In 2003, a bunch of theater addicts started exchanging emails about working together. The result was a new organization: Artists’ Ensemble Theater, an Equity professional theater founded in 2004, under the leadership of Producing Artistic Director Richard Raether.

AET started as a nomadic troupe, but by the second season, a partnership was formed with Rockford University. Since then, AET has performed in the beautiful Clark Arts Center on the campus of Rockford University in northern Illinois.

The titles of AET productions may not always (or often) be familiar. AET primarily produces plays that are new to the region and, in fourteen instances, were world premieres. However, AE audiences have grown in size and enthusiasm for twenty seasons and counting. 

Small stage, big ideas, adventurous theater: at AE, we build character(s).

 

Our Mission

AE is committed to ensemble-driven theater that challenges both actors and audiences.

“Superb… the best talent seen on local stages.
A marvelous celebration of what makes theater special.”
— Rockford Register Star

PRODUCTIONS TO DATE

  • Season 1 – 2004-2005
    Dinner With Friends
    Inspecting Carol
    Over the River and Through the Woods

  • Season 2 – 2005-2006
    Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? 
    Greetings
    Nickel and Dimed
    On The Verge

  • Season 3 – 2006-2007
    I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change Jeeves Intervenes
    Tuesdays With Morrie
    Red Herring

  • Season 4 – 2007-2008
    Laughing Stock
    Almost, Maine
    Rabbit Hole
    The Dining Room

  • Season 5 – 2008-2009
    Our Town
    Murder Center Stage
    The Retreat From Moscow
    Radio Gals

  • Season 6 – 2009-2010
    Jeeves in Bloom
    Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol
    Might Have Gone Fishing
    Italian American Reconciliation
    Radio Gals     (summer encore) 

  • Season 7 – 2010-2011
    The Underpants
    Moon Over the Brewery
    Mauritius
    Rounding Third

  • Season 8 – 2011-2012
    Incorruptible
    Indian Blood
    Collected Stories
    Gee’s Bend

  • Season 9 – 2012-2013
    Jeeves Takes a Bow
    It’s A Wonderful Life
    Brooklyn Boy
    Meet Me In St. Louis
    (with Rockford University)
    Mrs. Mannerly
    The 39 Steps

  • Season 10 – 2013-2014
    The Mystery of Irma Vep
    God of Carnage
    Crumbs from the Table of Joy
    The Gifts of the Magi
    The Shakespeare Conspiracy

  • Season 11 – 2014-2015
    The Importance of Being Earnest
    A Christmas Carol
    Good People
    Will Rogers: An American Original
    The Spitfire Grill

  • Season 12 – 2015-2016
    Jeeves at Sea
    Twentieth Century
    (with Rockford University)
    Outside Mullingar
    Visiting Mr. Green
    Women Who Steal

  • Season 13 – 2016-2017
    Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike
    Talley’s Folly
    The Last Romance
    Whistling in the Dark, 
    A Sherlock Holmes Adventure

  • Season 14 – 2017-2018
    Steel Magnolias
    The Lion in Winter
    It's a Wonderful Life
    Best of Enemies
    Dying for Attention
    The Woman in Black

  • Season 15 – 2018-2019
    Women in Jeopardy
    A Picasso
    A Christmas Carol
    Silent Sky
    Chapatti
    Sherlock Holmes & the Precarious Position

  • Season 16 – 2019-2020
    The Fox on the Fairway
    Every Brilliant Thing
    It’s a Wonderful Life
    Cry it Out

  • Season 17 – 2020-2021
    During closure, AET produced a podcast of original radio plays: Mysterious Journey.

  • Season 18 – 2021-2022
    Jeeves Saves the Day
    Ben Butler
    Murder on the Air

  • Season 19 – 2022-2023
    The Outsider
    Jumping to Delusions
    The Man in the Brown Suit

  • Season 20 – 2023-2024
    The Tin Woman
    Lifespan of a Fact
    Julie & Jane
    Annabella in July