Our Community
Prologue exists because of our audience and supporters. We thank those in the community who engage with us every day. If we don't know you yet, we'd like to hear from you! Connect with us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter!
About the Company
Prologue incorporated as a not-for-profit organization in Chicago, Illinois in 2008.
Mission statement:
The past is prologue: We produce stories from underrepresented voices throughout history. Our relevant and diverse works empower our community to consider where we go from here.
The Prologue Team
Paul Chakrin, Artistic AssociateA native of Chicago, Paul has been involved in theatre in one way or another for more than 20 years. As an actor, Paul's favorite roles have been in Hamlet (Claudius, DreamLogic Theatre Works), The Tempest (Prospero, DreamLogic Theatre Works), Twelve Angry Men (Juror #1, Alchemy Theatre), Line (Arnall, Something Clever Productions), Lost in Yonkers (Eddie, Village Players), and We Have Always Lived in the Castle (Dr Levy, City Lit Theatre). He made his Prologue debut as Ulysses S Grant in Social Movements and Lesser Wars in the 2010 Landmark Festival. When he's not acting, Paul is a student at Northeastern Illinois University working towards his degree in accounting.
Margo Gray, Artistic Director
Margo is a director and theatre jill-of-all-trades. For Prologue, she has directed Mae West's Sex, The Cat's Meow: a vaudeville, and Vladamir Nabokov's The Wood Sprite, and Dream of a Common Language. Other favorite projects include The Wonder: a Woman Keeps a Secret! (Point of Contention), What of the Night?, the world premiere of Strong Voice (Halcyon Theatre) and Poor Bibi (Milwaukee Rep Lab). She spent a year as a Fulbright Fellow working and doing research on stage movement and theatre pedagogy at the Moscow Art Theatre School and the Schukin School in Moscow, Russia. She has also worked at the Milwaukee Repertory Theater, where she assistant directed for Timothy Douglas and Joe Hanreddy, among others. Margo is a graduate of Grinnell College. Learn more about her work at margogray.com.
Carrie Hardin, Production Manager
Carrie Hardin is a theatre artist, based in Chicago. =Carrie designed costumes for Prologue's production of Mae West's Sex, as well as Ribbon Around a Bomb. She's appeared in Prologue's Social Movements and Lesser Wars as part of Prologue's Landmark Festival 2010, and Dream of a Common Language. She also directed the world premiere of Las Dos Fridas for the 2011 Landmark Festival.
Liking to be as well-rounded as possible, Carrie has worked extensively as an actor, costumer, director, scenic designer, voice coach and Commedia dell'Arte performer. As an actor, she has performed with Promethean, Point of Contention, CityLit, and T.U.T.A., among others. She directed the Chicago premiere of Tim Robbin's Dead Man Walking, as well as several new works by Chicago playwrights, and The Vagina Monologues in Rome, Italy. Carrie studied Scenic Design with Tony-nominated designer Daniel Ostling, and has designed sets, costumes, and props for several shows in and around Chicago. Carrie has worked professionally as a mime and circus artist in both Chicago and Italy. She holds a BA in Theatre from Loyola University Chicago.
Lara Janson, Artistic Associate
Lara is thrilled to join Prologue as an Artistic Associate. She is a graduate of Grinnell College, where she studied English and gender & women's studies, along with voice and acting. Lara has performed street theatre in South America and used Theatre of the Oppressed methods in outreach to teens at risk for human trafficking. Lara moved to Chicago two years ago. Chicago credits include: Landmark Festival, 2010 and 2011 (Prologue); Heather McDonald's Dream of a Common Language (Prologue); and E.M. Lewis's Strong Voice (Halcyon). Ms. Janson currently researches the commercial sex industry in Chicago for a local anti-trafficking organization and has begun a graduate program in sociology.
Angela Alise Johnson, Artistic Associate
Angela Alise Johnson is an actress/singer originally from Kansas City, Missouri. She holds a BA in Theatre and Sociology from Loyola University-Chicago. She has worked with Prologue on Ribbon around a Bomb and Tatjana in Color. Some of her favorite credits include: A Raisin in the Sun, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, and A Crescent City Comedy of Errors all at Loyola. Rent (Ouroboros/Big Noise Theatre), For Colored Girls… (InnateVolution Theatre) The Wiz (Dominican University), and Church (Red Tape Theatre). When not onstage, you can find her working as the Office Manager at Steppenwolf Theatre Company.
Amanda Renee King, Administrative Director
Amanda Renee King is an actress, writer and singer. Her previous work has included Polly Peachum in The Beggar's Opera, Ru in Beckett's Come and Go and work as a performer and director with the Neverland Players troupe in Iowa. She holds a B.A. in Psychology from Grinnell College, which was heavily supplemented with theater coursework. Amanda has served
as a producer for Sex by Mae West, Dream of a Common Language, and Landmark 2010. Last summer, she directed the world premiere of 1600 W. Wonderland for 20% Theatre's Snapshots Festival. She adapted two works for Landmark 2011: Anyuta by Anton Chekhov and Las Dos Fridas, based on the diary of Frida Kahlo.
Whitney A. Morse,
Literary & Casting Director
Whitney A. Morse recently completed her MFA in Acting from Columbia University School of the Arts in New York City. She studyied under Kristin Linklater, Anne Bogart, Andrei Serban, Andrea Haring, and Larry Singer. She has performed all over the US from Chicago to New York and even Aspen Colorado. Some of her favorite roles include: Claire in Proof, The Bakers Wife in Into The Woods, Meg in Little Women, and of course Ryan's Mother in Ryan's List.
