Bramble Theatre Company Will Host Community Open House In April

Bramble Theatre Company has announced a Community Open House on Saturday, April 6 for The Bramble Arts Loft located on the second floor of the historic Capital Garage building at 5545 N. Clark St.

Community members are invited to join Bramble Theatre Company at the ribbon cutting ceremony happening at 10a.m. Tours of The Bramble Arts Loft will follow and continue throughout the day. The 7700 square foot space will be home to Bramble Theatre Company and provide a creative home for itinerant theater companies, artists of all genres and community members alike.

The Bramble Arts Loft will house three performance spaces: The Beatrice (101-seat thrust theatre), The Berry (48-seat modular black box) and The Cabaret Stage (intimate space next to the bar). The Loft will also include George's Bar within the open and airy lobby area which can host a wide variety of special events.

The Bramble Arts Loft, designed by Design Principal Avram Lothan of Lothan Van Hook DeStefano Architecture, will host a variety of opening events throughout the month of April, Bramble Theatre Company's 3rd Annual Festival of Unfinished Work (June 2024), and the company's first production in the space, Spencer Huffman's Evil Perfect (Fall 2024). For more information on Bramble Theatre and the opening of The Bramble Arts Loft, visit BrambleTheatre.org.

Bramble leadership first visited the Capital Garage space in early 2022 and soon after expressed interest in signing a lease. Capital Garage's current owner, Bill Stotis, is a long-time resident of Andersonville and was delighted to accept Bramble's proposal to become the second-floor tenant. Bramble Co-Founder Matthew Lunt explained, "The pandemic has shuttered an untold number of venues creating a crunch that has yet to be fully understood. Securing not only a space for us but also the arts community at large ensures that the Chicago theatre world will continue to thrive. The time was not only right for us, but for the city." Lunt added, "It is our most fervent wish to do right by our new neighbors. We plan to call this our home for years to come."

"The Stotis family, our family, has been in the Andersonville neighborhood for more than 50 years. The addition of the Bramble Theatre Company, and other soon-to-open businesses, will benefit the entire Andersonville community. It is with much excitement and exhilaration that we welcome Bramble Theatre and The Bramble Arts Loft into our beloved Andersonville community," remarked Stotis.

The Bramble Arts Loft is designed by local architect Avram "Avi" Lothan of Lothan Van Hook DeStefano Architecture. Lothan has highlighted the extensive and unique features of the building. The restored European metalwork, the 40-foot skylight and wall of windows overlooking Clark Street are incorporated into the sustainably-minded build. "Collaborating with mission-driven organizations has always been central to our work. The space Bramble has selected for their new home is terrific, and we are excited at the prospect of creating something special for both the Bramble Theatre Company and the Andersonville community with the new project," revealed Lothan.

Funding for The Bramble Arts Loft is supported in part by the generosity of a private benefactor who believes in the need for more artistic spaces in the city of Chicago. Bramble Theatre Company is a fiscally sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a 501(c)(3) charity. Bramble Theatre leadership is thrilled at the boundless possibilities internally and community-wide that come with opening a brand-new performance space. Bramble Co-Founder Karissa Murrell Myers explains, "For an ensemble of theatremakers, having the foundation of a physical, artistic home is a key ingredient to growing and evolving as a collective. Putting down our roots in Andersonville will generate countless opportunities for our artists as well as the Chicago community at large, all while contributing to a thriving historic neighborhood on Chicago's Northside."

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