The Ensemble
Christopher Prentice
Artistic Advisor
Founding Member
Christopher Prentice is a co-founder of Signal Ensemble Theatre and served as Producing Artistic Director from 2003 to 2008. His appearances with the company include the title role in Hamlet, Jerry in The Zoo Story, Young Marlow in She Stoops to Conquer, Estragon in Waiting for Godot , Chris in Landslide, Chaplain in Catch-22 and Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing. Also for Signal he directed critically acclaimed productions of Jon Marans’s Old Wicked Songs (two Jeff Award nominations) and Conor McPherson’s The Weir (three Jeff Citation nominations). Other Chicago acting credits include Mercutio in Short Shakespeare! Romeo and Juliet (Chicago Shakespeare Theatre); the title role in Robin Hood: A Fancyfull Historie of that Most Notable and Fameous Outlaw (Oak Park Festival Theatre); The Tempest (First Folio Shakespeare Festival); the world premiere musical Practical Anatomy (Sansculottes); Picasso in Picasso at the Lapin Agile (New Leaf); Booth in Assassins (Boxer Rebellion); Jaques in As You Like It (Velvet Willies); several seasons in school outreach productions of Shakespeare (First Folio), as well as work with Northlight, Next Theatres. He has performed in staged and concert readings for Irish Rep, Chicago Dramatists and Stage Left. Prentice's international and regional work includes seasons with Canada’s Stratford Shakespeare Festival, Montana Shakespeare in the Parks (including the title role in Macbeth), American Players Theatre, Milwaukee Rep and Illinois Shakespeare Festival and South Pacific at Dallas Theatre Center. He made his film debut in the short indie Butterfly, which premiered at the Chicago International Film Festival. Prentice holds a B.F.A. from Southern Methodist University's Meadows School of the Arts in Dallas and trained at Stratford’s Birmingham Conservatory for Classical Theatre. Also an accomplished musician, he is an alumnus of the world champion Santa Clara Vanguard Drum and Bugle Corps and a published composer of works for wind band (TRN Music). He is a proud member of Actor's Equity Association. He is currently in his third season at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival appearing in The Merry Wives of Windsor, The Grapes of Wrath and The Misanthrope.