In honor of the company’s endeavors over the last 25 years, the Jeff Awards recently announced Trap Door Theatre as the recipient of the 2019 Non-Equity Special Award.

Founded by Artistic Director Beata Pilch, Trap Door has made a name for itself through challenging yet obscure works, whether it’s a European classic rarely seen in the United States, an untarnished piece of American literature, or the playwright living next door.

Along with artistic partner Nicole Wiesner, Pilch created a vision early on that weaves theatre, film, and multimedia throughout the company. Making it’s home in a former machine shop, Trap Door has produced 116 shows, including thirty-five American premieres, seventeen world premieres, ten European tours in six countries, and performed in festivals throughout France, Hungary, Romania, Poland, and the Republic of Moldova. Recently the organization stretched its boundaries beyond Bucktown with the formation of Trap Door International, a sister company that produces out of Barcelona, Spain.

Trap Door has been dubbed “the best avant-garde theater in the city,” by theatre journalist Lucia Mauro and over the years has garnered significant awards and praise, including past Jeff Awards for Lebensraum (2000), Nana (2003), Beholder (2009), First Ladies (2011), the word progress on my mother’s lips doesn’t ring true (2012), La Bete (2015), and How to Explain the History of Communism to Mental Patients (2016).

The Jeff Awards will celebrate Trap Door’s mission to bring obscure works of literature to life at the 2019 Non-Equity Jeff Awards on June 3rd. The ceremony will be hosted by Breon Arzell at the Athenaeum Theatre. Tickets are $45 in advance and $50 day of.