1. History

2. Community
     The Ensemble    Humboldt Park & The Puerto Rican Community  

3. Production History

4. References

History

In 2005, founders Marilyn Camacho, Madrid St. Angelo, and Ivan Vega established UrbanTheater Company with a passion for putting the voices of the Puerto Rican community in the spotlight.^[3] All of them actors and theater artists themselves, the founders saw the lack of Latinx representation onstage firsthand and founded UTC as a means to bring these stories to a main-stage audience.^[3] Actress and writer Marilyn Camacho was initially motivated to create UrbanTheater Company as "a place to play and create with other artists that felt like they also didn't have a home".^[6] After an initial partnership to create UTC fell through, Marilyn Camacho connected with Ivan Vega who, upon signing onto the collaboration, introduced her to Madrid St. Angelo.^[4] As UrbanTheater Company has grown, the founders have served as directors, actors, administrators, and advocates.^[1][3]

Originally conceived in the Chicago neighborhood of Bucktown, UrbanTheater Company soon moved to their current location at Batey Urbano in Humboldt Park. Batey Urbano is a cultural and arts center that also doubles to provide youth programming through the Puerto Rican Cultural Center (PRCC). PRCC uses artistic outlets to empower Humboldt Park's youth to connect to their culture, engage in activism, pursue higher education, and live safe and productive lives.^[5] UrbanTheater Company has subsequently established close partnerships with the PRCC and its Executive Director José López; the company has made it a part of its mission to connect with this youth and the Puerto Rican community at large in Humboldt Park.^[4]

At Batey Urbano, UrbanTheater Company premiered their first show, Short Eyes by Puerto Rican playwright Miguel Piñero. After a successful production, UTC dedicated their entire first season to bringing Miguel Piñero's plays to the Chicago stage and presented the Midwest premieres of The Sun Always Shines for the Cool and Eulogy for a Small Time Thief.^[2] Since then, the vast majority of UTC's productions have been works authored by Puerto Rican playwrights, and all other plays were written by other under-represented playwrights of color.^[2][6] From 2011-2013, UrbanTheater Company briefly presented its seasons away from their Humboldt Park home, with its productions of Sonnets for an Old Century at Steppenwolf's Garage Theater, Beauty of the Father the Wicker Park Arts Center, and Fucking A the Beacon Street Hull House.^[2][4] They returned to Batey Urbano for their eighth season and have since established a concrete presence as a professional theater company in Humboldt Park.^[4][7] UrbanTheater Company uses their plays to engage with both the present status of the Puerto Rican identity and how Puerto Rican history is in conversation with this modern iteration of the culture.^[1]

UrbanTheater Company has continued to expand their ensemble and gain critical notoriety throughout Chicago. Its productions have garnered many nominations including nods from the Non-Equity Jeff Awards.^[2] UTC has continued to explore partnerships with other theater organizations in the Chicago area: UrbanTheater Company was a part of the Goodman Theater's 2008 and 2010 Latino Festivals and the First Chicago International Latino Festival in 2017 in collaboration with The Chicago Latino Theater Alliance (CLATA) and Victory Gardens.^[8][9][10]

Community

The Ensemble

UrbanTheater Company's ensemble are all experienced theater-makers who contribute to every facet of UTC's art whether it be designing, managing, directing, acting, or producing.^[2] The ensemble serves as a constant resource, whether or not they are artistically involved in a specific production. In dealing with the ever-shifting political landscape, UTC often turns inward for answers: the ensemble engages in meaningful discussions about the community UTC's art seeks to serve and what stories are most relevant at this time in order to serve their audiences.^[1]

As UrbanTheater Company works to foster their own ensemble, they seek to bring the audience into their "familia" as well, with critics often siting that the amiable and welcoming staff marked their theatrical experiences at UTC.^[2][11][12] In its commitment to using art to foster the young artists of tomorrow, UrbanTheater Company engages with the university students who are a part of its audiences and greater community to spread its mission beyond the theater itself.^[6] UTC also establishes close relationships with its playwrights, particularly as UTC strives to present many Midwest Premiers of new and innovative plays. UrbanTheater Company has partnered with playwrights such as Suzan-Lori Parks, Wysteria Edwards, Cándido Tirado, and Judy Veramendi.^[30][3]

Humboldt Park & The Puerto Rican Community

Urban Theater Company is located in Humboldt Park, a largely Puerto Rican North Western suburb of Chicago. At UTC's inception in 2005, Humboldt Park was America's second largest Puerto Rican neighborhood.^[13] This vibrant Puerto Rican culture characterizes daily life in Humboldt Park and has inspired a great deal of activism in the area. However, gentrification was slowly beginning before UTC ever opened its doors. New developments and skyrocketing property values have continued, to this day, to displace much of the Latinx community that had lived in Humboldt Park for years.^[33] Many residents agree that this influx of non-Latinx residents threatens the Puerto Rican culture that defines life in Humboldt Park today, the very culture UTC seeks to represent onstage.^[14]

Urban Theater Company is located at the Batey Urbano on Humboldt Park's historical "Paseo Boricua" where, in 1995, two forty-two ton Puerto Rican flags were raised to symbolize strength of the Puerto Rican community in Chicago.^[13][15] UrbanTheater Company embraces the historical context of its location by partnering with the community in a variety of ways. Since its establishment, UrbanTheater Company has fostered a relationship with Humboldt Park's Puerto Rican Cultural Center, relying on their support to create a symbiotic relationship between the theater and surrounding community.^[1] The Puerto Rican Cultural Center often educates the UTC ensemble about the history and content of their shows while UrbanTheater Company reaches out to the youth center and community in the exploration of the issues, questions, and aspects of culture brought up in their productions.^[1][16] Through UTC's Community Conexión department, ensemble members use the sociopolitical topics of their shows to engage with the surrounding Humboldt Park and Chicago area communities.^[6] In September 2017, UTC itself became a site for political action as it housed a meeting for politicians, activists, and leaders in the community to begin planning outreach and aid to Puerto Rico after Hurricanes Irma and Maria.^[17]

The Humboldt Park history and community becomes a part of UTC's theater-going experience, as they are intrinsically linked with the work UTC does onstage, in the lobby, behind the scenes, and in their constant outreach.^[12] Aware of their place in a community that blends Latinx and American identities, UTC creates Latinx theater in both English and Spanish; thus, the theater is literally able to speak directly to their bilingual and bicultural audiences.^[30][11] However, UrbanTheater Company is aware of its audiences outside of the Humboldt Park community, so they tell stories with universal themes that allow non-Latinx individuals to connect with the community onstage. The ensemble encourages non-locals to support local businesses and restaurants before and after the show, another tangible measure to uplift the Humboldt Park community.^[1] Because of UTC's commitment to Humboldt Park and portraying uniquely Latinx-American stories onstage, Cándido Tirado, playwright of First Class in UTC's 2013-14 season, says that "[Urban Theater Company is] not about doing community theater. It's about doing professional theater in a community".^[18]

Production History

• Mid West premiere

References

• Gundleus
• Gundlischwand BE
• Gundlischwand (Bern)
• Gundlischwand (Berne)
• Gundlischwand, Switzerland
• Gundoald (disambiguation)
• Gundoald, Duke of Asti
• Gundoald (name)
• Gundogmus
• Gun dogs
• Gundolf Koehler
• Gundolf Kohler
• Gundolli
• Gundolsheim
• Gundom 00
• Gundom 0080
• Gundoor
• Gundrada
• Gundred
• Gundremmingen nuclear power plant
• Gun drilling
• Gundry
• Gundstapl
• Gundu (disambiguation)
• Gundu English Secondary School