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= Otherworld Theatre = Otherworld Theatre is a small science fiction and fantasy theatre company in Chicago, IL. Their mission is, "“To bring a theatrical experience to the science fiction and fantasy genre. [Their] work celebrates the depth of human imagination by engaging [their] spectators with high quality storytelling. Otherworld Theatre also curates events to create dialogue between patrons and artists, furthering [their] connection to the Chicago community.”"Otherworld Theatre values accessibility and providing for the community. As part of that value, they have made their performance spaces ADA accessible and have made most of their shows pay-what-you-can.

The Birth of Otherworld
Otherwolrd Theatre was founded in 2012 by Tiffany Keane as an extension of her interest in bringing science fiction and fantasy to the stage. Keane had always been an avid fan of science fiction and fantasy and so she chose to direct an adaptation of George Orwell's novel 1984 for her directing thesis. Keane discovered that she loved working with science fiction and fantasy in theatre and this love propelled her into making Otherworld Theatre. Otherworld's first production was Fahrenheit 451, adapted from the Ray Bradbury novel. Keane had always loved Bradbury's novels and wanted to honor his memory after his death in 2012. Due to a lack of funds, Otherworld could not pay for a rehearsal space nor a set and so the company rehearsed in Keane's home and built the set out of donated materials. Since Fahrenheit 451 was performed nearly a year after Bradbury's death, there would often be a ceremony after the performance as a memorandum to Bradbury's life and work. Following the close of Fahrenheit 451, Keane asked her collaborators if they would like to continue to build Otherworld Theatre and many said yes and became ensemble and creative influences for the company.

Monthly Community Events
Otherworld continued to produce theatre in various theatres and site specific locations until 2017 when they procured their own location at 3914 North Clark Street, Chicago. Their theatre has two performing spaces, the Bradbury and the Alchemist's Lab, and a lobby which are used to host performances and various events for the community. Among these events, Otherworld hosts monthly meetings of Dork Court-a formal debate between two teams each representing a specific fanbase-and the Underworld Stand Up Showcase-a comedy stand up routine with an additional open mic. Otherworld also hosts multiple LARPing campaigns for those looking for a more immersive theatrical experience.

Otherworld's Festivals
Otherworld is passionate about science fiction and fantasy in all forms and has three annual festivals that it hosts to support sci-fi and fantasy of all kinds.

Juggernaut Film Festival
The Juggernaut is a sci-fi and fantasy film festival presented by Otherworld. It is a weekend long event and it curates films from all over the world. In 2017, Gates McFadden led the event as its celebrity host.

Paragon Play Festival
Paragon is the largest sci-fi and fantasy play festival in the world. They produce 40 plays in two days and have done so for the past five years. Paragon was created to help grow sci-fi/fantasy theatre and support new playwrights/works and has continued to be an important festival for sci-fi and fantasy writers.

Genre-thon
Genre-thon is a weekend long event. Otherworld Theatre invites various genre specific improv and comedy groups to perform their specialty. At the end of the festival, awards are passed out for each category of comedy.

Gateways
In 2019, Otherworld Theatre launched their podcast Gateways as another form of supporting science fiction and fantasy as a genre. Otherworld posts a writing prompt on their website weekly for fiction writers to respond to. Their entries are then read aloud by the company’s actors to a live audience and recorded as a podcast.

Notable Productions
Fahrenheit 451

Of Dice and Men

The Aurora Project

Queen Amarantha

Gone Dark

Messina3004 (adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing)

Fight Quest

''Moon! Prism! Power! A Sailor Moon Musical Parody''

A Princess of Mars

The Rogue Aviator

Bedlam

Super Richard World (adaptation of Richard III)

Corona

The Winter Wolf

Speed of Light