FIRST FLOOR THEATER STAGES STORIES OF INDIVIDUALS FACING MOMENTS OF RADICAL CHANGE.

BY COMBINING VISCERAL ACTING, IMMERSIVE DESIGN, AND COLLABORATIVE DRAMATURGY, FFT EXPANDS THESE STORIES TO ASK URGENT SOCIAL QUESTIONS.

FFT is committed to:

  • Producing world, national and local premiere plays.

  • Amplifying underheard voices in the American theater.

  • Creating opportunities for the next generation of theatremakers.

  • Offering a ticket pricing model that creates opportunities for audiences of all socioeconomic backgrounds to attend live theater.

  • Operating as an antiracist institution.

First Floor Theater was founded in 2012 by eight University of Chicago alumni, with the goal of engaging our audience’s intellectual curiosity. Shortly after our inaugural season, FFT was named “Best New Theater Company” in The Chicago Reader’s Best of 2013 Reader’s Pick edition.  

After that initial creative impulse, we redefined and expanded our mission to include the principles above. We brought new members into the company and onto our staff, bringing fresh perspectives and innovation. As we continued to develop our identity, we moved to focus on intensely collaborative production processes that bring challenging, daring new works to Chicago stages.

We have received Joseph Jefferson Award nominations for our productions of peerless (Best Sound Design), American Hero (Best Scenic Design), Hooded, Or Being Black For Dummies (Best Production, Best Director, Best Ensemble, and Best Actor), Sugar In Our Wounds (Best Lighting Design, Best Sound Design), The Secretaries: A Parable (Best Ensemble, Artist Specialization), Botticelli in the Fire (Best Director, Performer in a Principal Role, Costume Design, Sound Design, Lighting Design), and Hatefuck (Performer in a Principal Role), and Renee Lockett won Best Supporting Actor for her work as Aunt Mama in Sugar. Jayson Lee was also recognized with a Black Theatre Alliance Award - Most Promising Actor for his work in Hooded. FFT was honored to be recognized with the 2018 Francesca Primus Prize from ATCA for our production of Leah Nanako-Winkler’s Two Mile Hollow and to have been recognized in Newcity’s Players 2019: The Fifty People Who Really Perform for Chicago in which our Artistic Director, Associate Artistic Director, Managing Director, and Casting Director were all featured. 

While dark due to the pandemic, we have secured underwriting to accomplish a longstanding artistic goal: create our own commissioning program. This initiative, christened The Blueprint Commission, is now in its second year and is made possible by Michael and Mona Heath of the Heath Fund.

First Floor Theater is a resident company at The Den Theatre in Wicker Park.