Division 13 Productions (Division 13) is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit theatre company founded in 1995 (known as Thirteenth Tribe until December 2000). D13's production history includes the classics, new scripts, installations, premiere translations, original adaptations, and film.

Founding members Greg Berlowitz, Anne DeAcetis, Nathan Guisinger, Jake Perrine, Rachel Sledd, and Katie Taber shared a commitment to creating challenging, highly theatrical work grounded in the physical life of the actor. Their inaugural production, The Precipice (produced in May of 1996) was written and directed by the ensemble.

Artistic Director Joanna Settle's relationship with Division 13 began in the summer of 1996, between her two years of graduate study at The Juilliard School. She traveled to Chicago to direct The Balcony as a guest director. This production was a launching pad for the company, and in 1997, after completing her studies, Settle returned to Chicago to become the artistic director of Division 13 Productions. Settle brought to the company a powerful design sensibility and strong, guiding vision for a vital, contemporary theatre that addresses epic and existential questions.

It was also at this time that Katie Taber assumed the responsibilities of managing director, establishing a strong framework of leadership that has continued to this day. The company’s organizational structure is further supported by Anne DeAcetis serving as development director.

After five years of producing in Chicago, the company relocated to New York City in May 2001. In addition to the rich cultural fabric of New York providing intrinsic appeal, the company also recognized a greater peer group in terms of producing models and organizational structures. New York provides a supportive and invigorating home to project-by-project production calendars and long-term developmental workshops. In addition, D13's designers and multimedia artists were often flown in from New York to Chicago, and can now more comfortably participate in all levels of the development process.

Division 13 is an itinerant company. We seek out performance spaces that inform and evoke the material being developed and presented. We have produced our environmentally-specific work in a wide variety of spaces, including an aging, 1,200-seat touring-house, a store window on a crowded Chicago street, and a cavernous New York City warehouse (spanning the width of a city block) on the edge of the West Side Highway.

Critically acclaimed and award winning works include Rockaby and Play by Samuel Beckett (Chicago Reader "Critic's Choice"), Macbett by Eugene Ionesco (2000 Joseph Jefferson Award for “Excellence in Sound Design”), BLOOD LINE: The Oedipus/Antigone Story by Sophocles in premiere translation by Nicholas Rudall (1999 After Dark Award winner for both "Outstanding Production" and "Best New Translation"), and The Balcony by Jean Genet (cited in Chicago PerformInk’s "Best of ‘96").

Full Production History

About Our Name

Originally founded as Thirteenth Tribe, the company took the inspiration for its name from a production written by Nathan Guisinger and directed by Joanna Settle. The play, produced at Hampshire College, was conceived and developed through immersion in Washington, DC communities during the 1991 Gulf War. Thirteenth Tribe also refers to the observation that our generation is the thirteenth generation of Americans since the founding of the Constitution.

With the production of Macbett in December 2000, the company changed its name to Division 13 Productions. This new name references our founding on Division Street (in Chicago) and honors the history of the number 13. To reflect our interest in multimedia events, the word Productions was added.