About

Studio Z is Chicago's first arts organization dedicated to integrating Chicago style improvisation and digital multimedia.

Serving theatre artists and audiences, Studio Z uses current and emerging technology to produce and promote theatre.

Through these efforts, Studio Z fosters the viability and accessibility of theatre in the 21st century, providing new methods of interactivity between performer and audience.

Studio Z focuses on easy to use, portable technology that allows artists to fully engage in the creative improvisational process and explore a new type of multimedia stage.

Personnel

Artistic Director - Dan Zellner

Photographer/Project Assistant - Hugh Dismuke

Board of Directors

Joseph Kowalenko
Dennis Malinis
Alex Saunders
Dan Zellner

History

Studio Z began informally in 1991. The organization initially set out locally to develop new plays for the theatre. The Studio conducted monthly play readings of scripts by Chicago playwrights. One year later, the Studio broadened its audience to include the entire Chicago area when it presented "The Z Festival" : Chicago's first play festival on video. Short scenes from new plays and interviews with the playwrights were broadcast on Channel 19 in a three part series. This was to be one of many firsts for the organization.

Studio Z continued to make use of video and soon was experimenting with the Internet. In 1994, Studio Z presented "Voices from Down Under" : a U.S. - Australian Internet based play development workshop. Three plays from the South Australian Writers' Theatre premiered before live audiences in Chicago and, a month later, a Chicago play was presented in Adelaide. "Voices" was a truly unique project which was new to the Chicago theatre community. The project attracted attention in the local and national media. "Voices" received notices in the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times as well as in American Theatre , a national theatre journal.

The success of "Voices From Down Under" shaped the new mission of Studio Z. The Studio now dedicated itself to developing new plays and promoting new levels of cultural exchange through the use of communications technology. "Voices from Down Under" was presented again in 1995 and new projects including "The Monologue Show" (a video program which featured original monologues by international playwrights ) and the "Playwright in Electronic Residence (PIER)" program (a program which links universities and playwrights worldwide) were initiated. The Studio also continued experimenting with communications technology utilizing CU-SEEME (video conferencing software) and MUDs (Multi-User Dimensions) for theatre related projects.

The Studio has been recognized as a unique organization using multimedia technology and improvisation for collaboration and creation of works for the theatre. To date, the Studio remains one of the leading organizations in this area in the Midwest and the only organization of its kind in Chicago.

Studio Z has presented its work internationally, nationally at ATHE (Association for Theatre in Higher Education) conferences, locally at the Chicago Historical Society and Red Path Theater, and online. In addition, the Studio continues to maintain and develop The Chicago Theatre Homepage, a primary on-line resource for Chicago Theatre information.