CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Drive down Ridge Avenue in Chicago's Edgewater neighborhood and you might miss it. Tucked away behind a small storefront on the North side is the pioneering Rivendell Theater Emsemble.
"My husband and I both work in theater. We came to Chicago from New York 27 years ago," recalls Tara Mallen, founder, artistic firector at Rivendell Theater Ensemble. "My husband quickly got an agent; he was getting auditions, left and right and I wasn't.
"Women my age in my 20s were a dime a dozen and there were an eighth of the roles available."
Mallen was looking for equity houses, theaters that hired union actors but in the early 90s there were few, especially for women. So she started working as a sound board op for her friend's space.
"I almost single-handedly ruined their show running their sound," she laughed. "But they still gave me their space for a month to workshop, which went really well. I produced another show. I was really blown away by the community support and encouragement to make your own work. I don't think that exists anywhere else."
Mallen said she decided her new company would be dedicated to advancing the lives of women through theatre. That is how Rivendell was born.
"Twenty-five years ago, there were barely any female playwrights produced, but now we're seeing the paradigm shift which is really exciting," she said. "Now I make sure if there was a female lighting designer that I could give the job to, I sought her out. I work really hard in finding female sound designers, female props designers, female directors."
Giving women the lead on both sides of the theater production is important, she said, because it shows who is telling the story — and that perspective matters, she said.
Many small theatres like Rivendell are able to evolve thanks in part to the Chicago-based Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, which supports more than 50 Chicago small theatre companies with annual budgets below $1 million, to help them strengthen operations and focus on producing works and furthering initiatives that are relevant to both the artists and their neighborhood audiences.
"There are a handful of foundations in Chicago that really got behind the storefront theater movement," the founder said. "We couldn't do this without foundations that trust that we can manage our own business and believe in the kind of work that we're doing for audiences in an intimate way."
Mallen could be called a pioneer in her industry. She was creating work and producing work for women more than two decades ago. She says she's glad the culture is catching up.
"Feminism is now a good thing again," she said. "When I started this company it was a dirty word. I admit people still write you off as 'chick theater' but we have men working for us too. I believe we can use our tiny little stage to change the world. As the culture is changing, we try to lead that change."
The Rivendell Ensemble is currently in rehearsals for its new show, "Laura and the Sea", which kicks off their 25th season. The show runs from Oct. 25 through Dec. 8.