The Terror Cottas

01/06/2026

Experienced stage managers, come work with The Terror Cottas and the amazing folks at Fat Theatre Project! We are fun, funny, inclusive, ethical, and NICE! We're a freaking joy to work with, in short, and we'd love to have you. See below for everything:

Fat Theatre Project is seeking an experienced, non-Equity Stage Manager for the run of Kassandra at the Top of the World, a world premiere written and directed by Eileen Tull. This is a co-production with The Terror Cottas.

Fat Theatre Project Mission Statement:
Fat Theatre Project tells stories by/about/for/with fat people. Fatphobia appears in many areas of life: social, medical, creative, just to name a few. FTP seeks to break stigma and shatter expectations of how fat creatives can participate in the arts - whether through stories directly addressing fatness or through work that has nothing to do with the specific size of the artists involved. Our work is bold, unapologetic, and brimming with joy. All bodies welcome.

Terror Cottas Mission Statement:
To build audience and performance opportunities for experimental playwrights by sharing resources and networks among member playwrights and associate artists, applying for funding, and educating and welcoming audiences with radical hospitality.

Summary:
Kassandra at the Top of the World is an exploration of the Greek prophetess cursed never to be believed. This piece finds Kassandra on a mountaintop, bearing witness to the annihilation of humanity from climate collapse—at once mythic and urgently contemporary.
Rehearsals
March 3-6th - 6-9:30PM
March 7th - 12-5PM
March 10-13th - 6-9:30PM
March 14th - 12-5PM
March 17-20th - 6-9:30PM
March 21st - 12-5PM

Tech
March 24-27th - 6-10PM
March 28th - 12-5PM
March 30th - March 31st - 6-10PM
April 1st - Preview at 7PM

Performances at 7PM
April 2nd - 4th
April 9th - 11th
April 16th - 18th
April 20th (Industry)
April 23rd - 25th

All rehearsals and performances take place at Berger Park Cultural Center in Edgewater - 6205 N. Sheridan Road.
Rehearsal Stipend is $300
All races, ethnicities, sizes, and genders are encouraged to apply.

Please email Artistic Director Eileen Tull at [email protected] with a resume and cover letter to apply.

12/04/2025

7 track album

09/26/2025

Part of The Terror Cottas’ mission is to give access to working class artists:

Rich kids are way more likely to grow up to be artists. And that's because capitalism doesn't give us all the freedom to reach our creative potentials.

05/19/2025

I want to take a moment to recognize what a funny, creative, ethical, and effective director Eileen Tull is -- one of the best working in Chicago right now. So, so good with actors, and staging ideas pour out of her. If you get the chance to collaborate with Eileen or hire her, you should!

05/17/2025

We hadn't heard the wonderful pre-show talk given by our wonderful ASM and "Ostrich, IN Tour Guide", Lou McNaughton (thank you, dust storm!) until tonight, but, WOW, they are killing it!

Thank you, Lou, for guiding the audience through the mansion (can you believe some people have never experienced immersive theatre before?) and giving superior camp counselor feels to our show!

05/15/2025

As we move into our final weekend, we're looking back at a few of our reviews and re-announcing our one day extension, Sunday at 2pm! -
tiny.url/ostrich-sunday to sign up.

We also have some limited waitlist seating each show, 6:30 Thurs-Sat, 1:30 Sunday.

Photo credit: Steven Townshend | Distant Era

The Ostrich

by Wendy A. Schmidt
directed by Eileen Tull

Berger Park Cultural Center North Mansion
6205 N. Sheridan • Chicago, IL 60660 • (773) 761-0376

Orville and Wilbur Wright, the Wright Brothers, have arrived in present-day Ostrich, Indiana, to build an airstrip. The people are overjoyed! Can technological progress finally get Ostrich off the ground?

featuring
Jorge Salas, Shellie DiSalvo, Ellen Adalaide, and Jonathan Crabtree
with Pete Wood and Donaldson Cardenas as Orville and Wilbur Wright

05/13/2025

https://tinyurl.com/ostrich-sunday

Tickets are sold out on the Park District website but you can still see The Ostrich! We've added one performance Sunday, May 18th at 2pm. We also have shows May 15th, 16th, and 17th at 7 pm and if you arrive at 6:30 pm you should be able to take advantage of added seats, even if you don't have a ticket.

The Ostrich must close Sunday, May 18!
• Suggested donation starting at $10.
• One reservation per person. - Sign up at https://tinyurl.com/ostrich-sunday
• You need to complete your donation in a new window and go back to the form and click Submit to reserve your seat.

Orville and Wilbur Wright, the Wright Brothers, have arrived in Ostrich, Indiana, to build an airstrip. The people are overjoyed! Can technological progress finally get Ostrich off the ground?

The Ostrich
by Wendy A. Schmidt
directed by Eileen Tull

Berger Park Cultural Center North Mansion
6205 N. Sheridan • Chicago, IL 60660 • (773) 761-0376

featuring
Jorge Salas, Shellie DiSalvo, Ellen Adalaide, and Jonathan Crabtree
with Pete Wood and Donaldson Cardenas as Orville and Wilbur Wright

Join us for this site-specific, immersive dark comedy inside the historic North Mansion at Berger Park, where the rooms of the first floor will be transformed into a tacky bed and breakfast called The Ostrich Feather, and other auspicious locales.

The Terror Cottas is an experimental theatre group dedicated to producing playwright-driven works.

05/10/2025

Big, big shout out to understudy Paul Kaufmann! He gave us huge support with his incredibly boisterous laughter and extreme positive vibes. Thank you, Paul!

Our scheduled run is sold out! But we've added a few rush seats for folks who arrive by 6:30 in person the day of the show. Everyone who arrives in person will also be added to a waitlist in case of no shows.

You can also go to theterrorcottas.org/the-ostrich to get on a wait list in case someone cancels ahead of time. (One person at a time. We can't wait list groups. First come, first served. We'll contact you by email if a spot opens up. This includes only people who cancel or release their ticket ahead of time, not day-of no shows. To take advantage of the day-of wait list, you must arrive in person.)

Apologies, but we cannot issue refunds.

Photo credit: Steven Townshend | Distant Era

The Ostrich
by Wendy A. Schmidt
directed by Eileen Tull
May 2-17, 2025
Berger Park Cultural Center North Mansion
featuring
Jorge Salas, Shellie DiSalvo, Ellen Adalaide, and Jonathan Crabtree
with Pete Wood and Donaldson Cardenas as Orville and Wilbur Wright

05/09/2025

Two announcements! First, today we celebrate understudy Ted Dayton. Stepping in to cover couple of cases of illness, Ted kept us in stitches and gave us his full support! Thanks, Ted!

Second: Our scheduled run is sold out! But we've added a few rush seats for folks who arrive by 6:30 in person the day of the show. Everyone who arrives in person will also be added to a waitlist in case of no shows.

You can also go to theterrorcottas.org/the-ostrich to get on a wait list in case someone cancels ahead of time. (One person at a time. We can't wait list groups. First come, first served. We'll contact you by email if a spot opens up. This includes only people who cancel or release their ticket ahead of time, not day-of no shows. To take advantage of the day-of wait list, you must arrive in person.)

Apologies, but we cannot issue refunds.

Photo credit: Steven Townshend | Distant Era

The Ostrich
by Wendy A. Schmidt
directed by Eileen Tull

May 2-17, 2025
Berger Park Cultural Center North Mansion

featuring
Jorge Salas, Shellie DiSalvo, Ellen Adalaide, and Jonathan Crabtree
with Pete Wood and Donaldson Cardenas as Orville and Wilbur Wright