The Theatre Department’s mission is to provide undergraduate students with a comprehensive education in the practices and processes of creating theatre and live performance. Columbia offer a number of programs designed to suit your particular interests, including Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees as well as minors in Acting, Stage Combat, Theatre Directing, and Writing for Performance. The Musical Theatre Program of the Theatre Department at Columbia College Chicago is looking for a new musical theatre work that we will workshop, rehearse, and present either in-person or...

The Theatre Department’s mission is to provide undergraduate students with a comprehensive education in the practices and processes of creating theatre and live performance. Columbia offer a number of programs designed to suit your particular interests, including Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees as well as minors in Acting, Stage Combat, Theatre Directing, and Writing for Performance.

Babes With Blades Theatre Company uses stage combat to place women and their stories center stage. Through performance, script development, training and outreach, our ensemble creates theatre that explores the wide range of the human experience, and cultivates broader perspectives in the arts community and in society as a whole.

The International Voices Project (IVP) champions the work of global playwrights by creating opportunities to experience new and contemporary international plays on Chicago stages. IVP debuts voices from the world's stages through commissions, translations, and production. We collaborate with consulates, cultural partners, and universities throughout the Chicagoland area and partner with national and international theatres to promote global playwrights in their USA premieres.

THE JEFF AWARDS has been honoring outstanding theatre artists annually since it was established in 1968. With approximately 55 members representing a wide variety of backgrounds in theatre, the Jeff Awards is committed to celebrating the vitality of Chicago area theatre by recognizing excellence through its recommendations, awards, and honors. THE JEFF AWARDS fosters the artistic growth of area theatres and theatre artists and promotes educational opportunities, audience appreciation, and civic pride in the achievements of the theatre community. The Jeff Awards evaluates over 250 theatrical...

Stage Left Theatre inspires debate by producing and developing plays that explore political and social issues.

Goodman Theatre is now encouraging project proposals for the new Future Labs, a series of workshops and presentations written and led by artists of color, beginning in early 2021. We are seeking bold, imaginative works from Black, Indigenous, Latinx, AAPI and other playwrights of color for development and public presentation. Future Labs is curated by Associate Director of Education & Engagement Quenna L. Barrett, Literary and New Works Manager Jonathan L. Green, Associate Producer Ken-Matt Martin, and a cross-departmental team of Goodman staff holding intersectional identities.

Goodman Theatre’s New Stages Residency (formerly the Playwrights Unit) is a year-long program for Chicago-area generative theater artists. Established in 2010, the program commissions up to four theatrical projects each year, with commissioned artists meeting bi-monthly with the Goodman’s artistic staff and other cohort artists to develop their new works. Each selected project is awarded a $5,000 commission and is offered mid-point and final readings of their plays at the Goodman. Members are also considered artists-in-residence at the theater: they are invited to opening nights, meetings,...

Launched in the Spring of 2018, the Vanguard Initiative is COT’s three-pronged approach to the development of new opera. COT Music Director Lidiya Yankovskaya leads the Initiative as the Vanguard Artistic Director. Vanguard Emerging Opera Composer Program COT identifies promising composers ready to hone the specific skillset required to create quality opera. Composers become an integral part of the company for a period of two years of paid residency activities, including mentorship from COT staff, industry leaders, and Vanguard Composer Mentor Jake Heggie. The program culminates in a full-...

The Verse Drama Prize seeks to bring renewed attention to an under-recognized area of poetry. The prize will honor a living poet who has written a previously unpublished, outstanding original verse drama in English. The award recipient will receive a cash purse of $10,000 and a staged reading of his or her winning manuscript in Chicago. Awards will be named annually or from time to time, as appropriate to maintain the prestige and quality of the prizes.