About Us
Since 1979, Chicago Dramatists has been a creative home for playwrights, screenwriters, lyricists, and storytellers seeking to explore their artistic vision and realize their creative potential.
Today, our community of teachers, mentors, peers, and theatre artists provide an array of opportunities for writers throughout the country to develop their craft. With membership programs, classes taught by working professionals, staged readings and new play festivals, we help writers take their work from an idea to the page and on to the stage.
Writers in our programs hear their words brought to life by professional actors, receive valuable feedback, and build lasting connections within a vibrant, inclusive creative community. Many of our writers go on to see their work produced locally, nationally, and internationally, but every participant leaves with a stronger voice, a sharper ear, and a community that champions their success.
Our Mission
We are dedicated to developing and supporting dramatic writers at every stage of their evolution.
Our History
One day in 1979 three Chicago playwrights sat down at the old Organic Theater building on Clark Street. They had an idea to help struggling playwrights. Soon after, Russ Tutterow, who had just received a Jeff nomination for directing P.S. Your Cat Is Dead, joined them. The artistic credibility and vision Russ provided proved to be just what the fledgling organization needed and the Chicago Dramatists Workshop was born.
After a few years of experimenting, CD’s focus began to coalesce. Supporting playwrights in the development of new plays, and now christened Chicago Dramatists, CD’s membership blossomed and the organization began to receive both local and national recognition. In 1998, CD received a special Joseph Jefferson Award for its almost two decades of developing plays and playwrights “in a manner that has enhanced Chicago’s reputation for being a cradle for new theater works.”
In 2005, Russ received the League of Chicago Theaters Artistic Leadership Award for his work with CD. By this time, hundreds of playwrights had participated in our array of development programs. CD had received nine Joseph Jefferson awards for new work. Two plays originally produced or developed on CD’s stage went on to Broadway — Lydia Diamond’s Stick Fly and Keith Huff’s A Steady Rain. Another Jeff award for new work came in 2012.
Russ passed away in 2015. His colleague Robert Falls, then Goodman Theatre’s artistic director, referred to Russ “…as a playwright’s agent …a playwright’s everything” at his memorial gathering attended by more than 300 members of Chicago’s theater community.
Whether it is readings of new work from Resident Playwrights, our juried festivals for Network playwrights, the fresh voices of our Next Gen Dramatists, or productions from resident companies such as Pegasus Players, Chicago Dramatists and our Russ Tutterow Theatre continue to honor our heritage by giving playwrights a place to develop and present exciting new work.
Our commitments
Chicago Dramatists envisions a world in which every dramatic writer, regardless of background or experience, has the support, training, and tools to explore their artistic vision, express themselves fully, and realize their creative potential.
To ensure we serve the array of CD members, audiences, and our artistic community, we work to amplify and honor all voices and uphold the values of diversity, equity, inclusion, access, and belonging. That work includes reviewing our policies and practices to ensure they create an inclusive, anti-racist environment for our playwrights, students, actors, directors, staff members, and audiences.
We acknowledge that our theatre resides within the traditional homeland of numerous Indigenous nations including the Territory of the Three Fire Peoples–the Ojibwe, Odawa and Bodewadmi–as well as members of the Kiikaapoi, Peoria, Myaamia, and more than a dozen other tribes who came through this land as a site for gathering, trade, and healing. As artists seeking to better our world through storytelling, we strive to understand and support our indigenous communities and to respect and amplify their stories.
Our Values
Everyone involved or associated with Chicago Dramatists, including the board, volunteers, staff, playwrights, associate artists, actors, directors, producers, teachers, and students assumes the responsibility of representing Chicago Dramatists’ values in words and action.
This includes:
- Believing in the mission to support the development of new plays and new playwrights.
- Meeting high standards of honesty and integrity in every task and interaction.
- Instilling and supporting a positive, supportive and collaborative work environment.
- Maintaining high levels of respect for people regardless of sex, creed, ethnicity, identity or sexual orientation, which prohibits bullying or intimidation of any form.
- Instilling a no-bullying and no-intimidation policy for the board, the staff, the resident playwrights, playwright alumni, associate artists, teachers and actors and directors of readings and productions with which we are associated.
- Embracing diversity and actively supporting Chicago Dramatists nondiscrimination policies.
- Treating each other with respect and refraining from making disparaging remarks about other members in the community.
- Safeguarding Chicago Dramatists’ assets, its reputation and the reputation of its artists.
