About Ways & Means
MISSION STATEMENT
Ways and Means Theatre exists to produce courageous, language-rich theatre that interrogates the human condition with both intellectual fearlessness and deep emotional truth. As an ensemble-driven company rooted in Chicago, we bring together artists and audiences to engage with the great dramatic literature of the past and the vital new works of today — sparking the conversations that move our community forward.
About Ways & Means Theatre
Ways and Means Theatre was founded on a conviction: that the most transformative theatrical experiences happen when rigorous thought meets uninhibited feeling. When a beautiful sentence lands with the force of a gut punch. When a room full of strangers sits together and, for a moment, agrees to think harder than they planned to.
We are a new Chicago ensemble company, built from the ground up by artists who believe there is room in this city for a theatre dedicated to language-rich, intellectually fearless work — plays that trust their audiences to engage with complexity, ambiguity, and the questions that don't come with answers.
Our programming operates on two tracks. “The Read Through” Series presents staged readings at the Little Studio in the Fine Arts Building — scripts in hand, conversation after every reading, doors open to everyone. Our mainstage season produces fully realized productions of plays selected for the music of their language, the urgency of their ideas, and their capacity to generate real dialogue.
We are an ensemble-first company. Our artistic identity is built on long-term creative relationships among actors, directors, and playwrights who grow together over time. We believe the deepest, most daring work emerges from a community of artists who trust one another and share a common vocabulary. And our company extends beyond the ensemble — we welcome collaborators at every stage of their careers to contribute to the work.
The Ways and Means experience reaches beyond the stage. Post-show talkbacks are not optional additions; they are central to our mission. We believe that the conversations sparked by great theatre are as valuable as the performances themselves — and that the audience is not passive but the final collaborator in the room.
Photo by Alex Albrecht
Board of Directors
Charles Huck
Casey Jackson
Salome Mergia
Company
Douglas Atkins
Founding Artistic Director
Salome Mergia
Founding Company Member
Creative Producer
Leanna Gianoutsos Oliveira
Founding Company Member
Creative Producer
Amanda Roeder
Founding Company Member
Mary Grace Seigel
Founding Company Member
Anne Trodden
Founding Company Member
Douglas Atkins is the Founding Artistic Director of Ways and Means Theatre and an artist whose work spans classical theatre, contemporary plays, and musical theatre. He holds an MFA in Acting from the University of Houston and has continued his training since landing in Chicago at Acting Studio Chicago and through Remy Bumppo's Acting Master Class. His signature role, Alex More in Buyer & Cellar, has been produced at Main Street Theatre, Montgomery Theatre, and Stage West Theatre.
Other credits include Jervis in Daddy Long Legs (Unity Theatre), Cornelius Hackl in Hello, Dolly! (Encore Musical Theatre), Igor in Young Frankenstein (Ritz Theatre Company), Georg Nowak in She Loves Me (Moores Opera House), Touchstone in As You Like It, and Brutus in Julius Caesar. He has also developed new work with Theatre Under the Stars, Happy Hour Readings, and the University of Houston. A bari-tenor with SAFD proficiency certificates in Rapier & Dagger, Broadsword, Knife, and Unarmed combat, Douglas founded Ways and Means Theatre to build a home for artistically rigorous, actor-driven work.
He is represented by TALENTXALEXANDER and Neal Hamil Agency.
Theater credits include: Measure for Measure (Hamlet Isn’t Dead), School Girls (Jungle Theater), Concrete Orange (Guthrie Theater), As You Like It (Fountain Theater), Harold and Maude (Morgan-Wixson Theater), Twilight: Los Angeles 1992, The Oresteia, and Three Penny Opera (University of Southern California). TV/Film credits include: Chicago Med, Human Theories, and Enchantimals. Training: University of Southern California, MFA
Leanna is a director, theatre educator and producer originally from South Florida. She earned her Bachelor’s in Theatre from the University of Central Florida and her Master's in Directing from Roosevelt University. Proud to be a founding member of WAM, she is also an active part of the Artistic Leadership Collective at Artemisia Theatre and serves as an associate producer at PlayGround Chicago. Leanna is excited to be part of Ways & Means, is deeply committed to ensemble-driven work, and is dedicated to producing thoughtful and innovative theatre that enriches Chicago’s arts community.
Amanda Roeder is a Chicago native who has performed in multiple shows with Lifeline Theatre and the Factory Theater, as well as a variety of non-equity companies throughout Chicago.
She completed the Studio curriculum at Black Box Acting Studio, and received her BA in Acting & Theater Management from Illinois State University.
Mary Seigel is an actor and director, with a background in costume design. Notable credits include Artists Ensemble Theatre, Renaissance Theatreworks, Timberlake Playhouse, The Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and many other indie theatre companies across the stateline.
Anne Trodden is a native Chicago actor and writer with a focus on language-driven text. She holds a Master’s degree in Irish Theatre from Trinity College Dublin. A multi–Jeff Award winner—earning honors for Best Ensemble, Best Play, and Best Performer in a Supporting Role—she was recognized for her portrayal of Harper Pitt in Angels in America with Invictus Theatre. Her performance was also named one of the Top Performances of 2025 by the Chicago Tribune. She is currently represented by Big Mouth Talent.
EQUITY, DIVERSITY, AND INCLUSION
Ways and Means Theatre believes that the stories told on our stage should reflect the full breadth of human experience — and that the people who tell those stories, watch those stories, and shape this company should reflect the full breadth of Chicago.
We are committed to building an organization where artists and audiences of every race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, disability status, socioeconomic background, national origin, and lived experience are not only welcomed but actively sought, valued, and heard.
This commitment shows up in our work, not just our language:
We cast inclusively, seeking the best artist for every role while ensuring that our stages reflect the communities we serve. We curate seasons that include voices across the full spectrum of identity, perspective, and tradition — not as a corrective, but because the dramatic canon is richer and more vital than any single tradition can contain. We maintain pay-what-you-can access because we believe economic circumstance should never determine who gets to experience great theatre. We pay every artist because equity begins with compensation. We follow every performance with a conversation because the most meaningful inclusion is the kind that asks people to speak, not just to watch.
We recognize that these commitments require more than intention. They require ongoing examination of our practices, our programming, our hiring, our partnerships, and our assumptions. We will make mistakes. When we do, we will name them, learn from them, and do better — publicly and without defensiveness.
We do not believe that equity work has a finish line. We believe it is a practice — one that must be embedded in every decision this company makes, from the plays we choose to the people we hire to the neighborhoods we serve to the voices we center in our talkbacks.
Chicago's theatre community is one of the most vibrant in the world. It is also one shaped by historical inequities in access, opportunity, and representation. We cannot fix those inequities alone, but we can refuse to replicate them. That refusal is not peripheral to our mission. It is our mission.