KEEP TO THE CODE:
Dead Reckoning Theater Co. was co-created by Andrew Marchetti and Amber Kelly in 2021. The result of a think-tank project lovingly referred to as "Whiskey and Write Club", the theater company was the actionable step in bringing new works inspired by real events, colored with antiquity sensibilities to the Chicago theater scene. With more than three decades of writing and performing between them, Dead Reckoning is the culmination of multiple disciplines finally achieving a home base that can exemplify source, style, and outreach. We will never discredit the power of a puppet, the crescendo of silence, a game of hide-and-seek throughout darkened hallways - those devices are woven into the fabric of our aesthetic and audience engagement.
Leaning into immersive and intimate styles of storytelling, Dead Reckoning breaks the proscenium and asks our audience to engage with us. This is the foundation of our Charter: storytelling that comes from a familiar place, wanders into dangerous waters, and journeys forward.
————————————————————————————————————
OUR CHARTER:
Theater doesn't live behind the fourth wall, and audiences don’t just sit in the dark. Our theatrical, nautical, victorian aesthetic isn't what confines our production opportunities, it's our favorite starting point - scrappy, moody, ethereal, and handmade with just a little tongue in cheek. There is always an element of audience engagement and interaction. The invitation is "yes/no'' and will not derail the projection of a piece if an audience doesn't participate. Yes is an opportunity to quickly advance, and no is a reminder that the destination can be altered but not abandoned.
ALL HANDS
Amber Kelly — Co-Captain
Amber Kelly spent 13 years performing improv and comedy with Catharsis Productions. Her travels took her across America as well as military bases around the world including two trips to the war zones of Iraq, Kuwait and Quatar. She produced her first show off-Broadway, then continued that work in Rhode Island when she founded Theater of Thought, a site-specific theater company focused on immersive story-telling and theater as an event. She also created her own immersive experience, Executor, based on Call of Cthulhu and moving the audience through relevant H.P. Lovecraft areas of Providence. She continued her work with Theater of Thought until moving to Chicago to assist in the production office of Catharsis Productions and began dreaming up a new version of theater with Andrew. Amber is represented by Lily's Talent.
Andrew Marchetti — Co-Captain
Andrew Marchetti is a writer, performer, scenic designer, and puppeteer obsessed with entertaining an audience. From California to Colorado to Chicago, he has performed (or designed) for more than 30 professional companies. For the last five years, Andrew has gravitated towards penning new works and building puppets for clients and theater companies and, of course, focusing and forming Dead Reckoning Theater Co. He is partial to historically based stories and influences, which influenced his first published book: "The Bridgewater Incident" and continues to inspire original works. Immersive, site-specific performance is truly the future for his ambitions for the Chicago theatrical landscape and he is excited to help pioneer the new wave of storytelling in this style.