Historical Note

Stormfield Theatre was founded by Terry McCabe in the Spring of 1983. Originally located above a florist at 6443 N. Sheridan Road, Stormfield shared the space with another non-Equity company, the Commons Theatre. Stormfield's first production, Sixty Feet, Six Inches, was an original script by Chicago playwright James Harper. Setting the pattern for many of the shows that followed, Sixty Feet, Six Inches turned a profit as well as received rave reviews and a Jeff Citation Award.

In the five seasons that followed, Stormfield produced nine world premieres and received numerous Jeff Citations. Productions included original scripts such as Ross Lehman's Sons of Corl Gap, and his musical adaptation of The Gift of the Magi; John Logan's Never the Sinner; as well as classics by Beckett and Stanislaw Witkiewicz. In addition to Terry McCabe, Stormfield also featured some of Chicago's top directors: Tom Mula, Practical Theatre veteran Paul Barrosse, and Body Politic's James O'Reilly each tried their hand. In 1986, after moving to the Edgewater Theater Center in the Edgewater Presbyterian Church (1020 W. Bryn Mawr), Stormfield established a Playwrights Ensemble consisting of John Logan, Clifton Campbell, and Ross Lehman. Although the Ensemble did not restrict the theater exclusively to these authors, presenting their plays became one of Stormfield's principle activities. In 1987, Stormfield's production of Logan's Hauptmann, starring Denis O'Hare, was invited to perform at the Edinburgh International Arts Festival, where it won a Fringe First Award. Stormfield's final production was a collaborative mounting with Pegasus Players of John Logan's Snow.

Stormfield disbanded in January 1988. McCabe stressed that the closing was due to a conviction that significant growth was not possible for a small non-Equity theater in Chicago. Stormfield left no financial deficit; remaining cash assets paid the season's debt and equipment was distributed to other non-for-profit theaters.

Scope and Content

The records of the Stormfield Theatre have been arranged into two series: General and Productions. The General series includes two folders of miscellaneous clippings and promotional material. The Productions series consists of programs, press releases, scripts and other materials relating to individual productions, arranged chronologically by season. Also included in this collection are oversize posters and photographs, which while separated physically from the manuscript material, are noted with their respective productions and also listed at the end of the Box and Folder Inventory. Videotapes, also noted with their respective productions where available, have been removed to the Chicago Theater Videotape Collection.

For additional material relating to the 1987 production of Snow, a joint production between Stormfield and the Pegasus Players, see Snow in the records of the Pegasus Players, 1987-1988.

Provenance

Donated by Terry McCabe, former Artistic Director of the Stormfield Theatre, in 1988.

Access

The Stormfield Theatre Records are available to the public for research in the Special Collections and Preservation Division Reading Room on the 9th floor of the Chicago Public Library’s Harold Washington Library Center, 400 South State Street, Chicago, Illinois, 60605. The collection does not circulate, although photocopy and photoreproduction services are available depending upon the condition of the original materials. First time patrons to Special Collections must present photo identification and complete a Reader Registration Form. Telephone inquiries on this collection and other Special Collections holdings can be directed to 312-747-4875.

Box and Folder Inventory

BOX 1

General

1. Clippings
2. Promotional material

Productions

Sixty Feet, Six Inches by James Harper. April 14-May 29, 1983 [World Premiere]. Directed by Terry McCabe, sets by Roy Hine, lights by Ron Greene, costumes by Kerry Fleming.
3. Program
4. Promotional material
5. Prompt script; marked with light and sound cues, and some line cuts and changes
6. Reviews and clippings SEE ALSO: SFT-AV Photo 1.1
Oversize Folder 1, Poster 1 My Sister in this House by Wendy Kesselman. November 23-February 12, 1984 [Chicago Premiere]. Directed by Tom Mula, sets and lights by Roy Hine, costumes by Marcia Le Boeuf. 7. Program
8. Promotional material
9. Reviews and clippings SEE ALSO: SFT-AV Photos 1.2-1.4

Oversize Folder 1, Poster 2
Sons of Corl Gap by Ross Lehman. May 8-June 3, 1984 [World Premiere]. Directed by Terry McCabe, designed by Chris Matteky. 10. Program
11. Promotional material
12. Prompt script; marked with line cuts and changes
13. Reviews and clippings SEE ALSO: SFT-AV Photos 1.5-1.6

Oversize Folder 1, Poster 3
The Madman and the Nun by Stanislaw Witkiewicz, translated by Monique Barwicki. September 6-October 21, 1984 [World Premiere]. Directed by Terry McCabe, design concept by Jeff Bauer.
14. Programs
15. Promotional material
16. Promotional material
17. Reviews and clippings

SEE ALSO: SFT-AV Photos 1.7-1.10
Oversize Folder 1, Poster 4

Nativos by Clifton Campbell. March 26-May 26, 1985 [World Premiere]. Directed by Terry McCabe, sets by Matthew Owens and Donna Rae Durnan, lights by James Glossman, costumes by Chris Matteky.
18. Program
19. Promotional material
20. Prompt script
21. Reviews and clippings

