AN Ensemble of Documentary Theatre Makers

Founded in 2011, the Waltzing Mechanics create non-fiction performances from the verbatim stories of real people. Our performances are designed to vividly illustrate complex issues in concrete ways, sparking conversations.

Documentary performances are effective in educational and community settings. Each of our works are programmed with a corresponding participatory workshop that extends the dialogue started by the documentary. They make an impact because:

  • Performances humanize statistics and data.

  • Stories trigger emotional responses.

  • Performances stick with audiences and promote reflections.

  • Stories mobilize people.

  • Performances of non-fiction characters help us to recognize our common humanity.

  • Stories spark new solutions.

  • Performances question our assumptions about our day-to-day lives.

THE mechanics

GENERAL MANAGER

BOB PRESCOTT
bprescott@waltzingmechanics.org

EDUCATION MANAGER

AMY HOPKINS
info@waltzingmechanics.org

executive DIRECTOR

THOMAS MURRAY
tmurray@waltzingmechanics.org

Production manager

KAITLIN THOMAS TAYLOR
ktaylor@waltzingmechanics.org

board of directors

Nicolette Varan, President - J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, N.A.

Thomas Murray, Secretary and Executive Director

Tyler Core, Treasurer - Headshots! with Tyler Core

WALTZING MECHANICS
P.O. BOX 7153
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 60680

OUR INSTAGRAM

#tbt In KATE’S DATES, author Kate Loftus found that too few of the men she dated in Los Angeles rated a second chance. Based on her eponymous blog and interviews with relationship experts, this docu-comedy followed one woman’s hilarious r
Documentary theatre fans! Today is the last day to stream THE LINE, a new interview-based play by @jessicacblank and @ejensen123 featuring the stories of frontline health workers during COVID-19. Stream on YouTube or @publictheaterny ...............
#tbt In BODY/COURAGE, actress Danielle Pinnock created a gripping and intensely personal verbatim play lifted from the interviews of women and men at odds with their own body image. The sum of their stories was a righteous reclamation of self. ......
#tbt The tragic death of Hector Avalos as he rode his bicycle home from work formed the inquiry for THE RIGHT OF WAY, an ensemble docudrama about who our shared urban streets were built to serve. The verbatim script was adapted from interviews with A
#fbf Our first full-length documentary play performed as an ensemble was OVER MY DEAD BODY, about the disinterment of the 150-year old St. Johannes Cemetery from the center of Chicago O’Hare International Airport. The verbatim script was adapte
#tbt As we come into our 10th year as a documentary theatre ensemble, we are excited to look back on our favorite things that interviewees said to us and how those words manifested in performance. Our horizons are broadening for the next 10 years, an
Back in 2014, we had the honor of working with acclaimed actress Danielle Pinnock on the Midwest premiere of her one-woman show @bodycourage . That journey continued in 2016 in a Chicago co-production with @rivendelltheatre under the direction of @me
Kristin Rose Kelly is the newest ensemble member of Waltzing Mechanics, and we are overjoyed to welcome her! As a Brooklyn-based documentary theatre maker, Kristin is also our first Mechanic working primarily outside Chicagoland. Her latest docudrama

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