Since being incorporated in 2000, BackStage Theatre Company has produced 23 mainstage productions which have been seen by more than 9,500 people. These productions have included eight world premieres and four Chicago premieres. BackStage Theatre has been honored to receive one Non-Equity Jeff Award, four Jeff Nominations, and five Jeff Recommendations.

Their productions have been critically-acclaimed by several leading Chicago publications. They have also been honored four times with the elusive “Critic’s Choice” designation by the Chicago Reader, including a prominent review featured on the front cover. Additionally, they have been “Recommended” by the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times, and BackStage Theatre has been reviewed by National Public Radio’s popular “Dueling Critics.”

BackStage has also been listed as one of the Top 10 productions of 2007 and received Honorable Mention of 2008 by the Chicago Tribune as well as praised for our innovative productions in two separate “Year in Review” articles in PerformInk, a Chicago theatrical trade publication.

In June 2008, BackStage Theatre was described as a “standard bearer of quality and innovation on a budget” in a feature article by Kris Vire of TimeOut Chicago.

BackStage Theatre Company opens its tenth anniversary season with Wallace Shawn’s Aunt Dan and Lemon, November 18 – December 20, 2009 Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 7:30 P.M. and Sundays at 3:00 P.M. Aunt Dan and Lemon will perform at The Chopin Theatre, 1543 W. Division St. Chicago.

Director Matthew Reeder has been BackStage Theatre Company’s Artistic Director since May of this year. For BackStage, Matthew has directed last season's critically acclaimed production of John Kolvenbach’s On An Average Day and before that, Paula Vogel's How I Learned To Drive. For the previous five years, Matthew has been the director-in-residence with the Metropolis Performing Arts Center, where he directed Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire, and A Midsummer Night's Dream, among others. Matthew is also an ensemble member with Adventure Stage Chicago and holds an M.F.A in directing from Virginia Commonwealth University.