GOODLY CREATURES THEATRE
About Goodly Creatures
Wonderful team of very creative people that we, at Martini Room in Elgin, have had a pleasure to work with. Contact Katrina! Her Goodly Creatures Theatre is unique, fun, fresh, and super entertaining!
Martini Room, Elgin
Google Review
What a lovely team of artists! I always keep an eye out for opportunities to work alongside, see productions, and be in community with Goodly Creatures.
Gavin Struempler
Google Review
A joy to see this marvelous troupe! We try never to miss a production. You can't go wrong seeing their performances.
John Larson
Google Review
Goodly Creatures consistently produces excellent shows. They find up and coming local talent. I’m constantly pleased by the shows I attend. With Goodly Creatures name on the placard I am confident that I will be entertained.
Sharon Hrycewicz
Google Review
OUR VISION
Founded in 2018, Goodly Creatures is a traveling theatre company based in Kane County, IL that specializes in breathing new life into classic works of literature. To fulfill our duty, we produce original plays, and established adaptations of canonized works of literature for the stage in modern, edgy, and thrilling ways. While we are most well known for our Shakespeare in the Parks Series, our stage productions have been called Brechtian, Avant-Garde, and even "brave," and we embrace these titles as the fresh voice of the modern combined with the universal and timeless wisdom of the classics!
WORKING WITH LOCAL ARTISTS
A final performance of any theatrical endeavor combines the work of many artists, and we reflect that in our production philosophy. Since our founding, we have collaborated with a wide variety of local artists and organizations to create an inclusive environment for artists in various media and places. For instance, our costuming team collaborated with Chris Skonieczny of Top Notch Tattoo in downtown Elgin for our original production, Nevermore. We've held art galleries in the lobby of the Elgin Arts Showcase in association with The Awakenings Project for Syrris' Goodly Creatures, Bodine's The Yellow Wallpaper, and Syrris' Nevermore. Our latest collaboration is the featured work of local artist Holly Bud, for the poster art for our Shakespeare in the Park production of Love's Labour's Lost and The Tempest.
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
Our productions are community-centric, promoting local businesses around our performance venues. We've hosted workshops with Sugar and Rhyme Coffeehouse and Schaumburg Library. We've hosted several live events at the Blue Box Cafe, including our Lit Ladies series, Poets' Lounge, and Write Night. We collaborated with the Martini Room for After Parties for our original production of Ghosts of Christmas Past, and Wilde's An Ideal Husband. We also worked with Elgin Public House to offer a "dinner theatre" special in association with An Ideal Husband. We have hosted fundraisers for the Trevor Project with our production of Goodly Creatures, To Write Love on Her Arms in collaboration with Lunacek Photography, and Scholarship America with our production of Ghosts of Christmas Past. We believe the arts uplift the community, and seek to create economic opportunity for the small businesses and charitable organizations around us.
COVID-19
During the period of time when many theatres went "dark" or virtual during the COVID-19 pandemic, we continued to produce our virtual production of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, and continued to offer paid opportunities for actors by producing our original mystery mini-series, Ghastly Creatures, our first episode for the Family Services Association of Greater Elgin's Halloween Fundraiser, and the following three sponsored by the Elgin Cultural Arts Commission.
OUR MISSION
Our mission is to produce theatrical experiences that are economically accessible, personal, exhilarating, and contemporary for our audiences. We believe that our purpose as a company is to uplift our community through art by collaboration with small businesses, charitable organizations, and offering paid opportunities for our hired artists in and around the Kane County Area. We've been recognized three years in a row for our efforts by the Kane County Chronicle, and in 2023, we won first place for the Best Live Theatre in Kane County for the third year in a row. Click to learn more about our past performances.
OUR FOUNDER
Katrina Syrris
Founder, President & CEO
Katrina Syrris is a speaker, actor, director, producer, and playwright, who currently serves on the board of the Elgin Cultural Arts Commission. She has been involved in theatre since she was four years old and has starred in and directed shows consistently for over 20 years. She is best known for directing and producing Goodly's Shakespeare in the Parks series, which tours venues across the Greater Chicagoland area every summer. She is also the creator of Goodly's original workshop series, "Half Baked" and "Flowstate" where she explores professional development topics.
Original plays she has written, directed, and produced include, Goodly Creatures, Nevermore, and Ghosts of Christmas Past (Or, Dickens, Capra, and Seuss Walk into a Bar). Katrina has also been seen at the Martini Room in Elgin, performing her original hour-long stand up comedy sets, "Mind the Skeletons," "Quarter Life Crisis," "Not Your Venus," and "Luck Ain't a Lady." She also directs and produces Goodly's special events for businesses.
In 2024, Katrina was a proud nominee of the Margaret Hillis Award for the Arts at the YWCA Leadership Luncheon recognizing women for their leadership in the community.
