American Theater Company is an ensemble of artists committed to producing new and classic American stories that ask the question: "What does it mean to be an American?"We provide a truly intimate home for the community to experience meaningful stories. We foster a nurturing environment for artists to take risks and create essential work.American Theater Company ( ATC ) was founded in July 1985 as American Blues Theatre, a company dedicated to exploring, nurturing, and developing theater that addressed and affected the real working-class people of Chicago. From 1986 to 1993, American Blues Theatre produced such critically acclaimed productions as The Hairy Ape ; Rick Cleveland's Bad Moon ; and Monsters and Monsters II, collections of commissioned monologues by Chicago playwrights including Douglas Post, Dwight Okita, David Mamet, and Paula Killen. The Hairy Ape was hailed by Richard Christiansen of the Chicago Tribune as one of the three best shows of the year.In August 1993, the company leased a warehouse in the primarily working-class neighborhood of Northcenter, and in an amazing 38 days, transformed it into an intimate 134-seat theater. From the beginning, the theater was a community center, playing host to Chamber of Commerce meetings and neighborhood events. From 1994 to 1997, the theater presented such critically acclaimed productions as On the Waterfront, the World Premiere of The Flight of the Phoenix ( two Joseph Jefferson Citations ), and Stalag 17 ( five Jeff Citations ).In March 1997, Brian Russell became the company's first full-time, paid artistic director, and the theater changed its name to American Theater Company. Mr. Russell ushered in a new era of growth and professionalism, producing four-play subscription seasons, growing the budget from approximately $70, 000 to $385, 000, increasing the audience ten-fold, and growing the full-time staff. Among the highlights were The Threepenny Opera, American Buffalo ( with Mike Nessbaum ), and Endgame.