Across the line of Noyes Street’s lively shops and delis stands Evanston’s historic, ivory-bricked Noyes Cultural Center. And inside the Center lies the Actors Gymnasium, an animated and exciting organization that is a widely loved part of the Evanston community. For the past 29 years, the award-winning Actors Gym has hosted stunning performances and trained aspiring circus performers.

As a non-profit organization, the Actors Gymnasium coaches keen performers of all ages and offers a wide variety of classes taught by accomplished teachers; this includes teen ensembles, summer camps, performance and acrobatic classes, and even stage combat classes. It was co-founded by Sylvia Hernandez-DiStasi, who remains the Actors Gym Artistic Director.

“[Hernandez-DiStasi] ended up coming here and [co-founded] the Actors Gymnasium with hopes of bringing that traditional circus and high level of skill and artistry that circus brings into traditional theater spaces,” describes Madie Doppelt, Associate Artistic Director of the Actors Gym.

On its website, the gym establishes its mission: to expand theatrical potential by pushing the limits of physical, emotional, and creative expression. However, Doppelt explains their objective more comprehensively. 

“The mission of the Actors Gym is to expand the potential of theater and circus. That means that we do a lot of circus training to help put movement and physical circus things into theater spaces, plays, TV,  movies or dances or whatever else,” she clarified. “We really strive to not only make good traditional circus performers, but good circus performers out of many different type of artists that come through our door.” 

The purpose of the gym has changed over the years, however. It’s for people that are looking to expand as theater actors, but can also be for children to come and have an after-school activity. 

“It used to be quite small and for one specific purpose, and now it has kind of expanded to fit many different kinds of theater needs and interests,” says Doppelt.

Doppelt’s role as Associate Artistic Director means that she must ensure that the productions are run the way they should be. She oversees the teen ensemble, hires professional teachers and directors, and occasionally writes or directs the gym’s brilliant productions. 

The Actors Gymnasium’s incredible circus productions are what many Evanston residents look forward to every season. Each year, the Actors Gym produces and performs nine shows per year. 

“It’s always very exciting,” says Doppelt.

For example, the Winter Circus is a professional-level show that is performed by a teen ensemble and professional actors from Chicago. Their younger students are featured in the youth circuses, which are usually adaptations of popular children’s stories such as Alice in Wonderland. The structure of these shows is quite similar to the format of a musical; however, instead of music, actors use circus acrobat acts to continue the storyline. 

“I like to think about it like how it is in musicals,” Doppelt explains. “It’s like a play, then they stop, and then they use a song to help drive the story forward. We use circus [acts] for that. It really helps convey the emotional context of the character, and moves the story from point A to point B.” 

Furthermore, the Actors Gymnasium has a close unofficial partnership with Chicago’s Lookingglass Theatre Company; they assist in each other’s shows, and Lookingglass productions sometimes feature circus acts from the Actors Gymnasium.

“The reason why it’s called the Actors Gymnasium is because it was originally founded to be a place to train the actors [from the] Lookingglass Theatre Company. Lookingglass would be doing their shows, and they would send their actors to have rehearsals at Actors Gym to be trained in all of the different circus disciplines,” Doppelt adds. “And that’s when they would also trade between shows; it has since expanded into a circus school.”

As an organization that teaches over one thousand students per year, performers love the Gym’s welcoming atmosphere and environment. 

“It has a wide and supportive community, [and] also provided great ways to grow my physical and mental strength, while also teaching circus skills and arts. Actors Gym is a space that’s completely for students. It’s just a great experience,” ETHS junior Una Breen recalls.

That feeling is widely shared among most Actors Gymnasium students. It’s a quite unique institution with a wonderful community that Evanston is fortunate to have.

“It’s awesome that Evanston has this space available for kids,” Breen adds. “There honestly isn’t anything like the Actors Gym in most places.” 

Hope Vezner contributed reporting for this article.