About Face Theatre was founded in 1995 to address the lack of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, and queer (LGBTQ+) voices in the American theatrical canon. Over the years the company has evolved and adapted in many ways while staying true to the core principles of producing remarkable new plays, offering groundbreaking educational and leadership programs for and with queer youth, and demonstrating an unwavering commitment to advancing LGBTQ+ equity through theatre.
The name for About Face Theatre was inspired by the concept of, “a turning of the tide – changing perceptions and the direction of discourse by, of, and about queer lives and experiences. (The company) was founded at a time when queer people were fighting so hard just to be seen, heard and respected.”
– Kyle Hall, Founding Co-Artistic Director
Building the Future of Queer Theatre
AFT’s founding Co-Artistic Directors Kyle Hall and Eric Rosen shared a vision for the company to engage with nationally recognized and emerging artists. Within the first two seasons, AFT adapted three new plays and worked with Tony Award-winning playwright Mary Zimmerman to develop a fourth world premiere, receiving public praise and garnering ten Jeff and After Dark awards. In 2002, Moises Kaufman and Doug Wright approached AFT for assistance in developing I Am My Own Wife prior to its future as a Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning production that was produced around the world. These early partnerships were instrumental in establishing AFT as an important site for the development of new LGBTQ+ work.
In 1998, a group of artists joined the company to form About Face Youth Theatre (AFYT) to engage with queer youth in theatre, activism, and leadership programs and to build community across generations. Within the next year, due to the national outcry over the murder of Matthew Shepard and the emergence of a new wave of LGBTQ+ youth organizing, the program quickly expanded into a year-round youth-led set of programs, including original play development, onsite workshops, leadership programs, and touring shows. Through the years, dozens of teaching artists in many disciplines and hundreds of young people have passed through AFT’s Education Programs. They continue to evolve today to meet the expressed needs of queer youth. One example of how the program expands beyond the stage can be seen in this About Face Youth Theatre: Youth Speak Out report from 2002.
Since the founding days, the company has continued to evolve under different leadership teams and in response to shifting needs of the times. From 2007 to 2013, Bonnie Metzgar served as AFT’s Artistic Director. Metzgar’s directing and producing credits include The Pride, The Homosexuals, Pony, Stupid Kids, and Taylor Mac’s The Young Ladies Of… Metzgar also launched the innovative XYZ Festival of New Works and expanded the company’s circle of Artistic Associates.
From 2013 to 2017, Andrew Volkoff served as AFT’s Artistic Director. His directing and producing credits include a reimagined production of I Am My Own Wife by Doug Wright; Brahman/i by Aditi Kapil, Abraham Lincoln Was a Faggot by Bixby Elliot, after all the terrible things i do by A. Rey Pamatmat, and The Temperamentals by Jon Morans. Volkoff introduced the OUT FRONT series in 2013 to develop new works exploring LGBTQ+ themes, and created First DrAAft, a reading series focused solely on the works of AFT Artistic Associates.
In 2017, Megan Carney became AFT’s Artistic Director. Megan was a co-founder of About Face Youth Theatre and an Artistic Associate for many years before stepping into this leadership role. Her directing and producing credits so far include The Gulf by Audrey Cefaly, the ensemble-devised 20/20, The Magnolia Ballet by Terry Guest, Mosque4Mosque by Omer Abbas Salem, and others. Megan co-founded two new programs, the Green Room Collective and Re/Generation Studio, designed to create stability and networking opportunities for artists emerging from the pandemic and building the future of queer theatre together.
Awards and Recognitions
About Face has been recognized with numerous industry awards including Jeff Awards, After Dark Awards, and recognitions from the Black Theater Alliance and the American Theatre Wing. The company has also received the Esteem Award for Artistic Expression from PrideIndex.com, Special Recognition Award from PFLAG National (Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays National), the Illinois Theatre Association Award of Excellence in Professional Theatre, the Human Rights Campaign Community Equality Award, a Human First Award from Horizons Community Services, a Champions Award from Gay Games – Chicago, and Induction into City of Chicago’s LGBT Hall of Fame.