Includes index

Preface : a do-it-yourself movement -- Improvisus means unforeseen, unexpected -- North Side story -- South Side story -- We've never seen anything like it around here -- They wanted to call it Grease -- Homecomings and new arrivals -- Institutions take root -- Traditions are born -- Fifteen paths to Second City -- Theater building -- Wole Soyinka's Death and the king's horseman -- The birth of the Remains Theatre -- Practical Theatre Company -- Charna Halpern remembers Del Close -- Steppenwolf comes to the city -- The Next Theatre Company -- New institutions take root -- Wisdom Bridge Theatre -- Redefining the Goodman Theatre : Robert Falls and Roche Schulfer -- The International Theatre Festival of Chicago -- Famous Door Theatre -- AIDS changed everything -- Scott Mcpherson's Marvin's room (1990) -- Annoyance Theatre and Bar -- Alternatives -- We are here and we are part of Chicago's story -- Our stories, our voices -- The infinite scope of small -- The remains of the remains -- August : Osage County (2007) -- The birth of not in our house -- From the ground up -- Remembering Martha Lavey, Steppenwolf Theatre's artistic director, 1995-2015 -- To leave or not to leave?

"An oral history of Chicago's theater movement from 1953 to the present day. Includes commentary from actors, writers, and more"--