Congo Square ensemble members say in letter that the prominent Black theater was quietly dissolved

Congo Square Theatre Company, a prominent Black ensemble theater group that has produced work in Chicago for a quarter century, has quietly been dissolved by its board of directors, according to an open letter posted on Facebook Sunday by the ensemble.

Ensemble members confirmed the authenticity of the letter to WBEZ/Sun-Times and said they were prompted to write it, in part, after learning through lawyers that $240,000 of company money allegedly had gone to another local theater company: Victory Gardens. That alleged donation is at the center of a breach of trust lawsuit filed in December by ensemble members against members of the board in Cook County Circuit Court.

“We were never notified,” said Monifa Days, co-founding ensemble member. “Our lawyers were never notified. How we found out was we would just do searches in the state's database about where our status was. Because you have to file as a nonprofit and that's how we found out.”

As of Wednesday, the Congo Square Theatre website was down.

Congo Square’s ensemble company, co-founded in 1999 by Derrick Sanders, Reginald Nelson, and others, has been embroiled in disputes with its board since 2024. That year, both Executive Director Charlique C. Rolle and Artistic Director Ericka Ratcliff stepped down from their respective positions.

In the open letter published on Facebook this week, members of the Congo Square Ensemble laid bare what they describe as a contentious two-year period that led to a pause in production and Ratcliff’s resignation, which they write happened under “significant pressure” from board chair Dawn Frances Reese.

Reese could not be reached for comment. Victory Gardens has not responded to emails for comment.

The ensemble letter and the lawsuit say that the artists’ group attempted to reconcile with the board, but failed. Requests for neutral moderation were declined, the letter and lawsuit said. That led to a year-long stalemate, during which the ensemble refused to program shows. Without input from the ensemble, the board moved forward with hiring an interim executive director, Charles A. Montorio-Archer, and began interviewing candidates for artistic director.

This is not the first time the artistic members of a Chicago theater have gotten out of sync with their board. The award-winning company Bailiwick Chicago shuttered in 2015 due to what founder Lili-Anne Brown described as “a power struggle between her and the board over artistic direction.” The Tony Award-winning Victory Gardens Theatre splintered during the COVID-19 pandemic due to protracted disagreements between its company members and its board of directors. That dispute garnered national attention.

The Congo Square ensemble found out that the company might be dissolved, they reached out to their own legal team. They learned through lawyers that the company still had about $800,000. While most of the funds had been returned to major donors, $240,000 was given to Victory Gardens Theatre, according to the lawsuit.

Moving forward, the Congo Square Ensemble is now working to form a new nonprofit company. The ensemble seeks to recoup any remaining funds.

“Making art is about the artist. It's never about the board. We're still here. We are still an ensemble,” said Days.

The group has filed for a new 501(c)(3). And this time, they are prepared: Days said they are working with layers to add ensemble rights into the new articles of incorporation.

Looking back, Days adds, “It feels as if we had a board who was not really in it for the arts. They dissolved without even telling the press. We have been an institution in Chicago for all these years. They did it quietly.”