane puts it all in perspective by reminding us that "if the actors don’t have the words, there is no theatre."

Victory Gardens is at the forefront of ensuring the future of the theatrical art form.

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