SEE ALSO: SFT-AV Photo 1.11
Oversize Folder 1, Poster 5

Porchlife: Sons of Corl Gap by Ross Lehman and Elmo and June Confront Issues Much Larger than Themselves by Paul Barrosse. June 12-August 24, 1985. Directed by Terry McCabe and Paul Barrosse, set designs by Tom Larson, lighting and costume design by Chris Matteky.
22. Program
23. Promotional material
24. Reviews and clippings
25. Script, unmarked SEE ALSO: SFT-AV Photos 1.12-1.13

Oversize Folder 1, Poster

6 Never the Sinner by John Logan. September 10-October 27, 1985. Directed by Terry McCabe, sets by Russ Borski, lights by Russ Borski and Mary Quinlan, costumes by Glenn Billings.
26. Program
27. Promotional material
28. Reviews and clippings
29. Script, unmarked

SEE ALSO: Oversize Folder 1, Poster 7

BOX 2

The Gift of the Magi by Ross Lehman and Mark Weston. November 27, 1985-January 5, 1986 [World Premiere]. Directed by Terry McCabe, sets by Roy Hine, lights by Mary Quinlan, costumes by Kerry Fleming.
1. Program
2. Promotional material
3. Reviews and clippings
4. Script, marked with line cuts and changes [Laura Donnelly's (Della) copy]. SEE ALSO: SFT-AV Photos 1.14-1.16

Oversize Folder 1, Poster 8
Chicago Theater Videotape Collection #1.4 The Future adapted and directed by Paul Edwards. June 19-[?], 1986. Designed by W.G. Campbell.
5. Program
6. Promotional material
7. Reviews and clippings
8. Script - marked with light cues, line cuts and changes

SEE ALSO: SFT-AV Photos 1.17-1.18
Oversize Folder 1, Poster 9

Krapp's Last Tape and Theatre II by Samuel Beckett. August 1986. Directed by James O'Reilly, designed by Terry McCabe. Theatre II directed by Terry McCabe. 9. Program
10. Reviews and clippings

SEE ALSO: SFT-AV Photo 1.19
Oversize Folder 1, Poster 10

Hauptmann by John Logan. September 13-November 19, 1986 [World Premiere]. Directed by Terry McCabe, sets by Christopher Allen, lights by Ellen E. Jones, costumes by Jerry Stauduhar. 11. Program
12. Promotional material
13. Reviews and clippings
14. Script - marked with cuts and line changes

SEE ALSO: SFT-AV Photos 1.20-1.20a
Oversize Folder 1, Poster 11
Chicago Theater Videotape
Collection #1.41

The Gift of the Magi by Ross Lehman and Mark Weston. November 29, 1985-December 28, 1986. Directed by Terry McCabe, sets by Roy Hine, lights by Mary Quinlan and Terry McCabe, costumes by Kerry Fleming. 15. Program
16. Promotional material
17. Prompt script - marked with light cues
18. Reviews and clippings

SEE ALSO: Oversize Folder 1, Poster 12
Chicago Theater Videotape Collection #1.6

Emerald Tree Boa by Clifton Campbell. March 4-29, 1987. Directed by Terry McCabe, sets by Eve Cauley. lights by Ellen Jones, costumes by Laura Sandberg. 19. Program
20. Promotional material
21. Reviews and clippings
22. Script

SEE ALSO: SFT-AV Photo 1.21
Oversize Folder 1, Poster 13
Oversize Folder 2, Set Design
Chicago Theater Videotape Collection #1.7

Hauptmann by John Logan. Edinburgh Festival Fringe, August 1987. 23. Reviews and clippings Snow by John Logan. October 7-November 8, 1987 [World Premiere]. A joint production between Pegasus Players and Stormfield. Directed by Terry McCabe, sets by Eve Cauley, lights by Peter Gottlieb, costumes by Jeffrey Kelly. 24. Program
25. Promotional material
26. Reviews and clippings
27. Script - marked 'unproofed' working copy SEE ALSO: Chicago Theater Videotape Collection #1.10

PHOTOGRAPHS

Productions

1.1 Sixty Feet, Six Inches, 1983
1.2-1.4 My Sister in this House, 1984
1.5-1.6 Sons of Corl Gap, 1984
1.7-1.10 The Madman and the Nun, 1984
1.11 Nativos, 1985
1.12-1.13 Porchlife, 1985
1.14-1.16 The Gift of the Magi, 1985-1986 (World Premiere)
1.17-1.18 The Future, 1986
1.19 Krapp’s Last Tape, 1986
1.20-1.20a Hauptmann, 1986
1.21 Emerald Tree Boa, 1987

OVERSIZE Folder 1

1.Sixty Feet, Six Inches, 1983
2. My Sister in this House, 1984
3. Sons of Corl Gap, 1984
4. The Madman and the Nun, 1984
5. Nativos, 1985
6. Porchlife, 1985
7. Never the Sinner, 1985
8. The Gift of the Magi, 1985-1986 (World Premiere)
9. The Future, 1986
10. Krapp’s Last Tape, 1986
11. Hauptmann, 1986
12. The Gift of the Magi, 1985-1986
13. Emerald Tree Boa, 1987 Folder 2 Set Design, Emerald Tree Boa, 1987