Michael Patrick Thornton is stepping down at Gift Theatre
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Michael Patrick Thornton, artistic director of the ensemble-based Gift Theatre for some two decades, is stepping down.
Gift also said Thursday that it will exit its longtime cozy home inside the 4802 N. Milwaukee Ave. storefront, and launch a capital campaign to build a new theater in its neighborhood of Jefferson Park on Chicago’s Northwest Side.
Thornton, long a well-known TV actor as well as fixture in Chicago theater, will be succeeded at Gift by a new artistic triumvirate of Brittany Burch, Jennifer Glasse and Emjoy Gavino. All three of these women have established connections to Gift, either as staffers or ensemble members.
In a statement, Thornton said the succession plan had been in place for some time and that he now intended to “personally prioritize” the campaign for a new theater. In the meantime, Gift will continue to produce as an itinerant company, beginning next spring.
“This is merely the end of one chapter and the beginning of another in the long, beautiful love story that is the Gift Theatre,” Thornton said.
As part of a joint statement, the three new artistic directors said they planned to “actively pursue change in the industry and growth in our art and ensemble.”
Chris Jones is a Tribune critic.
