Forts!
Build Your Own Adventure
Co-created with Eleanor Kahn, Jeffrey Levin, Christian Libonati, Andrew Marikis, and Carley Walker
Winner of the TYA/USA Artistic Innovation Award
Step into the hugest living room you've ever seen and let your imagination run wild. Build the biggest fort, the tallest fort, the coziest fort -- maybe even a castle. Audience of all ages leads the adventure in this interactive experience. Supported by a sensory world of sound and light, with nearly-invisible facilitation supports collaboration and connection. Forts! Build Your Own Adventure is an experience unlike any other.
Select Media and Press
Fox9 News Interview with Shayne Wells - Fort-Building Adventure Awaits at Children's Theatre Company
BroadwayWorld - Interview with Julie Ritchey
PerformInk Chicago - Review: Forts! Build Your Own Adventure
Reduced Shakespeare Podcast - Interview with director Julie Ritchey and designer Eleanor Kahn
Creative Team and Production History
Commissioned in 2018 by Filament Theatre in Chicago, IL.
Originally produced by Christian Libonati.
Original Designs by Andrew Marikis, Eleanor Kahn, Jeffrey Levin, and Carley Walker.
Remounted 2019, 2020, 2022, 2024, 2025.
Re-imagined in 2023 by Filament Theatre at Writers Theatre in Glencoe, IL.
Produced by Reji Simon and Caroline Watson
Lighting design by Joel Zishuk and sound assistance by Tyler Hughes
Young People's Theatre of Toronto (Toronto, Ontario), 2026
Children's Theatre Company (Minneapolis, MN), 2026