Free Street History TImeline
Are we missing something?
50 years is a long time to cover! Free Street’s history sprawls over decades of community-engaged work and we invite YOU to help us fill in the gaps in our timeline. Do you have a story to share? Submit your information here and we will be in contact with you to add your video, newspaper clipping, program, photo, anecdote to our timeline! We would love to hear from you!
Free Street History
Welcome to our ever-growing timeline!
This is an online archive that documents the many, MANY cool things Free Street has done in the past 50 years. It is a work..Read More
The Storyfront Brings “Tiendita Theater” to Back of the Yards
Free Street opened our Storyfront in Back on the Yards in Spring 2017. Designed as both a story gathering site as well as a performance/program..Read More
Night of the Living Moms
“Night of the Living Moms!” was an interdisciplinary showcase curated by Artist-in-Residence Lani Montreal. Featured artists explored the tension between being a mother and being an..Read More
Lily Be’s No Hay Mal
Own your truth. Own your sh*t. Own your story. Raw, straight from the hip, and only mildly filtered, Lily Be’s one-woman show NO HAY MAL..Read More
100 Hauntings
Based on real Chicago ghost stories, this multimedia performance asks what–and who– is haunting Chicago. An elevator operator named Jorge doesn’t know he’s dead. A passive..Read More
The Americans
This special election-edition of The Americans was created and conceived by Coya Paz, and directed by Katrina Dion. Based on interviews with over 200 people..Read More
”Space Age”- By Ricardo Gamboa and Sean Parris
Two boys, one bathtub and explosive, highly physical re-performances of pop cultural influences and scenes of communion between two lovers combine to celebrate queer imagination..Read More
CRAZY
Created by Free Street’s emerging youth artists as mental health clinics across the city were closing down, CRAZY asked how anyone stays sane in Chicago.
Melissa DuPrey’s SUSHI-frito: an adobe girl in a salt-and-pepper world
Free Street Theatre proudly presents the full production of Melissa Duprey’s SUSHI-frito, the second installment of a trilogy of solo shows. SUSHI-frito: An Adobo Girl..Read More
The Real Life Adventures of Jimmy de las Rosas
Mutant Chihuahuas are snatching people off the streets of Chicago this summer! Will Jimmy de las Rosas turn up the heat on his own mutant..Read More
The Scarlet “S” Project and Free Street Theater Presents: “I Am the Rat”
The Scarlet ‘S’ Project uses theater to address the prevalence of sexual violence in our society, and to eliminate notions that this violence is an..Read More
B is for Bang!
Free Street Theater’s B is for BANG takes on gun culture in America, asking what freedoms the 2nd Amendment is *really* designed to protect. Created..Read More
Mariposa Nocturna: A Puppet Triptych
Master puppeteer Stephanie Diaz uses handcrafted puppets to tell a tale of loss, longing and rebirth. A child’s wish for her dying grandmother to have..Read More
DOPE:420 Stories About Pot, Weed, Kush, Prisons, Parents and People
Created and performed by youth age 13-19 under the direction of Free Street’s Artistic Director Coya Paz, DOPE is a fast, funny, and unapologetic look..Read More
Nerds, Sluts, Commies & Jocks
Created by youth age 14-19, Nerds, Sluts, Commies, and Jocks pushes beyond high school politics to examine the way that labels shape our identities from..Read More
Cold Summer
Directed by artist and activist Ricardo Gamboa, Cold Summer was initially developed under the auspices of a youth employment program in Summer 2013. When teens’..Read More
LOL
Collaboration by Gio Gonzalez and Coya Paz
Free Street Goes to Thailand!
In 2010, Free Street traveled to Thailand for a two week cultural exchange with the Makhampom Theater Company of Chiang Dao. Led by Ron Bieganski..Read More
P.A.N.G. kicks off!
In 2000, Free Street started P.A.N.G. (Producing Arts for a New Generation), which ran for four seasons (2000-2004). Under the leadership of Bryn Magnus, P.A.N.G...Read More
Documentary About “Body House”
In 1997, then-Artistic Director Ron Bieganski directed “Body House,” a youth-made performance based on jazz musical motifs. The performance ran at Steppenwolf’s Studio, and was..Read More
Free Street (too)- Senior Ensemble
Free Street’s multigenerational Ensemble, Free Street (too), toured an original project called “Such a lot of Living to Do”, directed by Patrick Henry Ensemble included:..Read More
Project! Tours To London
In 1987, Free Street toured Project!, written and performed in collaboration with residents of Cabrini Green, to the Theatre Royal in Stratford East, London. The..Read More
Free Street at Ravinia in 1974
Free Street performs to an an enthusiastic audience at Ravinia. This photo from 1974 was found in the Chicago Tribune photo archives.
Celebrate The City
Celebrate the City was a three-week festival of music, dance, and theater designed to help raise much needed funds for Free Street as its original..Read More
Studs Terkel narrates Free Street Documentary
This documentary, created circa 1973, is our favorite thing to watch whenever we feel blue! Can’t you just feel the joyful early days of Free..Read More
Free Street is Founded!
1969: With the support of the Illinois Arts Council, Free Street is founded by Goodman School alum Patrick Henry, who recruits a multiracial team with..Read More