About AWT (The Actors Workshop Theatre)

Actors Workshop (AW) was founded in 1991 by Michael Colucci, a Chicago-trained actor who has worked at Court, Victory Gardens, American Blues (now ATC) and other respected theatres. Operating out of a loft in the Old Town neighborhood in Chicago, the AW offered acting classes and private coaching for adults 18 and over. The AWT offers a comprehensive curriculum at very affordable rates. See Workshop Classes for details.

The Actors Workshop Theatre embarked upon its first production as an itinerant company in 1994 with Simon Gray’s Otherwise Engaged. The AWT incorporated as a non-profit 501(c)3 corporation in May 2001. It produced five more plays before moving to its current home in the vibrant Bryn Mawr Historic District of the Edgewater neighborhood in Chicago in the fall of 2002. The double-storefront was transformed from an office-like community center into an intimate and comfortable theatre and classroom space. The AWT’s first show in Edgewater, Praying Small, opened in September 2003. It was designated as the Chicago Reader’s Critic’s Choice and was extended two times by popular demand. Michael Colucci, the founder of the AWT, is the Artistic Director. His producing partner and wife, Jan Ellen Graves, is the Marketing Director. She recently directed Miller’s The American Clock at AWT which was a Chicago Tribune Critic’s Pick and a Chicago Sun-Times Recommended play. Michael’s direction of All My Sons was also critically-acclaimed and Jeff-Recommended. See Workshop Theatre for production information.