“Truth comes in strange clothing,” says Dr. Chad Eric Bergman, professor of theatre and mentor. North Park’s theatre program works to make space for students to explore truth from many perspectives and in many voices. “I love the fact that North Park is an institution that’s founded on Christ-like principles but welcomes all faiths (or no-faith) to the classroom. That kind of dialogue is important to me,” he says.
Bergman has been at the helm of North Park’s theatre program since 2002 and has also maintained a professional career in Chicago’s theatre world as the cofounder and producing artistic director for Akvavit Theatre. At North Park, he developed a theatre curriculum around Chicago’s storefront theatre model, giving students the full experience of producing and performing.
Bergman’s professional career has taken him all over Chicago’s storefront theatre scene, working with Chicago Dramatists, Live Bait, and MPAACT among others. He has been an artist in residence at the Ragdale Foundation and the University of Chicago’s Summer, Inc. He also spent a year abroad on a Fulbright award researching bilingual theatre and received a prestigious grant from the Riksbankens Jubileumsfond to translate and produce Nordic plays in Chicago with Akvavit Theatre.