Daily Herald opinion: Farewell to Oak Brook's First Folio Theatre - and thank you

Drama, comedy, romance, horror: First Folio Theatre did it all. And over a 27-year run on the bucolic grounds of Oak Brook's Mayslake Peabody Estate, the theater established itself as a place were risks were taken, new works were welcome, Shakespeare was a summer staple and classics were sometimes presented with a twist.

First Folio took its final bow Sunday afternoon after a matinee performance of "And Neither Have I Wings to Fly." The domestic drama, about a daughter caring for her father, was a fitting send-off for a theater that was, from the start, a family affair.

David Rice founded the company in 1996 with his late wife Alison C. Vesely, and he starred in the final production alongside his daughter, Hayley.

The time was right to retire, Rice said in announcing the theater's closure. But he and Vesely leave behind an incredible legacy.

Over the years, First Folio received 44 Joseph Jefferson Award nominations and seven wins. More than 100,000 people watched 87 productions. The theater was home to 16 world premieres and known for its Shakespeare under the stars series on Mayslake's lawn.

Rice and Vesely founded the company in part to provide Vesely with directing opportunities not readily available to women at the time. Women directors and set designers were made to feel at home there, including moms juggling families and careers.

In choosing and casting its productions, First Folio could have played it safe. But they took bold risks for a mid-size suburban theater.

They cast a Black woman to play the titular role in Shakespeare's "Henry V" and featured same-sex and interracial couples in a production of "As You Like It." Another Shakespearean tale, "Cymbeline," was reset in Civil War Appalachia, complete with bluegrass and gospel music.

In a recent interview, Rice told reporter Barbara Vitello that Vesely, who died in 2016, once advised a concerned actor to "let go and let fly." It was her way of encouraging people to take artistic risks.

"That was her theory of how to approach the arts in general," Rice explained. "If you're afraid to take a risk, you will never find true artistic success. You have to be willing to put yourself out there and to take chances."

First Folio did, opening minds and hearts in the process.

Other wonderful suburban theaters remain, and we need to support them as audiences did for First Folio for so many years.

A theater is special place. The loss of even one is something to be missed and mourned.