Otherworld tilts on its axis

Social media allegations rock the fantasy/sci-fi theater.

By KERRY REID

Since its founding in 2012, Otherworld Theatre has been a haven for theater fans who also love gaming, sci-fi, and fantasy. But over the past two months, a wave of allegations involving Otherworld, the resident company Out on a Whim (creators of the long-running hit Improvised Dungeons & Dragons), and Moonrise, Otherworld’s LARP gaming division, have hit social media outlets. The range of allegations feels familiar to anyone who has followed other controversies in Chicago theater, from the stories that took down now-defunct Profiles Theatre a few years ago, to the allegations that caused Stage 773 founder Brian Posen to resign in 2017, to the wave of complaints this summer about the management of Pride Films and Plays (now PrideArts) under founder David Zak, who also resigned after multiple allegations went public on social media.

The allegations include poor management in both the Otherworld home venue on North Clark and at off-site Moonrise events that created what detractors claim were unsafe environments, and conflicts over material and shows created under Otherworld’s roof, including disputes over ownership of the intellectual property. Additionally, there were harassment allegations involving Out on a Whim.

It’s di cult to give full context to all of the stories that have come out in the past couple of months in an article of this length. But after conducting many hours of interviews and reading through dozens of pages of community-generated documents, open letters, and social media posts, it appears clear that even companies such as Otherworld that profess to follow the Chicago Theatre Standards from Not In Our House (created in part as a response to the Profiles controversy) can be accused of failing to provide environments deemed safe and supportive by artists and staff. It also raises questions about the contractual relationships and responsibilities for theaters that, like Otherworld, house several related-but-kinda-di erent ensembles under their roofs. And as always, it also points to the glaring lack of consistent HR standards and oversights in the mostly all-volunteer world of Chicago non-Equity theater.

For their part, Otherworld’s board of directors announced October 23 on the company social media feeds that they have hired the New York-based HR firm of Peale Piper to enable them to “conduct a thorough review and bring healing and accountability to the community.” In the meantime, founder and artistic director Tiffany Keane Schaefer and her husband, board member and director of development Dylan Schaefer, have temporarily stepped down from their positions.

Out on a Whim

The long-form improv troupe Out on a Whim (OoaW) didn’t start out as a house favorite at Otherworld; the company’s Improvised Dungeons & Dragons , cocreated by Katie Ruppert and John Doychich, first began performing at Second City as a “coached ensemble” show sprung from a Second City Training Center class. But by summer of 2018, Otherworld ceased being itinerant and moved into the 3914 North Clark space—a two-venue theater that originally was home to now-defunct Live Bait Theater (founder Sharon Evans and her husband, John Ragir, are still landlords for the building) and has subsequently sheltered Artistic Home, Teatro Luna, and the now-gone Public House Theatre. Out on a Whim’s signature show, as well as other OoaW o erings, became fixtures once Otherworld moved in. Doychich is no longer associated with Out on a Whim; Ruppert remains as artistic director, and she also was named managing director at Otherworld in May of 2019—a sign of how closely linked the two organizations had become. (Ruppert, like the Schaefers, has temporarily stepped down from her managing director position while the HR review is active.)

But though the new home gave Out on a Whim stability, cracks soon developed in the ensemble’s foundation.

In a public letter signed by former Out on a Whim members Natalie Marye, Rebecca Shrom, Tommy Spears, and McKenzie Wilkes, released on Facebook by Spears on September 27, the four alleged that castmate Bayley Pokorny had engaged in behaviors that included “excessive prying into the personal lives of castmates, dishonesty and manipulation about castmates’ reputations, inciting conflict among the cast, encouraging multiple female castmates in relationships to end their relationships, and implying that cast members’ personal lives could be made public, in