The Den Theatre is further establishing itself as a live-theater multiplex. Two years after opening the street-level Heath Main Stage on Milwaukee Avenue, the Wicker Park complex is expanding again with a second street-facing theater in the next storefront to the north, at 1335 N Milwaukee.
Dubbed the Bookspan Theatre, the new space is named for the late arts educator and performer Janet Bookspan. The new theater will have Haven Theatre as its chief occupant; Haven’s artistic director, Josh Sobel, is Bookspan’s nephew.
The Bookspan will open this fall with Haven’s Chicago premiere of Idris Goodwin’s How We Got On. With the new addition, the six-year-old Den will comprise five theaters and two bars on the first and second floors, with two additional spaces on the third floor used primarily for classes and rehearsals. The Den is host to six resident companies, including Haven, the Hypocrites, Irish Theatre of Chicago, the New Colony, First Floor Theater and Red Theater Chicago.