Oak Park Festival Theatre (OPFT) is a professional theatre company inOak Park, Illinois, under contract withActors' Equity Association. The company was founded in 1975 by Marion Kaczmar, an Oak Park resident andarts patron, and performed Renaissance works, almost exclusively byWilliam Shakespeare, until 2004, when it broadened its scope to classics of other eras. Its outdoor venue has been Austin Gardens, a wooded park near downtown Oak Park within walking distance from restaurants,Frank Lloyd Wright landmarks, andMetra andCTA trains. To attract a greater following, Renaissance, classical, and modern American works were added to the offerings, some being produced indoors in historic Farson-Mills Home and, in the 2010-11 season, in the studio space in the Madison Street Theatre.

Audience members in Austin Gardens often picnic before performances. Occasionally, special performances by the Oak Park Recorder Society or other pre-show events are presented. Special Family Day performances and child-centered special crafts, games, and activities are held at least twice a summer to encourage families to introduce their children to Shakespeare.

Oak Park had a Shakespeare theatre previous to OPFT. In the 1950s and 1960s, producersJosephine Forsberg, Ed Udovic, and actor-directorLee Henry created Village Classics Theatre and producedThe Taming of the Shrew,A Midsummer Night's Dream,Richard III, and other productions outdoors on the hill of Field Playground under the auspices of the Recreation Department of the Village of Oak Park. Actors who performed included Equity performersVal Bettin,Robert Kidd, Tom Elrod, and Angel Casey, as well as many Oak Park residents such as Clifford Osborne and Nick Cotsonas. The hill was, at that time, crowned on all sides with numerous large bushes and small trees, providing a natural set for battle scenes and forest liaisons. The professionalism of the productions brought, among others, esteemedChicago Tribune drama criticRichard Christiansen, a native Oak Parker, to the theater.

Oak Park Festival Theatre was begun in 1975 by Marion Kaczmar, an Oak Park resident.^[1] Its first production wasA Midsummer Night's Dream with a cast that includedDavid Mamet andWilliam H. Macy. Its artistic directors since then have included Patrick O'Gara, Tom Mula,David Darlow, Dale Calandra, and Jack Hickey.

The 1980s were heady years for the theater. With numerous Actors' Equity contracts attracting Chicago professional actors and the presence of talented non-Equity actors, audiences numbering in the 300s and 400s came to see Shakespeare under the stars.

The 1990s began some difficult years for OPFT. During this time the number of Chicago area theaters quadrupled and other theaters, inspired by Festival Theatre's success, began to produce Shakespeare on a regular basis. The resulting decrease in attendance compounded by some questionable management decisions and the elimination of arts funding from the Village of Oak Park^[2] necessitated a decrease in the number of Actors' Equity contracts that could be offered.

In 2002 Joyce Porter,^[3] an actress, director, Professor of Theatre atMoraine Valley Community College, and member of the Board of Directors since 1989, averted a vote by the board to cease production and was, shortly after, elected President of the Board.

Porter envisioned broadening the focus of the theater to performing classics of all eras year-round indoors as well as outdoors. The new artistic director, Jack Hickey, who had been appointed by the previous board president, worked with Porter to effect this expansion in phases. They attracted new board members and began financial reforms that led to solvency within a few years. Additional innovations under Porter's leadership included educational programs, including a college intern program, the creation of a touring show, later revised and directed by Kevin Theis, and a summer workshop for teens. The theater, in a very real sense, owes its continued existence to the dedication of Porter and Hickey.

In 2010, Kevin Theis and Belinda Bremner were elected co-presidents of the board and began the expanded four-production season with stable theatre finances.

For most of its history, OPFT produced almost exclusively works byWilliam Shakespeare. These included multiple productions ofThe Taming of the Shrew,A Midsummer Night's Dream,The Tempest,The Merchant of Venice,As You Like It, andRomeo and Juliet, as well asJulius Caesar,The Comedy of Errors,Hamlet,Macbeth,Love's Labour's Lost, and others. It also presented notable original adaptations of classics, includingFalstaff by Tom Mula andDon Quixote by Dale Calandra. In 2011 it presented theHistory of King Henry IV, an adaptation by Stanton Davis of Shakespeare'sHenry IVparts 1and 2. Featured Actors' Equity members have included Chicago actorsDavid Mamet, David Darlow,^[4] Kristine Thatcher, Kevin Theis, Don Brearley, William J. Norris, Greg Vinkler,^[5] Aaron Christiansen, Ned Mochel, Susan Hart, Ray Andrecheck, Lanny Lutz, George Wilson, Kevin Gudahl, Mary Michell, Barbara Zahora,Henry Godinez, Steve Pickering, Kathey Logelin, Linda Kimborough, and others, as well as professional non-Equity actors such as Dennis Grimes, David Skvarla, Mark Richard,Michael W. Halberstam,Robert Petkoff, Toni Graves, Krista Lally,^[6] Maggie Kettering, Anne Gottlieb, Peter Ash, Meredith Siemsen, and Christopher Prentice.^[7]

Its expanded production schedule has includedFaith Healer,Picnic,Tartuffe,All My Sons,Cyrano de Bergerac, and other plays considered to be classics of many eras.^[8]

• Theatre companies in Illinois
• Regional theatre in the United States
• Shakespeare festivals in the United States

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