About

Founded in 1818 in Winnetka on the banks of Lake Michigan, "Pair of Ducks Theatre Works" remained relatively unknown until 2020. Founding Artistic Director, Perry Docks, pulled together a collection of highly creative and imaginative members of the theatre community spanning a wide variety of different backgrounds, styles, and training. Shortly afterwards, he left for parts unknown, but not before leaving everything in the capable hands of the current Artistic Director, Jane Allyson. In 2021, she boldly renamed the "Parrot Talks Theatre Works" into "Paradox Theatre Works".

 

Jane was on a roll. She decided not to stop there, and introduced the concept of Schrödinger's cat theatre, whereby everything is both old and new, true and false, real and fake, etc. In other words, the “Paradox School” of theatre was born.

 

Like an orphan form a Dicken’s novel, Paradox Theatre Works was left on the doorstep of the Winnetka Community House, looking for a new home, an old family, a hot meal, and a cold drink….all the things necessary to be a truly great theatre company. After much discussion and a late night “winner takes all” game of “Risk” to decide the future of the fledgling theatre company (no animals were harmed in the quest for world domination), a new Enterprise was commissioned and scheduled to cast off on its maiden voyage October 15, 2021. That venture, “Cocktails and Monologues,” was the first theatrical performance to be given the rating, “NCC-1701” for adult humor and intelligence.

 

Jane was still on a roll. She decided, once again, not to stop there.

 

After consulting a local fortune teller, who also wanted to be an actor (feign surprise), Jane and her rag-tag bunch of thespians and waitstaff from every restaurant in the area decided to make a go of this theatre company. What could have been a three-hour tour has turned into the longest attempt to get anyone to read into the fourth paragraph of this introduction in order to entice you into finding out what Paradox Theatre Works is all about.

 

Ready for an adventure? Be bold….support local theatre and let's see how far this rabbit hole goes.