Theater Wit said Tuesday that it was the recipient of a new, three-year, $600,000 grant from the Paul M. Angell Family Foundation that would be used to reduce the rental costs for the several small Chicago theater companies that rent one of its three stages at 1229 W. Belmont Ave.
The amount of the grant is atypically large, especially when applied to Chicago’s storefront theater scene.
The nonprofit Lakeview arts venue Theater Wit both produces its own shows and rents its 99-seat, black-box theaters to others, including to such venerable companies as Shattered Globe Theatre, Remy Bumppo Theatre Company and Strawdog Theatre Company. Artistic director Jeremy Wechsler said that the grant would reduce the typical weekly cost of rent from $2,250 to $1,000, a major difference.
“This critically important gift from the Angell Foundation will expand our Shared Spaces program and help break this cycle to inspire new and established companies alike, one production at a time,” Wechsler said in a statement about the grant that also referenced Chicago theater companies that have closed or reduced their seasons.
“In the last five years, our grantee partners have expressed how the lack, losses, and rising costs of viable rental spaces affects their ability to plan seasons, shortens production runs, and strains already tightening budgets. These organizational impacts are also felt by our city’s incredible artists who are provided fewer weeks of work and less opportunity to engage in their craft,” said Angell’s director of performing arts, Mignon Stewart, in a statement about the grant.
Indeed, many theater spaces have disappeared since the pandemic, including several studios at the Royal George Theatre (set for redevelopment as retail and residential spaces), Stage 773 (soon to be demolished for condos) and several others.
Theater Wit, located in a storied building that once was the home of the Bailiwick Repertory Theatre, would appear now to be far more stable.
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The Angell family was the founder of Newly Weds Foods, Inc.
Chris Jones is a Tribune critic.