Lookingglass was founded in 1988 by
David Schwimmer, David Catlin, Eva Barr,
Thom Cox, Lawrence DiStasi, Joy Gregory, David Kersnar, and Andy White. The company's first production,
Through the Lookingglass, was directed by David Kersnar and was produced at the Great Room in
Jones Residential College on the
Northwestern University campus. The company has since produced more than 60 world premiere plays, including
Mary Zimmerman's
Metamorphoses, as well as her adaptations of
The Arabian Nights and
The Odyssey. The company also premiered and toured creator David Catlin's circus-driven re-imaginings of
Lewis Carroll's
Alice in Wonderland in
Lookingglass Alice and
Herman Melville's
Moby Dick. Other productions have included David Schwimmer's adaptations of
Upton Sinclair's
The Jungle and
Studs Terkel's
Race: How Blacks and Whites Think and Feel About the American Obsession. Recent productions include
Jules Verne's
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, adapted by David Kersnar and Althos Low;
Plantation!, a play about reparations, written by Ensemble Member Kevin Douglas and directed by Ensemble Member David Schwimmer;
Beyond Caring, created by British author and director
Alexander Zeldin.
Leadership Lookingglass is led by Artistic Director Heidi Stillman, and Executive Director, Rachel Fink. Fink was preceded by Rachel Kraft, who served as Executive Director for 12 seasons. Kraft's tenure saw the company receive the 2011 Regional Theatre Tony Award, a 2016 $1 million MacArthur Award for Creative and Effecting Institutions, and the 2017 League of Chicago Theaters Artistic Achievement Award. ==New work==