Byrne and Joyce Piven founded the Piven Theatre Workshop in Evanston 35 years ago, and it still serves the Chicago acting community today as both a theater and training center.
“(Piven) offers so much to not only Evanston but the city of Chicago, in terms of mentoring artists, actors, directors and playwrights,” said Jennifer Green, artistic director at Piven, 927 Noyes St.
Across the street from Al’s Deli sits a large brick building partially shaded by leafy trees. The building, the Noyes Cultural Arts Center, holds several other arts organizations along with Piven.
Henry Godinez, artistic associate at the Goodman Theatre and a Northwestern associate professor, called it an invaluable training program.
“Piven is more serious than some other training centers,” he said. “(It’s) not about a lot of theatrical fireworks; it’s about honesty.”
Godinez said he spent a lot of time with the Piven crowd over the years. He worked with Co-founder Byrne Piven on voice-over training when they shared a talent agent in the 1980s and used to play softball with famous actor Jeremy Piven (son of the founding pair), from the HBO series “Entourage,” and John Cusack.
The husband-and-wife duo of Joyce and Byrne Piven helped found the Playwrights Theatre, a Chicago group that went on to create Compass Players and Second City.
Jodi Gottberg, the theater’s executive assistant, came to Piven from Columbia College. She found out about the theater when her friends attended one of its shows.
Gottberg said the theater’s roots in Second City and the Compass Players had a role in cultivating a high-quality workshop.
“It’s an equity theater of a professional grade, so it’s not a storefront,” she said.
The theater offers classes for fourth- to eighth-grade students, high school students and adults. Subjects include puppets and masks, improvisation and musical theater.
Green (Communication ’93) launched her career at the local theater with an internship during her time as an NU student. Soon after, she started teaching and directing.
Green, who worked closely with co-founder Joyce Piven, said Piven’s creative vision, coupled with her experience at different theaters nationwide, helped to make the Piven Theatre a house of artistic mentorship.
Her most poignant memories of the theater include acting in “Sadie in Love,” which Joyce Piven directed, and directing a show of “Great Expectations,” in which the co-founder acted.
“Joyce hadn’t acted on the Piven stage in years, and it was great that she took the risk to take off the hat,” Green said. “I think we really have a great artistic partnership.”
Green said this type of mentoring, where the student can become the teacher, distinguishes Piven from other theaters in the Chicago area.
“Piven Theatre is an incubator of talent,” she said. “We make efforts to having and creating and underpinning an entire artistic community so that yes, we’re an equity theater putting on fantastic original plays and reworked classics, but we also have a really vital wing in terms of our training center.”
