The Poor Theater is an actor-centric acting company in Chicago comprised of four members: Artistic Director Will Crouse and actors Michael Medford, Abbey Smith, and Dillon Kelleher. The company is dedicated to staging shows that haven’t previously been produced in Chicago. “David Mamet is great, [but] who’s the next David Mamet? I want to be giving those people voices in Chicago for people to see who these great new young authors are,” Crouse says.
“We usually specifically pick shows based on the actors in our company. [Actors] we think would be good fits for [the roles] or [roles] we think are really challenging or exciting that the company can bring something new to.” Sam Holcroft’s “Edgar & Annabel” (opening Feb. 16) was selected because of how well Crouse thought it would fit their company.
When director Brad Akin brought “Edgar & Annabel” to Crouse, he immediately thought of Medford for the leading role of Nick. Nick is at a big turning point in his life, as is company member Medford, who is going to graduate school in the fall for physics. “[It] just felt right that he would play Nick, who’s also going through sort of shedding of
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