First Floor Theater
Back in the Spring of 2012, I co-founded First Floor Theater with some of my friends from the University of Chicago. We did our first production as a one-off on a small budget. After it exceeded our expectations, we started to plan another season, and we have been producing steadily since then. For my work on the leadership team at FFT, I was named one of the Fifty People Who Really Perform for Chicago in 2019. FFT is my artistic home in Chicago, and I am very grateful for the efforts of the other members of our staff and company, past and present. In collaboration with dozens of other artists, we've made a lot of great theater over the years. Currently, I work as the Artistic Producer at First Floor Theater. I help program our seasons, work closely with directors on our productions, and provide artistic and producorial support for all of our projects. Previously, I served as the Director of New Works, where I helped create The Blueprint Commission and FFT's pop up programming. See below for more information on some of the projects I've produced. You can find even more at firstfloortheater.com. For any inquiries related to my work as a producer, or work with First Floor Theater, please contact me at andrewcutler@firstfloortheater.com. |
The Blueprint Commission
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In 2020 and 2021, First Floor Theater did not produce on our usual model. We made the collective decision to prioritize the health and safety of our artists and our audiences. Fortunately, we were able to use this time to look to the future. We decided to dedicate our resources and time to helping foster new plays. I am the artistic producer on the project, but the work would not happen without the full team at FFT. Made possible by a generous gift from Michael and Mona Heath, The Blueprint Commission aims to break new ground for the American Theater. Through an extensive development process which includes two dedicated workshops over the life of the commission, the program provides resources for commissioned writers and a team of theater artists to bring new, daring plays into being. In the inaugural year, we commissioned and workshopped Ariel Zetina's The House of Audacity! The play is a reimagining of Mother Courage, coupled with elements To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar, and Medieval pageant plays. We incorporated designers into the second workshop, helping to more fully realize Ariel's vision, even at such an early stage of the process. Currently, we have commissioned Omer Abbas Salem, whose project is in pre-production. Workshops will take place later this year, culminating in a public reading in early 2023. |