It seems natural that a troupe named American Theater Company (ATC, formerly American Blues Theatre) would gravitate toward American-themed plays. And, since its beginnings in 1985, the strong ensemble company has stayed true to its red, white and blue roots with classic works by Eugene O'Neill, William Inge, Lillian Hellman, Sam Shepard and founding member Rick Cleveland (now an Emmy Award-winning writer for 'Six Feet Under').

But'like the unobtrusive American flag hanging above the theatre's entrance (placed there after 9/11 when the artists were mounting Shepard's A Lie of the Mind)'it's easy to take that heritage for granted. Former artistic director Brian Russell expanded into international dramatic territory, from Euripides' Medea to Beckett's Endgame and the Brecht-Weill Threepenny Opera.

Now artistic director Damon Kiely, marking his first year at the helm, wants to stress the 'American' in the title. Even the new logo enlarges the word, and the 2003-04 season launches the 'American Century Project' in which ATC, over the next three years, will produce an American play from every decade of the 20th century. It opened with the darkly celebratory American immigrant musical Tintypes, and continues with Shepard's Angel City (Nov. 12-Dec. 14). The rest of the four show season features the world premiere of Brett Neveu's American Dead and Preston Sturges' rarely produced Strictly Dishonorable. In addition, a staged reading of Walter Wood's Billy the Kid was held in August; Collision Course, a reading of protest plays from the 1960s, is planned for January.

But does this staunch re-focus edge ATC into a precarious nationalistic sphere?

'We're not running the Smithsonian Institute's Theatre of American jingoism,' replies Kiely, a Chicago native who spent 10 years in New York's experimental theatre scene, including the Ontological Theatre. 'We're trying to have a place where you can still ask questions; where you can explore what it means to be an American.'

Noting the shaky financial state of mid-size theatres like ATC, the new artistic director has found that a clear mission gives the company solid footing in terms of audience development, marketing and funding possibilities. It also allows them to shave down the play-selection process. For co-founder/ensemble member James Leaming, 'It's a good time to re-focus. Questions are now being asked all over the place about our country. It's a good spark.'

Kiely, who seeks to offer 'something for anyone who walks in the door and for the connoisseurs,' aims for balance'even within the American emphasis. You won't suddenly find the company decked out in spangled vests singing 'God Bless America,' but the material is not strictly anti-American either. It's somewhere between celebratory and critical.

'We want to capitalize on our name,' Kiely acknowledges, 'not as a brand name but as a political name. The work should be gutsy, diverse and multilayered.'

His statement echoes the combined gritty-experimental style that has become an ATC trademark. Kiely, drawn to the troupe's commitment to telling provocative stories in honest and innovative ways, is not so much revamping ATC as consolidating its strengths.

'I'm trying to meld the kind of work you'll see at the PAC [Performing Arts Chicago] Festival with some of the simplest storytelling,' he says. 'The physical space is equal to the emotional space on stage.'

Kiely, who received his undergraduate degree in philosophy at the University of Chicago, later decided, 'Why read about philosophy when it can be experienced live and engage audiences in questions of morality?' So he got an MFA in directing from New York's Columbia University (studying with Anne Bogart and Romulus Linney). Then he had a revelation: 'At Columbia,' he explains, 'we were so focused on the avant-garde, we didn't do basic theatre. It was like taking advanced metal sculpture before I did figure drawing.'

So Kiely interned with Goodman's artistic director Robert Falls and received various directing fellowships that allowed him to experience a spectrum of theatre across the country. His directing style evolved into a merging of solid storytelling, strong physicality, and a desire for unselfconscious boundary stretching. These qualities were evident in his recent production of O'Neill's The Hairy Ape for ATC. Like the play itself, his staging hovered between stark realism and abstract stylization, with the central visual metaphors of a raging furnace and a cage joining the actors in a seamless, yet unsettling, union.

ATC may always be tied to its working-class roots and hard-hitting artistic offerings'from Stalag 17 to American Buffalo'but the artists have never been afraid to follow their experimental impulses.

'As an ensemble,' stresses Leaming, 'we had a desire not to be a scratch-your-crotch and spit kind of theatre company in Chicago. We've always wanted to achieve a level of theatricality; to dare ourselves to be surprised.'

Over its 18-year history, however, ATC has experienced its assorted challenges. An acclaimed but costly production of Keith Reddin's Peacekeeper at Theatre Building Chicago in 1990 plunged ATC in debt due to low audience turnout. The ensemble re-grouped and put on a series of 'monster plays' by local playwrights at various bars. They were cheap to produce and brought in new audiences. By 1993, ATC moved into its current 120-seat space (a former post office and greeting-card factory) at 1909 W. Byron (near Lincoln & Irving).

Then another financial crisis in 2001 nearly caused ATC to close its doors. Previous artistic director Russell sent a letter to scores of ATC supporters and managed to raise over $30,000'enough to keep the theatre going. But the company is still chipping away at its debt, with Kiely reporting 'this fiscal year, we retired $20,000 in debt.' He says that ATC is stable, with greater reliance on individual donations (now that corporate and government funding has decreased) and a growing board that just added three new members. ATC is also in the process of hiring a new managing director.

'We're not anywhere near the crisis the theatre faced in '01,' states Kiely, 'but it's still tough. We are pretty much in line with a lot of national trends (like drops in single ticket sales and lack of corporate/government support). Yet, even though we're financially treading water, in this economy we're not doing badly.'

In fact, its subscriptions have increased and now that the area is gentrifying, ATC seems to be attracting audiences more from other parts of the city and suburbs. But it is Kiely's goal for ATC 'to be as much an anchor here as the Old Town School of Folk Music in Lincoln Square.'

American Theater Company, 1909 W. Byron. 773/929-5009; www.atcweb.org.

Home

Theatre Profiles Archives