Hull-House Theatre in the 1960s: A Conversation with Mark Larson

Join celebrated theatre historian Mark Larson for an afternoon of conversation and screenings from the archive of Hull-House Theatre. During the 1960s, Hull-House reestablished its place at the center of Chicago theatre and played a pivotal role in the development of the storefront theatre movement. The conversation will also feature Hull-House Director and cultural historian Liesl Olson, and Associate Director Matthew Randle-Bent, a theatre historian. Ahead of the panel conversation, visitors can engage a unique reading room of archival materials relating to the history of Hull-House Theatre.

Act Well Your Part is an exhibition and festival hosted at the Jane Addams Hull-House Museum celebrating the legacies of Hull-House Theatre and building a future of civically engaged theatre in Chicago. A theatrical hub for the city of Chicago for over a century, Hull-House played a pivotal role in the development of community theatre, the Little Theatre movement, Improv, and Chicago’s iconic non-profit theatre scene. Taking its name from the epigraph emblazoned above the original Hull-House stage, Act Well Your Part, There All the Honor Lies reframes contemporary Chicago theatre as an essential part of the city’s civic fabric.

Mark Larson is the author of Ensemble: An Oral History of Chicago Theater. His new book, Working in the 21st Century, was released in 2024 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Studs Terkel’s Working. Esquire magazine named it one of the best books of 2024. Larson is currently working on a book-length interview with the iconic Broadway composer, John Kander (Cabaret, Chicago, Scottsboro Boys, New York, New York and others).

Act Well Your Part is supported by the Discovery Partners Institute.

Host or Publisher Jane Addams Hull-House Museum