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CHICAGO DANZTHEATRE ENSEMBLE PRESENTS
FULL CIRCLE FESTIVAL
SEPTEMBER 19 - 28, 2025
Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble (CDE) is pleased to announce the plays and artists featured in the reimagined “Full Circle Festival,” September 19-28, at Chicago Danztheatre, 1650 W. Foster Avenue. The performance schedule is Fridays at 7:30 p.m.; Saturdays at 4 p.m., 5:30 p.m., 7 p.m., 8 p.m., and 9:30 p.m., and Sundays at 3 p.m., 6 p.m., and 7:30 p.m. For additional information on this upcoming season and to purchase tickets, visit DanzTheatre.org.
Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble has reimagined its Full Circle Festival, featuring physical, fringe, and dance theater works between 30 and 60 minutes in length. About the festival, for eight years, CDE has produced this eclectic festival for works under 15 minutes. Since reopening three years ago after being closed due to the pandemic, the company has been responding to the needs of the performance community even more, and has found that there is a need to present longer works. CDE is co-producing this event with Whispering Theatre Collective (Britt Anderson and Richie Schiraldi). This year’s lineup will feature: RE|dance, Whispering Theatre Collective, Michelle Stine, CIRCA-Pintig, HGBIC Productions, Emma Jean Eastling and Broken Planet.
The 2025 Full Circle Festival includes:
Josephine
Friday, Sept. 19 and 26 at 7:30 p.m.
Presented by HGBIC Productions
Directed by Mikey Duran
Choreographed by Dushawn Darling and Juan Irizarry
Set before the Actress Josephine Baker’s historic debut at The Folies Bergere, Josephine recounts her childhood and early career, which led her to become the most famous black woman in the world.
Well-Balanced Dads
Saturday, Sept. 20 and 27 at 4 p.m.
Presented by Whisper Theater
Well-Balanced Dads is a family-friendly physical comedy about two dads navigating life after their kids have left the nest. Through partner acrobatics, classic rock, and an abundance of audience interaction, Dick and Dale take the audience on a camping adventure complete with a beloved Minivan, dance numbers, a cheese stick fight, movie references, and a spooky ghost story. Suitable for all ages.
Every Brilliant Thing
Saturday, Sept. 20 and 27 at 5:30 p.m.
Presented by CiRCA Pintig
Written by Duncan Macmillan and Jonny Donahoe
Directed by RJ Silva and Annemarie Andaleon
Featuring Mari Joy
Every Brilliant Thing is a heartwarming, interactive play that celebrates life’s joys and struggles. Starring Mari Joy, the show invites audiences to laugh, reflect, and participate in a unique theatrical experience.
Chicago MemoryScape
Saturday, Sept. 20 and 27 at 7 p.m.
Presented by RE|Dance Group
Chicago MemoryScape is a public art and dance installation
that creates a moving memory map throughout the city of Chicago. Lucy Vurusic Riner turns Chicago’s diverse neighborhoods into stages for spontaneous, crowdsourced dance performances, using public art as a backdrop to spark connection with dance and community members. Together they experience, participate, and create their own MemoryScape. Suitable for all ages.
The Storage Closet
Saturday, Sept. 20 and 27 at 8 p.m.
Written by Emma Jean Eastlund
The Storage Closet is a new play by Emma Jean Eastlund that peels back the curtain on GoGo dancing to reveal a raw, femme-driven story of survival, sisterhood, and reclamation. Set in the storage closet of a nightclub, the play follows a group of women as they navigate the chaos of nightlife, clinging to their power and dreams. Both gritty and poetic, The Storage Closet is a tribute to the women of GoGo—and to all femme artists who continue to make art by any means necessary.
Broken Planet Show
Saturday, Sept. 27 at 9:30 p.m.
Broken Planet Show is an absurd interactive cabaret of apocalyptic proportions where clown, music, and chaos collide in a nightly riot of world-saving mischief. Featuring characters like Clown God, Mothman, and Fart Monkey, the show dares audiences to laugh at our flaws, misbehave joyfully, and unite through ridiculousness. It’s a rebellious celebration of imperfection, set to a live-looped cosmic soundtrack.
Always, Sometimes, Maybe
Sunday, September 21 and 28 at 3 p.m.
Presented by Michele Stine
Michele Stine’s Always, Sometimes, Maybe follows a janitor who unexpectedly finds herself onstage. With nothing but her rubbish and a lot of imagination, she tries to find a connection. Using physical comedy, puppetry, dance, and non-verbal storytelling, this is a warm, accessible experience suitable for all ages and backgrounds. A funny, tender journey directed by Sean Garratt into what it means to be alone- and how we find our way back to each other. Suitable for all ages.
Destination Wedding
Sunday, September 21 and 28 at 6 p.m.
Presented by Fat Theatre Project
The ins and outs of a wedding are told from a variety of perspectives.
Arachne
Sunday, September 21 and 28 at 7:30 p.m.
Presented by Whisper Theater
Written by Britt Anderson
Directed by Alex Mallory
Greek mythology meets Steel Magnolias in Arachne, a bold, hilarious solo show about the very first spider. Athena, the Goddess of Justice and Handicrafts, is hosting a launch party for her memoir… until a mysterious force demands that she tell the WHOLE truth about her past. If she doesn’t, she’ll be coughing up webs for all eternity. Athena’s story dives into issues like justice, accountability, and the complexities of women’s friendships. Britt Anderson uses music, multiple characters, and audience interaction to weave this tale about two former best friends.
ABOUT CHICAGO DANZTHEATRE ENSEMBLE
Founded in 2001, Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble (CDE) is Chicago’s only multidisciplinary arts organization dedicated to social justice and socially conscious work that builds community through the arts “one voice, one story, one person at a time.” CDE’s mission is to engage, inspire, and challenge the community, both onstage and in the classroom, through innovative and collaborative multidisciplinary storytelling to illuminate aspects of social issues. We do this in the genre of Tanztheatre, "which unites all art media to achieve an all-embracing, radical change in humankind.” Through our school-based art and performance programs, CDE helps students in Chicago schools explore their own creativity, supporting their social and emotional learning. CDE provides a physical and emotional space where community conversation and cultural change can happen.
For our performance series, CDE is dedicated to creating performances that blend together dance, theatre and visual art to tell stories about the human condition. We give an artistic voice to those who are not always heard.
Dedicated since our founding to diverse casting of age, body type and ethnicity
Consistently listed as a “Top Theater and Dance Performance to See” by New City and Chicago Reader
Unique collaborations with the Veterans Art Museum, Poetry Center Chicago, Cantigny Museum, Neighborhood Writing Alliance, Voice of the City and numerous dance and theater companies
MacArthur Award Grantee for International Collaborations.
Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble (CDE) is pleased to announce its 2025 - 2026 season. CDE will open this season with LUMINOSITY, Aug. 1-2, followed by a reimagined “Full Circle Festival,” Sept. 19-28, featuring local artists participating in a classic fringe-style festival. The Artists’ Residency, Body Passages, returns to CDE from Nov. 14-15, as well as the New Plays Program and Next Stage Development. In addition, CDE announces Davon Suttles as its new assistant artistic director.
Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble is supported by The Illinois Arts Council, a state agency; Bayless Family Foundation, The Saints Foundation,The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, The Gaylord & Dorothy Donnelley Foundation; Innovation 80; Farny Wurlitzer Foundation; Mardi Gras Fund and the annual support of individual donors.
