Behind the ‘Line

View Articles:

A second chance with Sarah Ruhl

Tonight we open the second production of TimeLine’s 21st Season, Sarah Ruhl’s funny and beautiful In the Next Room or the vibrator play. We couldn’t be happier to have Sarah’s work on our stage, at long last, after years admiring her artistry. I admit, however, that I came later to the party than I should have. Back in 1999, soon after I became Artistic Director of TimeLine, we had just gotten the keys to our ...
Read More >

Our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion

TimeLine’s mission is to learn from the past to better understand where we are today and to inform what we do tomorrow. With widening divides in our country, it seems harder and harder to identify what lessons have truly been learned from history. What progress ...
Read More >

A work of art inspired by PARADISE

True Jazz is a living, breathing thing. Melodies dance about, changing and shifting as different instruments take the forefront. A smooth piano solo flows into a trumpet riff that inspires a bouncing bass take over, which creates a new foundation—leading the whole lot to start all ...
Read More >

Celebrating Carol K. Cyganowski

TimeLine’s production of The Audience is dedicated to the memory of Carol K. Cyganowski, scholar and lover of theatre, and sponsored in part by Dan and Claudia Cyganowski. TimeLine celebrates the life and memory of one of our most ardent supporters, Dr. Carol Klimick Cyganowski. ...
Read More >

A vanished hometown history

My parents were born and raised in Detroit. I went to school in the city and grew up in a suburb on its northern border. Though I’ve called Chicago home for the last 26 years, I will always be deeply influenced by my Detroit roots. Hastings Street in the Black Bottom/Paradise Valley neighborhood during the 1950s, and then in the 1960s after construction of the I-75/I-375 highways. But I’m less proud to admit that prior ...
Read More >

An interview with Orbert Davis

During rehearsals, dramaturg Jared Bellot (JB) caught up with renowned jazz musician Orbert Davis (OD), who composed and recorded the original music for Paradise Blue, to ask about his 30-year career, his approach to working on the play, and the power of jazz. JB: What ...
Read More >

“There’s your theatre company”

A historic page from Nick Bowling’s journal. I’ve been cleaning a lot the past few weeks and I came by this journal that my friend Audrey Wasilewski gave me for my birthday in 1995. It’s a record of the unofficial first meeting of TimeLine. It ...
Read More >

“Acting It Out” on sale now!

For more than 10 years, TimeLine has been stepping off the stage and into the classroom with its Living History Education Program. Led by founding Company Member and Director of Education Juliet Hart, Living History’s teaching artists collaborate with classroom teachers to create lesson plans ...
Read More >

Playwrights Collective Spotlight: Emily Dendinger

The Grand Illusion Show, or the Lady Magician Play Even in this day and age, we don’t have enough stories on stage about ambitious women actively seeking out the life they want, regardless of the obstacles in their way. 2013-2016 Playwrights Collective, Emily Dendinger For ...
Read More >