Lookingglass Theatre Company
When Alice walked through the looking glass, she walked into a world beyond imagination. She walked into a world more involving and intoxicating than any movie or circus, more thrilling than a high-speed chase, more frightening than a child’s nightmare, and more beautiful than a thunderstorm on a hot summer night. She awoke with a new sense of herself in the world and her own power within it.

Reflected in Lewis Carroll’s achievement is the mission of the Lookingglass Theatre Company. Through theatre, which invites, even demands, interaction with its audience, our goal is to fire the imagination with love, to celebrate the human capacity to taste and smell, weep and laugh, create and destroy, and wake up where we first fell --- changed, charged and empowered.

The Lookingglass Theatre Company combines a physical and improvisational rehearsal process centered on ensemble with training in theatre, dance, music, and the circus arts. We seek to redefine the limits of theatrical experience and to make theatre exhilarating, inspirational, and accessible to all.

Theatre in the Water Tower Water Works

On June 14, 2003, Lookingglass Theatre Company opened the doors of its new home in the Water Tower Water Works building and ushered in a new era of theatre in Chicago.

Designed by Morris Architects | Planners, Inc., the project involved the conversion of existing space within this landmark to a flexible, state-of-the-art performance facility housing two theaters and associated public and performer support space such as lobbies, dressing rooms and concession areas.

The main stage allows Lookingglass to reconfigure the stage and audience seating as dictated by the needs of each production, allowing for a maximum capacity of 270 persons, 60 of whom may be seated at the balcony level. There is a multi-purpose studio space, used for theater presentations, special events, classes, rehearsals and intimate performances.