The Revival
The Revival is a Chicago improv comedy theatre and training centre founded in 2015 by John Stoops at 1160 E. 55th Street in Hyde Park, deliberately sited near the corner of 55th Street and University Avenue where the Compass Players had performed in 1955. After nine years in Hyde Park, the Revival relocated in May 2024 to 906 S. Wabash Avenue in Chicago's South Loop Film Row neighbourhood, where it operates a 150-seat venue, a multi-level training curriculum, and South Side community programming.
History
Founding in Hyde Park (2015)
The Revival was founded in 2015 by John Stoops, a theater producer and former advertising executive at Leo Burnett who encountered improv through a company benefit programme. Stoops chose 1160 E. 55th Street in Hyde Park for the theatre, placing it near the corner where the Compass Players had performed in 1955, widely regarded as the birthplace of American long-form improvisation. The location was a deliberate act of institutional memory, positioning the Revival as a continuation of the Hyde Park improv lineage on Chicago's South Side.
Hyde Park Years (2015–2024)
Over nine years in Hyde Park, the Revival developed a five-level improv curriculum (Foundations through Performance), a youth programme, and institutional partnerships with the University of Chicago, the Laboratory Schools, and Chicago Public Schools. The theatre became the primary improv venue serving the South Side, a geography largely absent from the city's improv landscape, which was concentrated on the North Side.
Relocation to the South Loop (2024)
In February 2024, the Revival announced a move from Hyde Park after nine years. On 9 May 2024, the theatre opened at 906 S. Wabash Avenue in Chicago's South Loop, a building historically associated with Chicago's 'Film Row,' which once housed distribution offices for MGM, Paramount, and Warner Bros. The new 150-seat space was approximately 50 per cent larger than the Hyde Park venue.
Artistic Identity
The Revival frames improv not simply as comedy training but as a civic and educational practice: 'more than comedy, a way of engaging with the world.' Operating on Chicago's South Side, the theatre built institutional partnerships with South Side schools, universities, and hospitals, positioning improv as a tool for community engagement. The deliberate choice of the Compass Players' original neighbourhood as the founding site reflects the Revival's commitment to the historical and geographic roots of American long-form improvisation, in contrast to the North Side institutional mainstream.
People
Key Events
The Revival Opens in Chicago's Hyde Park Near the Compass Players' Original Stage
John Stoops founded The Revival in 2015 at 1160 E. 55th Street in Chicago's Hyde Park neighbourhood, siting the theatre near the corner of 55th Street and University Avenue where the Compass Players had performed in 1955. The location was chosen to connect the new venue to the birthplace of American long-form improvisation and to bring improv performance and training to Chicago's South Side.
The Revival Opens 150-Seat Theatre in Chicago's South Loop Film Row
On 9 May 2024, The Revival opened at 906 S. Wabash Avenue in Chicago's South Loop, a building historically associated with Chicago's 'Film Row,' which once housed distribution offices for MGM, Paramount, and Warner Bros. The new 150-seat theatre was approximately 50 per cent larger than the Hyde Park venue, marking the end of the Revival's nine-year presence at 55th and University.
How to Reference This Page
The Improv Archive. (2026). The Revival. Retrieved March 17, 2026, from https://improvarchive.org/companies/the-revival
The Improv Archive. "The Revival." The Improv Archive, 2026. https://improvarchive.org/companies/the-revival.
The Improv Archive. "The Revival." The Improv Archive, 2026, https://improvarchive.org/companies/the-revival. Accessed March 17, 2026.
The Improv Archive is a systemically maintained repository. The archive itself acts as the corporate author.