First Folio Theatre, a longstanding Equity suburban theater company producing at the Mayslake Peabody Estate Forest Preserve in Oak Brook, is to cease operations at the end of the 2024 season.
According to executive director David Rice, that date will coincide with his retirement. Rice founded the non-profit company in 1996 with his late wife, Alison C. Vesely.
In an interview with the Tribune Tuesday, Rice said that the theater’s financial status would not support hiring a full-time staff at appropriate salaries. “This has been a labor of love for us,” said Rice, “and since we were not wholly dependent on the theater for our income, we were able to plow back that money.”
Rice also said that the board will assist him with an orderly wind-down of operations. “We’re in the black and able to produce through 2024,” Rice said, “but it only works through then.”
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Rice also cited the challenges faced by suburban theaters who find themselves shut out of grants only open to theaters within Chicago.
First Folio originally was known as the First Folio Shakespeare Festival and it garnered a loyal following, especially for its bucolic outdoor Shakespeare productions. Since 2019, the theater has only performed indoor seasons at the Mayslake Hall mansion.
Rice said that the theater has produced 72 mainstage shows over the years, including 14 world premieres, and sold close to 200,000 tickets.
Chris Jones is a Tribune critic.