Elayne LeTraunik'co-founder/artistic director of Red Hen Productions'credits her son, Brian LeTraunik, with kick-starting the new niche-direction of the theatre. He often suggested doing one Jewish-themed play or an entire season devoted to Jewish works. But, after the company's massive endeavor of moving into and renovating its own storefront space in Andersonville, Red Hen mounted Bloody Bess, a female pirate swashbuckler, in fall 2002.

The play exemplified the troupe's mission of presenting neglected and new works with strong stories and characters. Bloody Bess had originally premiered at Organic Theatre in 1974. But, when Red Hen resurrected it, audiences weren't exactly storming the new theatre's gates with the same vigor as the bold seafaring cast. Small houses forced the LeTrauniks to reevaluate their mission.

'We found that our Jewish shows, like The Dybbuk, pulled the biggest audiences,' says Elayne, who also compiles hotline listings for PerformInk. 'And, since the demise of [Skokie's] National Jewish Theatre [in the late 1990s], there has not been any Chicago theatre company dedicated to presenting plays that emphasize Jewish themes.'

So the theatre's 2003-04 season marks the newly inaugurated Chicago Jewish Theatre (CJT) at Red Hen Productions. It opens with the local premiere of Israel Horovitz's family comedy, Today, I Am a Fountain Pen. It runs Sept. 18-Oct. 19 at CJT's 50-seat space at 5123 N. Clark, which the LeTrauniks rehabbed (including new electrical wiring, fire doors and accessible bathrooms) between 2000-02.

Fountain Pen marks the debut of CJT's subscription series. So far, the coming season has attracted 150 subscribers'mainly through advertisements in Jewish publications. Six performances are already sold-out, and many Jewish community groups, synagogues, schools and senior centers are requesting additional weekday matinees.

Brian, who serves as company manager, believes the theatre is on the verge of wide-reaching success now that it has narrowed its purpose. 'We were too scattershot,' he acknowledges. 'We were trying to please too many people and found ourselves struggling to figure out what kinds of shows drew audiences.'

Under the Red Hen name, the Equity theatre cultivated a reputation for producing strong dramatic works with integrity'despite lack of major funding.

The company first staged a powerful but understated production of Christopher Marlowe's Edward II at Chopin Theatre in early 1999, and followed that up with the well-received Safe Harbor by Joanne Koch in May 1999 at the old Organic/Touchstone space. As an itinerant company, it continued with Nigel William's Class Enemy in January 2000 at the Athenaeum, then Tony Kushner's adaptation of The Dybbuk at Chopin in spring 2000.

But, according to Elayne, they got tired of moving around and jockeying for increasingly limited and expensive space. So by fall 2000, the LeTrauniks moved into their own 5,000-square-foot space'formerly Steven Ivcich's acting studio. They soon found themselves up to their ears in delays, from obtaining proper permits to raising funds to get the theatre up to code. They were forced to stage Dominique Cieri's Pitz and Joe at Angel Island Theatre in 2001 while refurbishing the Andersonville theatre. Elayne attributes her gray hairs to the trials involved in acquiring a space.

But she also frequently cites the man who inspired this dream: her late husband, actor Kenneth LeTraunik (for whom the theatre itself is named). The pair, together with Brian, had been active all their life in theatre'going back to their years in the western suburbs.

'I see the theatre as a testament to Ken,' says Elayne. 'He was always supportive. Theatre is all I know how to do. It never occurred to me to stop. I feel, with this theatre, Brian stepped in to take Ken's place.'

The mother-son team is responsible for programming a season that offers a variety of rarely produced and original plays they hope will educate audiences about 'the history and culture of the Jewish population.' As Elayne notes, 'We're not just looking at plays that have a Jewish character in them or only works by Jewish playwrights. These are plays in which Jewishness is the driving factor.'

Following the family-oriented Fountain Pen, CJT presents The Speaking Head and Other Scary Jewish Stories, as retold by Howard Schwartz and adapted for the stage by Stuart Gordon (one of Organic Theatre's original founders). Each short play illuminates a Jewish folk legend. In December, CJT plans to offer morning puppet shows, and is considering Eric Kimmel's The Chanukkah Guest. The company also has an ongoing relationship with the inventive puppet troupe Hystopolis Productions (which has produced Dracula and The Adding Machine at Red Hen).

At the start of 2004, the theatre will premiere a new adaptation by David Fishelson of H. Leivick's Yiddish classic The Golem. The season concludes with the Chicago premiere of Preston Jones' The Stroop Report, which dramatizes the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.

'We want to avoid some of the pitfalls of Jewish theatre,' Brian insists, 'like a Neil Simon play.'

'Or Fiddler on the Roof,' Elayne interjects.

'We didn't want to rest on our laurels,' continues Brian. 'We didn't want to do what was easily recognizable. For example, with The Stroop Report, we like that it dealt with the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and that it was a new play.'

Also up for consideration are new small-scale musicals. While being progressive, CJT is taking into account its multigenerational audience, which comes from the North Shore suburbs, West Rogers Park and the city'making its Andersonville address (in a hot area with more restaurants and shops) a centrally located draw. 'We're taking a middle-of-road approach,' adds Brian. 'We won't be doing anything too agit-prop.'

The co-founders believe they've found a niche that makes them feel like their work clearly matters to a large part of the population. And they see plenty of room for expansion.

'I would like the theatre to be a real center for Jewish theatre and culture,' urges Elayne. 'I'd like to go off in as many directions as possible.'

 

Chicago Jewish Theatre at Red Hen Productions, 5123 N. Clark, 773/728-0599, www.chicagojewishtheatre.com.