Staging Chicago: Performative urbanism from the White City to the Entertainment Machine

From the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893 to the turn of the twenty-first century, Chicago theater companies have put urban communities on stage in theatrical productions at strategically located theaters to develop and maintain a public forum for both entertainment and a democratic exchange of ideas. I use the term "performative urbanism" to describe the various ways that theater represents, participates in, and challenges urban life and public policy. Theatrical performances represent urban life and environments, ranging from crowds in front of the Administration Building at the World's Columbian Exposition to the domestic interactions of a working-class family in Chicago's Black Belt. Theater companies also, however, contribute to the economic fortunes of cities like Chicago by developing theater buildings, employing directors, actors, designers, and writers, and creating venues for varied and multi-layered social interactions, including the formation of audiences and communities. Through these intersecting social performances, theater creates a vital public space where audiences form, share experiences, and develop social bonds. It is a public sphere where bodies on stage and bodies in seats and bodies at the bar in the lobby talk about ideas, aesthetics, urban issues, and public policies.;This dissertation is structured around five chapters. The first chapter outlines performative urbanism as the theoretical framework for my project. Then, I work through the history of Chicago theater in four period-based chapters. These chapters focus on specific moments when Chicagoans were struggling to redefine the city and their relationship with it. In each of these moments, theater played a role in representing various urban ideologies, from the City Beautiful and segregation to postindustrial narratives of decline, and advocating for alternative visions of the city. The plays, productions, and theaters that I feature in these chapters provide rich case studies that illustrate how theater represents and participates in the city.