BY LUCIA MAURO
Jason Loewith, Next Theatre’s artistic director, says he is attracted to a "story-based" theatre aesthetic. But, since picking up the leadership baton passed by former artistic director Kate Buckley in spring 2002 at the long-established Evanston-based theatre, he has been refining how "Next tells its own story so that people–from the audience to the artists to potential funders–understand who we are."
He is referring to a company that, in its 22nd season when he came on board, has gone through various changes in leadership and artistic interests. Next was established as a not-for-profit theatre in 1981 by Harriet Spizziri and Brian Finn. Pivotal productions included Larry Kramer’s The Normal Heart and Tracy Letts’ Killer Joe.
In the 1990s, Buckley’s predecessor Steve Pickering favored a mix of structured plays and more experimental adaptations (like Clive Barker’s History of the Devil), as well as world and Midwest premieres. Buckley brought smart and physically charged energy to award-winning ensemble-based works, from Shakespeare to docu-dramas like Among the Thugs and The Laramie Project.
A constant has been the high quality of the stagings and commitment of all the artistic/administrative collaborators to create transformational theatre in a small space inside the Noyes Cultural Arts Center (which also houses Piven Theatre and the Actors Gymnasium). The company has received more than 35 Jeff Citations. But Next also has weathered financial storms over the years as its aesthetic has morphed with changing leadership.
Loewith, who previously worked for two years as an artistic administrator and casting director at Court Theatre, was eager to define Next’s mission: "I wanted to be able to sum up our mission in one sentence, and concluded that we do socially provocative, artistically adventurous work–works that take the art form to another level."
Next’s repertoire does not veer too far over to kitchen-sink realism or sway into performance-art territory. In short, it’s theatre that engages the community in topical issues within a structured realm of risky envelope pushing.
Drawn to "well-structured, tightly written stories," Loewith planned his first three-play season (2002-03) at Next with pieces that emphasized timely ideas.
He opened with what he considers Joe Orton’s "most dangerous play," Entertaining Mr. Sloane. It was followed by the artistically and financially successful Chicago professional premiere of Suzan-Lori Parks’ In the Blood, an allegorical plunge into homelessness and the flawed welfare system. The season wraps up with Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure (through May 18) directed by Loewith as a pitch-black comedy, and honoring the theatre’s long association with fiercely contemporary approaches to the Bard.
The new artistic director–who also brings to Next five years’ experience as general manager and dramaturg at New York City’s Classic Stage Company–has created another level of engagement via panel discussions linked to each production. For Entertaining Mr. Sloane, artists and activists in the gay community addressed sexuality and censorship on stage; for In the Blood, welfare representatives and the director of a local women’s shelter spoke about homeless mothers in the Evanston community; and, in conjunction with the politically charged, fundamentalist-themed Measure for Measure, a professor of constitutional law, a sociologist and Shakespearean scholar will participate.
"The panels allow Next Theatre to become a destination for both artists and audiences," says Loewith, 34. "It’s not just a theatre that does plays; it’s an institution in the community that wants to let people know we want to make a difference."
Another way Loewith–together with general manager Michael Osinski and press representative Chelsea Cutler–merges theatre with real life is through a nascent outreach program modeled after Los Angeles’ Cornerstone Theatre. The LA troupe takes a classic, like Faust, and teams up with qualified "community collaborators" to adapt the play to a specific (often under-served) neighborhood–resulting in a staging that combines professional actors and the community.
Next began a similar event that Loewith hopes, after at least four more workshops in the future, will lead to a community-developed script. During the run of In the Blood, the theatre brought together a group of 15 Evanston women of varying racial, religious and socio-economic backgrounds to discuss "the politics of motherhood." Together, they revealed their similarities and differences–from a Holocaust survivor trying to raise a family amid prejudice to an African-American mother who was denied housing because she has two teenage children.
"That’s the kind of outreach work we want to do," says Loewith. "Our outreach is aimed at bringing together the north and south sides of Evanston. We want to continue to adapt to a changing community–one that is younger and more multicultural."
When asked about benefits and challenges of the Noyes Cultural Center as Next’s base, Loewith acknowledges the inherent enrichment of sharing space with other artists, as well as the potential for collaborations with new community issues-based tenant Fleetwood-Jordain Theatre. But he does not hide his frustration with the City of Evanston: "Working with the staff of the City of Evanston is a daily challenge. Instead of finding ways in which they could work more productively with local artists, they raised our rent 10 percent this year."
Loewith also notes that Next Theatre recently has been disqualified for eligibility for the bulk of City of Chicago funding (both corporate and foundations) due to new guidelines that no longer provide funding for theatres outside the city limits. "It’s odd," he reflects, "that we’re considered a jewel in the crown of Chicago’s theatre community, but we’re not eligible for any financial assistance from Chicago."
Pointing out that, since Next has "operated in such panic mode for the past seven years," Loewith intends to focus on stabilization. He says that board leadership has doubled from six to 12. It’s also a more diverse board with corporate ties. Closely connected to crafting a quality product and getting the word out to the community, Next is concentrating on fiscal health.
As Next enters its 23rd season (whose artistic offerings have not yet been solidified), Loewith and staff have announced the "enhance, expand, explode" three-year plan: 2003-04 will center on enhancing artistry; 2004-05 on expanding programming; and 2005-06 on exploding to the point where the theatre can offer three mainstage shows , one co-production, and one community-based show (including a commissioned work, like a musical).
So, what’s Next?
"I’m grateful to have a strong artistic legacy from Kate [Buckley]," says Loewith. "I want to continue to introduce Chicago to the most exciting voices writing socially provocative works for the American theatre today. And we’re taking serious steps toward creating our own work."
At its core, Next Theatre is moving forward on many levels of sociopolitical engagement — commenting on where we’ve been, where we are and where’ we’re going.
Next Theatre, Noyes Cultural Arts Center, 927 Noyes St., Evanston. Tel. 847/475-6763; www.NextTheatre.org.