The Prop Thtr, founded by two Columbia College students, has been Chicago’s home of radical art since 1981. Beginning its history with an original translation of Brecht’s “Puntila and Matti, His Hired Man,” The Prop has dedicated itself to creating fresh and challenging new work featuring local artists and ordinary people alike. With the guiding principles of inclusion, diversity of thought and experience, and a total lack of pretension, Prop Thtr has shapeshifted and survived, fighting and succeeding in generating a wide variety of new work by so many different people for 40 years.

​

Like many storefront theatres, the various works of Prop existed in their time, then remained dormant for years. That is, until a board member decided to investigate the history of the theatre and found decades of materials that paint a picture of just how great of an impact Prop has made on the Chicago theatre community. Below you will find an archive, separated into distinct sections of Prop's story to mark the magnificent and meaningful ways that the theatre has evolved. This is not a complete history, but one that is living and breathing with the legacy that Prop continues to leave.