ABOUT US

 

 
Chopin Theatre was designed in 1918 by M.F. Strunch Architects as a 987 seat theater at 1541-43 W. Division. Today it houses a Main Stage, Cabaret Studio, the Nelson Algren Cafe, East Wing Art Gallery, office/residence for owners Zygmunt Dyrkacz and Lela Headd.

According to the Theatre Historical Society of America the building changed names several times from Chopin Theatre to Harding Theatre, back to Chopin and then to Pix Theatre from 1940-19480.

In 1990 the vacant building was purchased by Zygmunt Dyrkacz and gradually restored. Mr. Dyrkacz first named it At The Gallery Theatre because he did not want it to be thought of as an ethnic theater with Polish language events only. He changed the name back to Chopin Theatre even though famous people such as John Cusack and Jeremy Piven (as New Crime Productions) had performed under the former name of At The Gallery Theatre.

Since its founding in 1990 Chopin Theatre’s purpose has been to support, present and produce multi-cultural avante garde theatre, literary, film, visual and performance art. During its 17 year history it has had approximately 7000 presentations (5000 theatrical, 1000 film, 800 poetry evenings and over 100 music events) across its two stages. Its main presenters have included Chicago Filmmakers, Guild Complex, Young Chicago Authors, Collaboraction Theater, Roadworks Productions as well as the Hypocrites, Signal Ensemble Theatre, Teatro Vista and Uma Productions.

Recent press mentions include:
  • “Chopin Theatre, one of the last old-school entertainment venues in Wicker Park, this theater houses some of Chicago's best storefront companies” - Critic’s Pick Best Venue, TimeOut Chicago 7/31/08

  • “On Division Street, at Ashland and Milwaukee Avenues, the Chopin Theatre overlooks the "Polish Triangle," where neighborhood residents and elote vendors gather around the Nelson Algren fountain. Behind the theater's shabbily impressive terra cotta facade, Chopin owners Zygmunt Dyrkacz and Lela Headd have played host to some of the most thrilling theater the city's had to offer during the last 17 years: performances by such essential storefront companies as the Hypocrites, Collaboraction, Backstage and Signal Ensemble, among others, not to mention the European troupes the husband-and-wife team has imported and produced on its own dime. The two also have seen the demise of several respected storefront companies; Roadworks, Defiant and Uma Productions each put up their final shows under the Chopin's roof in the past few years” - TimeOut Chicago 9/26/07

  • "Chicago Shakespeare gets a lot of (well deserved) praise for bringing in high-profile European troupes. But those who wish to see the best of experimental European theatre … know that Wicker Park's Chopin is the place to go" - Performink 12/29/05

  • “Dyrkacz also brings important European avant-garde companies to his venue, something that happens too rarely here since the demise of the International Theatre Festival of Chicago “ - Critic’s Choice on WFMT 93.9 FM 8/17/05

  • Chicago Tribune Best of Theater lists 2005, 2004, 2003 Teatr Cogitatur produced by Chopin Theatre

  •  “No one does more to bring European theater to the city than Chopin Theatre” – Time Out Chicago 10/27/05

  •  “For the past 15 years Zygmunt Dyrkacz has been presenting international experimental theater at the scrappy Chopin Theatre"  – Chicago Reader 08/11/05


  • “Question: Where will you find both the trendiest European audiences and the most European-style theater in Chicago? Answer: At the Chopin Theatre” – Chicago Sun-Times 8/10/05

  • “The Chopin Theatre, which just completed a run of a play by the Romanian-born French playwright Matei Visniec, was founded 14 years ago by Polish émigré Zygmunt Dyrkacz. It has been these smaller entrepreneurial, risk-taking venues that have provided fertile ground for Playing French”  – The Financial Times 11/11/04


Chopin Theatre has produced over 110 of its own productions, mostly from Poland and Eastern Europe, and has hosted performers from almost ever state in U.S. and from over 40 countries. Its many guests have included Pulitzer winners Gwendolyn Brooks, Yusef Komunyakaa and Studs Terkel; writers Stuart Dybek, Aaron McGruder, Sara Paretsky and Zadie Smith; poets Nikki Giovanni and Luis Rodriguez; actors John Cusack, Jeremy Piven, Patsy Rodenburg, Jan Peszek and Clemens Schick; musicians Grazyna Auguscik, Peter Brotzman, Chuck D., Kurt Elling, Von Freeman and Rob Mazurek as well as filmmakers Jan Englert and Oscar nominee Slawomir Fabicki. 

Locally Chopin Theatre has served as incubator nurturing since 1990 many of the most important Chicago artists 
  •  “Chopin Theatre a really indispensable place for theatrical and other artistic gatherings” – WFMT Radio 9/12/07
  • “"But there I was last Saturday night, in the bustling lobby of the Chopin Theatre in Wicker Park -- a community asset of the first order -- trying to weasel my way into a sold-out Rossellini screening .." - Chicago Tribune 9/7/07
  • “If we’d stayed at Chopin Theatre, we would’ve gotten our regulars.  Going downtown is an inconvenience for them, not part of their comfort zone.”  Performink 12/20/02 
  • “Different companies peel in and out of spaces like the Chopin each remaking it how they see fit, tearing down the  world and building it up again” – Performink 12/22/00
  • “Dyrkacz not only rescued the Chopin (built in 1918) from demolition but now oversees some 500 performances per year.  Not only is this a very viable space creatively, but the Chopin also is among the city's most affordable little theaters to rent”.  – Chicago Tribune 05/21/99