Flashback Benefit October 1, 2009 at the Steppenwolf Garage Theatre

“The work at Free Street has rarely been easy, but the stories have always been fantastic.” –Artistic Director Ron Bieganski

Since 1969, the artists at Free Street have been giving their hearts and souls to creative revolutions throughout Chicago and around the world. We have worked with teens and senior citizens; in schools and neighborhoods; in prisons and hospitals; and in communities across the country and around the globe.

Please join us on October 1, 2009 as we share 40 years of stories with Free Street alumni, families, supporters and friends old and new.

Get Your Tickets Now! $100

Roots: inspiring creative revolutions since 1969
“Our goal is to cut through the layers of political, social and religious philosophy that have separated people from one another and to concentrate on the rhythms and energies common to all people.”
- Patrick Henry, Free Street Founding Director

Free Street has been creating theater with Chicago's low-income communities since 1969. Our roots are in the spirit of social questioning that followed the assassination of Dr. King. A lot has changed in 40 years but we are still working with diverse ensembles in one of the most segregated cities in America. We continue asking what is next for community, individual, and creative development.

Our little arts laboratory continues to change the landscape of community arts, make strides in understanding creative human development, and has the potential to influence the next decades of theater in Chicago.

Performances thru the decades
From the first summer the Showmobile pulled into neighborhoods all over Illinois and offered free street theater; to the musical documentary Project! created by residents of Cabrini-Green which toured to London and sold out shows at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C; to the collaboration of Null/Zeros between Chicago teens and Hamburg teens at Kampnagle, Germany - Free Street Theater has created an impressive repertoire.