Next Theatre Company produces socially provocative, artistically adventurous work.

It is our vision to become a national destination for audiences and artists who share our vision that theatre can promote awareness and provoke change with more power than any other medium of expression.

Since our founding in 1981 by Harriet Spizziri and Brian Finn, our 167-seat space has been home to over a hundred productions, serving nearly a quarter of a million theatergoers and winning Jeff Awards in nearly every category. The theater's adventurous spirit and great conviction prompted Richard Christiansen of the Chicago Tribune to announce that The Next is "a resounding reaffirmation of what faith, dedication and talent can accomplish. It is what distinguished Chicago theatre in its early stages more than a quarter century ago, and it is what continues to make Chicago theater so exciting. How fortunate we are to have theaters such as The Next in our midst."

We serve over 10,000 patrons each year, including students, elderly, and everyone in between. Our audience includes local Evanstonians as well as Chicago and North Shore residents, and they have come to expect artistic excellence in the pursuit of culturally progressive work. As Dan Zeff of Copley News observed earlier this year, the Next is quickly becoming "the venue of the edgiest theater in the area."