Past Events
CHICAGO STORIES
Diverse. Vibrant. Teeming with stories. This is Chicago. Okay?
Lookingglass Theatre has called Big Shoulders home for over three decades. And as life is a process of perpetual self-discovery, we’re making this moment in the company’s life to find out who we are now. The Chicago Stories initiative will feature COVID-considerate events/expressions that plumb the depth of Chicago’s history and people, while inventing new Chicago traditions to carry us forward…together.
THE LOOKING FORWARD CAMPAIGN: JOIN US IN SUSTAINING ART NOW AND FOR THE FUTURE
You are the key to sustaining our Company.
The arts are critical at a time like this, and will be even more so when we emerge from this crisis. As a non-profit theatre, Lookingglass relies on your donations –now more than ever– to support our staff and artists, prepare for future seasons, and serve virtual audiences, students, teachers, and the entire community.
We’re still committed to doing our part. But we cannot do it alone.
We at Lookingglass believe that Black Lives Matter and stand with Black, Brown, Indigenous and other marginalized communities exploited by hatred, police brutality, and injustice.
We grieve with the families of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, and the countless others mourning the loss of loved ones due to systemic racism and inequality.
White silence is violence. White silence is not an option. As we rebuild, we will not be complicit by remaining silent or passive.
We want our work on stage and in our community to play a role in the necessary dialogue and change that need to occur in order to build a more just society.
Lookingglass recommits to looking at ourselves in the looking glass. We acknowledge there are many ways we have failed. We have been complicit in upholding institutionalized racism and anti-blackness, at times in our art, in our process, in our organization, and we have benefited from a system that is profoundly unjust to the BIPOC community. We are actively engaged in examining our Company to determine how to do better. This comprehensive review includes every aspect of the organization — our work onstage; our work in classrooms and communities; our artistic body, Board, Staff, and audiences; how we think and communicate to all of our stakeholders, internal and external – all of it is overdue for examination.
Rigorous discussions with our Ensemble, Board, and Staff have begun, and we commit to bringing an anti-racist lens and practices to our company. We are grateful for the incredibly comprehensive work put into the We See You White American Theatre demands and are using it to help guide our way.
This is an opportunity for radical transformation. This is work that is, by definition, ongoing and never-ending, and we are committed to continuing down this road with the rigor, vigor, curiosity, ambition, excitement, and enthusiasm that has long marked our work. We will share our plan and accountability measures by the end of October, knowing that this is only the beginning of the process, not the end.
SUBSCRIBE TO OUR UPCOMING SEASON
We need the stories. And we need each other. Subscribe today!
Lookingglass Theatre Company is committed to the health and well-being of our audiences, artists, staff, and to mitigating the spread of the virus in our community. Based on the recommendations and policies of local and federal officials, and our own commitment to you, for whom we create, there are no firm dates for our upcoming season. Our team is continually assessing when it will be appropriate for all of us – you, our artists, our staff – to find one another again, and planning for how we can do so responsibly when that time comes. Thank you for your continued support and understanding as we navigate the turbid waters presented by current events.