The Building Stage was founded by Blake Montgomery in late 2004 when he signed the lease for a vacant 3900 square foot bit of industrial warehouse. The space officially opened with the company's debut production of Hamlet in the fall of 2005. With every show since then our circle of collaborators has widened. We have been lucky to have built our shows with an amazing group of creators: actors, designers, technicians, and management. It has taken a while but we have placed organizational development as the top priority for 2008. Hopefully, as a result, you will see this page grow over the next few months as we clarify who we are as a company. In the meantime, we'll keep making the art we always have.
Blake Montgomery, artistic director
Blake is an actor, director, and creator whose approach to theater reflects his training at L'École internationale de théâtre Jacques Lecoq (as well as its scenographic wing, Le Laboratoire d'Etude du Mouvement), the Dell'Arte School of Physical Theater, the Margolis-Brown Movement Theater Lab, and with master clown Ronlin Foreman.
Most recently, Blake appeared as Dr. Prentice in What the Butler Saw at the Court Theater. He has conceived and/or directed the Building Stage productions: Hamlet, Dustbowl Gothic, Moby-Dick, and Noir. Previous to founding the Building Stage, he worked extensively with Redmoon Theater where he performed in Seagull at the Steppenwolf Studio, Nina outdoors in Los Angeles and in Humboldt Park, and Salao: The Worst Kind of Unlucky Upstairs at Chicago Shakespeare.
Blake founded and was the artistic director of Theatre Corps for whom he created and performed a solo show, The Woman in White. He also conceived and directed Theatre Corps' three clown theater productions: Position Doubtful, Stick Knife Here, and If You Don't Have Arms, You Cannot Surrender. "Arms" was reprised as part of City of Fools: Chicago's Festival of Clown Theater.
In Minneapolis, as half of the performance duo MC2, he created and performed several short pieces for cabaret as well as a one-act love story in mask, Max and Alice. The work with MC2 culminated in a full-length piece, Clown Noir: If the Gumshoe Fits. In more traditional theater, he spent three seasons with the Potomac Theatre Project in Washington, D.C.