Eclipse Theatre Company presents the work of one playwright each season. We offer the audience an opportunity, unique in the midwest, to journey with us through the playwright's works. Join us in exploring the breadth and depth of a playwright's artistic worlds.

One playwright, one season, one illuminating journey.

Eclipse Theatre Company was founded in 1992 when a group of theatre artists came together and asked "what if?" That "what if" evolved into the collaborative event Halfway Content. Through this initial collaboration, Eclipse Theatre Company was born. In early 1993, Eclipse mounted its second show entitled An Interest in Strangers by John Schneider and Theatre X, directed by James Ostholthoff. In the summer of 1993, Eclipse co-produced Xenogenesis by Stephan Serpas with Chilany Pictures to finish our first season. This production garnered two Joseph Jefferson Awards. Our second season in 1993-94 gave us critically acclaimed productions of Machinal by Sophie Treadwell; Exit the King by Eugene Ionesco and another co-production with Chilany, Dogtown by Stephan Serpas. Dogtown won a Joseph Jefferson Award. We also began our association with The Around the Coyote Festival as well as inaugurated our off-night series with Porcelain by Chay Yew, which won an After Dark Award for Best Director.

Our third season in 1994-95 contained productions of Pains of Youth by Ferdinand Bruckner, a world premiere of another Stephan Serpas play, Green Air; and Bold Girls by Rona Munro. Eclipse also produced in 1995-96 Darkside by Ken Jones; The Napoleanade by Trevor Anthony and Thomas McCarty; and A Summer's Day by Slawomir Mrozeck.

In 1997, Eclipse underwent a rebuilding phase and developed a new mission statement to stay competitive in the vast Chicago theatre market. The new ensemble members of Eclipse modeled a mission statement after that of Signature Theatre Company in New York to focus on the works of one playwright in one single season. This new mission allowed Eclipse to carve its own niche in the Chicago theatre scene and present a unique perspective on a playwright's works.

Since the inception of the one playwright-one season mission, playwrights that have been featured with Eclipse include French Playwright Jean Cocteau, Legendary American Playwrights Tennessee Williams, Lillian Hellman and Neil Simon; New York Playwrights Romulus Linney,John Guare and Lanford Wilson; Chicago playwrights Keith Reddin and Rebecca Gilman; and current playwright Pearl Cleage.