Mission
Remy Bumppo Theatre Company produces theatre that thrills the ear, stirs the heart, feeds the mind, and sparks a conversation. As an ensemble-based producer of intellectually and emotionally inspiring plays that reveal the power and pleasure of language, we explore timeless ideas in timely productions that celebrate our common humanity; and we invite audiences to converse directly with the art and the artists.
History
Remy Bumppo Theatre Company was founded in 1996 as Remy Bumppo Productions by Chicago-born Artistic Director James Bohnen and two producers from Colorado, Carol Loewenstern and John Stoddard. The company’s unique name emerged from a combination of the names of Loewenstern’s cat (named after Remy Martin cognac) and Bohnen’s black Labrador (named for Natty Bumppo, the protagonist of James Fenimore Cooper’s Leatherstocking Tales.) The founders’ vision was to produce plays that thrill the mind and to utilize the talents of top-notch professional actors and designers.
In 2001, Remy Bumppo incorporated as a not-for-profit organization, inaugurated its Board of Directors, and added Artistic Associates Annabel Armour, David Darlow, Shawn Douglass, Linda Gillum, and Nick Sandys, later including Joe Van Slyke and Greg Matthew Anderson. In 2012, Nick Sandys became Producing Artistic Director and expanded the company of actors in 2014, adding Ensemble Members Kelsey Brennan, Peter A. Davis, and Eliza Stoughton.
Remy Bumppo’s critically and publically respected reputation is built on our consistent, high-quality presentations of the works of seminal playwrights, staged intimately and with the focus on expressing complex ideas in a clear, entertaining and moving manner. Through ensemble collaboration and a rigorous examination of both text and context, our productions illuminate the playwright’s language and ideas with clarity, wit and passion. The list of seminal playwrights served by Remy Bumppo includes Caryl Churchill, David Hare, Tom Stoppard, Harold Pinter, Athol Fugard, George Bernard Shaw, Maxwell Anderson, and Edward Albee. The company is the recipient of six Joseph Jefferson Awards, nine After Dark Awards, one Black Theater Alliance Award, and forty-five Joseph Jefferson Nominations, including five for our production of Our Class (including Outstanding Production, Director, and Ensemble).
Vision
Remy Bumppo remains steadfast in its commitment to produce plays of great literary significance designed to challenge, entertain and provoke thoughtful discussion, and to create partnerships with exceptional artistic collaborators and community leaders. Our vision is to be a locally and nationally recognized arts organization based in Chicago, renowned for world-class theatre and for excellence in ethical, inclusive, arts-aligned business practices, in mentorship, and in championing the humanities in the community.
