Welcome to Rivendell Theatre Ensemble!

Please use the links on the left to learn more about our Ensemble members, Board members, and more. But first...

Our Story

Since our inception in 1995, Rivendell Theatre Ensemble has provided Chicago audiences with artistically challenging, thought-provoking plays that explore the female experience. Driven by the belief that the female experience is dynamic and ever-changing, Rivendell continues to revisit, revise, and reinvigorate its mission to serve women artists and audiences in new and challenging ways.

With each season, Rivendell Theatre Ensemble seeks to deepen its mission, expand our audiences, and challenge ourselves. Over the course of the past sixteen years, Rivendell has produced four world premieres, fourteen regional premieres, received four Equity Wing Joseph Jefferson Awards and ten nominations for artistic excellence.

Notable productions include the critically acclaimed production of local playwright Anne McGravie's WRENS, the runaway hit Faulkner's Bicycle by Heather McDonald, the darkly hilarious Be Aggressive by Annie Weisman, and the gender-bending medieval comedy Silence by Moira Buffini.

We strengthen our commitment to the exploration of the female experience by supporting women artists of all types. In addition to producing women playwrights on our main stage, Rivendell provides opportunities for women designers, actors, directors, technical and administrative staff throughout its programming.

As we embark on each new chapter in Rivendell history, it is not only the Rivendell story that continues, but that of the audiences and artists we serve.

After 18 years of being an itinerant company, Rivendell is now thrilled to be in residence in a beautiful new artistic home at 5779 North Ridge Avenue in Chicago. Free parking is available in the Senn High School parking lot (located a block and a half from the theatre behind the school off Thorndale Avenue). Please visit us at our new theater!

FOR LOCATION,  DIRECTIONS AND FREE PARKING INFO, CLICK HERE.

Rivendell Theatre Ensemble is supported in part by generous grants from: 3Arts, The Alphawood Foundation, The Chicago Foundation for Women, The Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, The Ronald A. Greene Memorial Fund, a Donor Advised Grant from the Chicago Community Trust, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation PAV Fund, The Saints, A CityArts Program 1 Grant from The City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, and The Illinois Arts Council, A State Agency.