Lookingglass Theatre Company

Founded in 1989 by a group of northwestern university graduate students, Lookingglass Theatre Company is a nationwide leader in the creation and presentation of new, cutting-edge theatrical works. Lookingglass has received the tony award for outstanding regional Theatre, macarthur award for creative and effective institutions, artistic achievement award from the league of chicago theatres, and 57 joseph jefferson awards. Lookingglass is both nurtured by and actively shapes the local culture of collaboration, experimentation, and idealism. Driven by 29 ensemble members and 21 artistic associates, Lookingglass productions are centered on ensemble with training in Theatre, dance, music, and circus arts. Lookingglass' signature new work development laboratory, gglassworks, fuels the continued growth of its body of work, having produced 70 world premier plays to date. At any given time, gglassworks has upwards of 20 plays in various stages of development.lookingglass' live experiences bring viewers into a shared awareness of their presence, holding space for imaginative participation and helping audiences to picture their lives transformed, leaving them changed, charged, and empowered. With its flexible Theatre arrangement, Lookingglass often configures audience seating to enhance the sensation of participation and belonging in the onstage action. In a typical season, Lookingglass offers upwards of 200 performances in its Theatre, as well as online, and in creative, offsite events, connecting with 50,000 or more guests. Lookingglass productions have toured 17 u.s. cities in partnership with regional theatres.lookingglass' 2022/2023 season marked its first complete season of full-scale original productions in its home Theatre in the water tower water works building post-pandemic. The season featured three plays created by Lookingglass ensemble members and artistic associates, including two world premier productions incubated through its gglassworks program. Lucy and charlie's honeymoon is the story of first generation asian american renegades, revving it down quintessentially american highways and across stereotypic borders, fleeing expectation and trawling up trouble along the way. A multilayered musical comedy, lucy and charlie's honeymoon delves into the timely themes of immigration and human trafficking while combining the brazen verve of country western caper, an unflinching original script, and diverse cast. Lookingglass also presented the steadfast tin soldier, a sumptuous pantomime adapted from hans christian andersen. Celebrated as a ""four-star treat for all ages"" by the chicago tribune, the steadfast tin soldier initially premiered at Lookingglass in 2019 and returned in 2023 to high box office demand. Lookingglass concluded its 2022/2023 season with villette, an adaptation from charlotte bronte that tells the story of heroine lucy snowe. Suddenly bereft of family, friends, and funds, a young lucy catapults into a new country armed only with determination, a fiercely dry sense of humor, and her prodigious brain. Entangled in romance and intrigue, she soon finds herself drawn into a complicated maze. Timely and kind-hearted, this witty world premiere production resonates with anyone who has struggled to find their place in a world that is designed to quiet them. Throughout its 2022/2023 season, Lookingglass continued its multi-year program, 50 wards: a civic mosaic. Driven by its mission to change, charge, and empower audiences, Lookingglass is committed to serving the community by connecting raw, human stories to audiences in creative ways that have immediate and lasting impact. In 50 wards, Lookingglass ensemble members and artistic associates uncover and share stories from every corner of chicago and present them online for free consumption by all.in the spring, Lookingglass presented it's second annual in-person fundraiser, ungala, catalyzing broad support for its work from an audience that is eager to support and sustain the Theatre.

Lookingglass' department of curiosity brings the transformative power of theater into classrooms, communities, and neighborhoods all over chicago. In-house engagement programs deepen the experience of Theatre, cultivating curiosity and building community. Teaching artists bring Lookingglass' core values of collaboration, invention, and transformation into every setting. For many participants, Lookingglass' programs offer the only available source of quality Theatre training, an essential education that cultivates curiosity, expands self-expression, grows the capacity for telling and understanding stories, and supports communication and collaboration with peers and neighbors. The department of curiosity offers five programs during a typical season: residencies in chicago public schools: Lookingglass' flagship education program, residencies provide individualized Theatre education programs both during and after school. A multi-session residency may focus on arts integration programming for core curriculum subjects or drama skills such as playwriting, acting, and ensemble-building. Every Lookingglass residency reinforces and builds upon national, state, and local learning standards in arts education and related subject areas. Lookingglass deploys a rigorous assessment practice to continually increase the effectiveness of its programming. The pandemic forced Lookingglass to temporarily suspend all in-person education programs, dramatically disrupting the lives of its students and participants. Prior to the pandemic, Lookingglass' in-person education programs provided 40,000+ contact hours of artist-led instruction to 5,600 students and community members annually, reaching upwards of 70 classrooms across 15 chicago public schools each year. Lookingglass continues to rebuild these programs post-pandemic. Young ensemble: comprised of a group of chicago-area young adults, ages 13-18, the young ensemble is committed to building theater skills, lifting voices, and developing creativity through collaboration. Much like Lookingglass' own productions, young ensemble shows weave together language, visual spectacle, music, and the unique talents and contributions of the ensemble to develop compelling works. Inclusive, rigorous, and endlessly creative, the young ensemble builds not only better artists, but better collaborators, thinkers, and leaders. In 2023, the young ensemble performed selections from ensemble member mary zimmerman's award-winning metamorphoses in two sold-out shows in Lookingglass' home Theatre. Community-based partner residencies: these activities pair Lookingglass teaching artists with community-based organizations to address the goals, challenges, needs, and aspirations of the individuals they serve, helping to effect transformative change. Last season, Lookingglass offered residencies to groups from: art on sedgwick, arts for brain health coalition, boys & girls club of chicago, chicago help initiative, latinos progresando, and strengthening chicago's youth.community partner tickets: in an ordinary season, this program provides partnering organizations with over 250 complimentary tickets to Lookingglass' season. Guests engage in a post-show discussion with Lookingglass artists, cast, and crew. Often offered in tandem with its residencies, this program gives participants in Lookingglass' education programming the opportunity to visit its Theatre and see its artists at work. 2023 partners included: art on sedgwick, boys & girls club of chicago, chicago help initiative, my block my hood my city, strengthening chicago's youth, and latinos progresando's teatro americano.replenish program for healthcare workers: in recognition of the crisis faced nationwide by healthcare workers in the wake of the global pandemic, Lookingglass launched a new initiative to bring healthcare professionals into dialogue and community with one another, and to enhance the toolkit that medical residents bring to their practice as physicians and researchers. Lookingglass engaged residents at northwestern memorial hospital in a series of workshops focused on storytelling, improvisation, and team-building, offering the residents new skills for speaking to patients, families, peers, and colleagues. While rebuilding education & community outreach activities post-pandemic has proven challenging, Lookingglass sees its department of curiosity as an essential facet of its work and an indispensable driver of change in its communities.