As an actress, she has been nominated by Broadway World Chicago for Best Actress for her appearance as Alice in The Drowning Girls and for best Ensemble for The Drowning Girls and Boeing Boeing (Gabriella).
Other favorite roles include Woman #3 in The Big Meal, Helena in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Young Woman in Machinal, Viola in Twelfth Night, Sooze in SubUrbia, Annie in Over the Tavern, and Annie in The Miracle Worker.
OUR ADVISORY BOARD
Nathan Chesterfield
Advisory Board Member
Nathan has been a part of the Goodly Creatures ensemble since 2021. His previous performances with Goodly Creatures include Thomas in Goodly's original production of Nevermore, Joey in Goodly's original production of Goodly Creatures: Shakespeare's Sonnets for Modern Times, Sebastian in Love's Labour's Lost, Sebastian in The Tempest, as various characters in "Pop-up Shakespeare" at the Inspired Elgin Arts Festival, and Oberon & Theseus in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. A favorite role he has played is Jimmy in Almost, Maine at Elgin Community College.
Steve Delaney
Advisory Board Member
A native of Chicago's south side, Steve graduated from Loyola University Chicago with a B.A. in Theatre, and went on to earn an M.B.A. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He has spent over 25 years working in the legal industry and is currently a Litigation Support Manager at the law firm Benesch, Friedlander, Coplan & Aronoff.
A longtime resident of St Charles, IL, Steve has continued his passion for theatre. This is his first year serving on the Advisory Board for Goodly Creatures Theatre. He has performed in numerous productions for local theater companies including Goodly Creatures Theatre, Independent Players, Elgin Theatre Company, WT Productions, and Vero Voce. He also enjoys a recurring role as the Conductor in The Polar Express for the Fox River Trolley Museum. In addition to acting, Steve also writes fiction and completed the paranormal thrillers, The Talented, and Mind Games.
Kristina Drendel
Advisory Board Member
Kristina Drendel is a Chicagoland actress who loves working with Goodly Creatures and is excited to be an advisory board member! She's previously been seen with Goodly in "Nevermore", "Twelfth Night", "Love's Labour's Lost", "A Catigny Night's Dream", "Inspired Elgin", and "The Tempest". She holds a master's degree in English from Arizona State University and a bachelor's degree in musical theatre from Columbia College Chicago. When not onstage, she works as a public affairs specialist and she has also previously worked as a writer and editor.
Justin Green
Advisory Board Member
Justin Green is an actor, editor, and director currently working throughout the Elgin area. He has
lived in multiple states performing and working many walks of life before returning to his
hometown to service the greater area with his personal brand of comedy and errors.
He has directed, filmed, and edited multiple music videos. He has performed with Goodly for
their Summer Shakespeare productions as Berowne in Love's Labours Lost,
Trinculo in The Tempest and Demetris in A Midsummer Night's Dream, as well as Oscar Wilde
in their Lit Ladies series. Other roles of note are Michael in Two Rooms, Nerius in Mary Poppins,
and Barrel in Urinetown.
Joanna Mikosz
Advisory Board Member
Joanna is thrilled to serve on the Board of Directors for Goodly Creatures. Since her first performance in local community theatre at the age of 10, she has loved both performing and being involved in the community. She holds a Bachelor's Degree in Arts from the University of Redlands and had the privilege of studying abroad at the University of Glasgow, where she furthered her love of different styles of performing (and travel!). Her first foray back into theatre post-college was in 2023 with Goodly Creatures' summer performance of "Love's Labour's Lost" and she has been honored to perform with them in several shows since. Joanna currently works as a Study Abroad Advisor assisting students with studying abroad in the Pacific Rim. She also enjoys volunteering with her local retreat benefiting teens in high school.
Cameron Rathjen
Advisory Board Member
With an academic and professional background in the sciences, Cameron is excited to work on creative pursuits. Cameron is a hobby enthusiast with a passion for creating things. After renovating his entire house, Cameron has dabbled in hobbies ranging from rug-making, to blacksmithing. He puts his passions to good use for Goodly Creatures Theatre, making props and set pieces. Cameron has also stage managed for Goodly and performed as the President in Nevermore, as Anthony in Goodly Creatures: Shakespeare's Sonnets for Modern Times, and as swing for Holofernes and Constable Dull in Love's Labour's Lost. Follow Cameron's crafting adventures on Instagram: @thereddragoncrafts
OUR CREW
Jack Cannon
Resident Lighting Designer
Jack Cannon is a Chicago-based professional theatre and festival lighting designer and stage manager. He is one of the youngest designers working professional theatre in Chicago. Jack is an affiliate member of the International Association of Lighting Designers for theatrical design and a member of the Illinois Theatre Association. Jack has international recognition for his designs and lighting control development. Jack’s most notable credits for lighting design include the licensed productions of RENT, Chicago, Jasper in Deadland, as well as the World Premiere of God Help Us.
AWARDS & RECOGNITION
