Glenview's Oil Lamp Theater looks toward future in challenging times

March 2020 may go down as the best and worst month theater artist Jay Pastucha ever experienced.

On March 1, he took over as executive director of Glenview's Oil Lamp Theater, succeeding Keith Gerth, a former Northbrook resident who founded the company in 2005 in his Lakeview, Chicago, condominium. Less than two weeks later, Oil Lamp - along with others theaters throughout the suburbs and city - closed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Fortunately, Pastucha knows what it's like to manage a theater during tough times. He began managing his former theater when it was months away from closing its doors. He remained five years with the still-operating company.

"I'm well-accustomed to taking over in a crisis," Pastucha said.

A small venue, the 60-seat Oil Lamp could reopen sooner than its counterparts, but that won't happen until it's safe to do so, Pastucha said.

"We have to ensure safety of patrons, artists and staff ... and make sure we're doing the right thing," he said, adding "one of the reasons I took this job is that they treat their artists and staff so well."

Going forward, virtual programming may be an option. To that end, Oil Lamp will present a staged reading of the comedy "2 Across" online June 26 and 27.

"We're doing our best to be ahead of the curve," Pastucha said.

The artistic staff has done "a tremendous amount of brainstorming," said director Elizabeth Mazur Levin, who performed in Oil Lamp's first Glenview show, an evening of one-act plays titled "Summertime Livin' Easy."

"We've talked about solo shows, doing shows with people who live together," said Levin, whose March production of "Cry It Out" was canceled because of the coronavirus. "What's exciting is everything is on the table. (The pandemic) is forcing us to be open-minded about how we create the Oil Lamp experience during this time."

The intimacy of the space makes Oil Lamp unique, she said.

"When you walk in it's as if you're walking into someone's living room. You're greeted at the door with homemade cookies," she said. "There is a sense of being welcomed into somebody's space and feeling part of that space."

Audience members "feel as if they're part of the whole thing from start to finish," she said.

That was founder Gerth's intent. He established the professional company in 2005 and named it after his mother's collection of antique oil lamps, which she used to illuminate his childhood home near Streeter whenever the power went out.

"The idea of bringing family and friends together in an intimate place, that was the origin," he said of those early days when the ensemble performed in his living room. "We wanted to preserve that in Glenview."

By 2012, he, his wife and their three children had outgrown the condo. They relocated to Northbrook partly because of Glenview and Northbrook's support for the arts. In May of that year, they signed the lease on the theater at 1723 Glenview Road and opened their first show three months later. Since then, they've played to more than 60,000 people.

Gerth's unwavering faith in humanity has animated the theater since its inception.

"My whole life I believed in the human spirit ... that given difficult circumstances people generally make the right choice," he said.

Pastucha says Oil Lamp productions have an element of redemption. The goal, he says, is to make sure those entering the theater - artists, staff and audience members - leave feeling better than when they arrived.

"A word we use a lot is engagement, engagement in the productions we produce as well as in us as an organization," said associate artistic director Stephen Smith, a former elementary school principal who describes Oil Lamp as "bring-your-own-theater."

For artists and its audiences, Oil Lamp isn't just a theater, it's an experience, Smith said. Ticket holders can even bring wine or other drinks to enjoy while they're there, with Oil Lamp providing free corkage and glasses.

Smith, a lifelong theater enthusiast, embraced acting after he retired. He jokes that acting is much easier than informing PTA members of a lice outbreak at a school.

"One thing I loved about being an educator is that every year you're starting again. It's exciting," he said. "A theater is like that, every production is new. You've always got a new start."

For Gerth, who reinvents himself every 15 years and is currently doing woodworking and restoration in Virginia, that experience is in his rearview mirror. But he remains proud of the company and optimistic for its future.

"I'm excited for the next chapter for them," he said. "It seems like a challenging time, but opportunities are out there."

• • •

"2 Across"

What: A filmed stage reading of a comedy by Jerry Mayer

When: 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, June 26-27. See oillamptheater.org/plays-events.

Tickets: $15 suggested donation