User:Clprentice/sandbox/Signal Ensemble Theatre

{{{Infobox theatre group }} Signal Ensemble Theatre was a professional nonprofit ensemble theatre company in Chicago. Founded in 2002, the company produced thirteen seasons of works ranging from English Renaissance tragedies, to mid-20th century American masterworks, to world-premiere plays and musicals from around the world.
 * name     = Signal Ensemble Theatre
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 * formed   = {{Start date|2002|11|}}
 * disbanded = {{End date|2016|03|}}
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 * location = Chicago
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 * homepage = {{URL|signalensemble.com}}

A semi-itinerant life
Signal was founded in 2002 by Ronan Marra, Christopher Prentice, and Joseph Stearns. The inaugural season included an off-night world-premiere production of Marra's Learning to Fly, the final presentation at Wing & Groove Theatre in the Flatiron Building, and Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing in a studio at the Athenaeum Theatre.

The company first gained critical acclaim for its productions of mid-20th century masterpieces alongside new works.

In its second season, the company staged critically acclaimed productions of Joseph Heller's Catch-22 and Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot at the Chopin Theatre, which would be Signal's home for the next several years, as well as the premiere of Marra's Landslide at the Breadline Arts Center, the theatre that would eventually become Signal's permanent home.

Signal earned its first Jeff nominations for the world premiere of Marra's Landslide in 2005 (Actress in a Supporting Role - Play, New Work). Waiting for Godot was remounted later in the year. The company gained notoriety for its mid-20th-century plays ... It also made its debut in Chopin's mainstage space with a classic farce, Oliver Goldsmith's She Stoops to Conquer.

2006

2007 Hamlet with Prentice tanked   netted the company Jeffs - Jon Marans's Old Wicked Songs

Transition
2008 saw an operational change, with co-founder Prentice stepping aside to pursue other opportunities, and Marra and Stearns becoming co-artistic directors and Stephanie Ingram becoming managing director. The company redefined its mission, focusing on new works.

A home in River North
In 2010, Signal moved into a permanent home in the North Center, Chicago neighborhood, in a space it had rented that was at the time the Breadline Arts Center. A remount of Marra's Aftermath was a hit.

In September 2015, the company announced it would close its doors at the conclusion of its current season, that would not include a planned production of The Southern Women.

Production history
2003
 * Learning to Fly by Ronan Marra (world premiere)
 * Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare

2004–05
 * Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
 * Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett
 * Landslide by Ronan Marra (world premiere)

2005–06
 * Waiting for Godot (remount0
 * Seascape by Edward Albee
 * She Stoops to Conquer by Oliver Goldsmith

2006–07
 * The Dumb Waiter by Harold Pinter and The Zoo Story by Edward Albee
 * Closer by Patrick Marber
 * The Weir by Conor McPherson
 * Hamlet by William Shakespeare

2007–08
 * Fool for Love by Sam Shepard
 * ''Old Wicked Songs by Jon Marans
 * 1776 by Sherman Edwards and Peter Stone

2008–09
 * The Birthday Party by Harold Pinter
 * Six Degrees of Separation by John Guare''
 * The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie adapted from the novel by Muriel Spark

2009–10
 * The Ballad of Sad Cafe by Edward Albee after Carson McCullers's novel
 * Aftermath by Ronan Marra (world premiere)

2010–11
 * The Real Inspector Hound by Tom Stoppard
 * Aftermath by Ronan Marra (remount)
 * Accidental Death of an Anarchist by Dario Fo
 * Aces by Jon Steinhagen (world premiere)
 * Krapp's Last Tape by Samuel Beckett (an Ensemble Project)

2011–12
 * East of Berlin & The Russian Play by Hannah Moscovitch (Chicago premiere)
 * Motion by Ronan Marra (world premiere)
 * Hostage Song – book by Clay McLeod Chapman, music and lyrics by Kyle Jarrow, arrangements by Nathan Leigh (Chicago premiere)

2012–13
 * Princes of Waco by Robert Askins (Chicago premiere)
 * Successors by Jon Steinhagen (world premiere)
 * Lascivious Something by Sheila Callaghan (Chicago premiere)''

2013–14
 * This Is War by Hannah Moscovitch (U.S. premiere)
 * Plainsong by Eric Schmield, adapted from the novel by Kent Haruf (Chicago premiere)
 * The Next Thing – book by Ronan Marra, music and lyrics by Jon Steinhagen (world premiere)

2014–15
 * Devil's Day Off by Jon Steinhagen (world premiere)
 * Red Bud by Brett Neveu (U.S. premiere)
 * The Drowning Girls by Beth Graham, Daniela Vlaskalic and Charle Tomlinson (Chicago premiere)

2015–16
 * Butcher by Nicolas Billon (U.S. premiere)
 * The Consultant by Heidi Schreck (Chicago premiere)

Awards and accolades
Signal was nominated for twenty-one Jeff Awards and won three, for Production – Musical (1776), Actress in a Leading Role – Play (Melanie Keller for East of Berlin and The Russian Play), and Costume Design (Laura M. Dana for Seascape).