Some six years after its eponymous theater in Chicago's Loop went belly up and became a tea house, the Noble Fool Theatre is no more.
But the organization continues.
On Tuesday, Noble Fool Theatricals (as it is now known) announced that it is changing its name to the Fox Valley Repertory, so as to better reflect its location at the Pheasant Run Resort in St. Charles. The change will be effective on Jan. 1.
Once known as the Zeitgeist Theatre, Noble Fool Theatricals came into full being in 2002, when a group of comedy writers and improvisers were offered the chance to lease a new theater located in the former Old Heidelberg Restaurant (and former Ronnie's Steakhouse) at 16 W. Randolph St. and restored with public funds.
The rent was too high, though, for a 153-seat theater, reviews of the work were mixed at best, and the programing did not find any kind of an audience. The Noble Fool Theatre collapsed in 2004, becoming the most conspicuous failure in the Loop theater district. It's now the home of Argos Tea.
Prior to that demise, though, Noble Fool had made an arrangement with Pheasant Run to program its theater at the resort. When its downtown home went away, Noble Fool reconstituted itself as a St. Charles operation. And thus it has continued ever since.
"We simply wanted our name to represent the strong bond we have created with our patrons and community," artistic director John Gawlik noted in a prepared statement. "We know this will help our patrons connect with our stories and begin referencing us as 'our theater' even more."
The first season of the Fox Valley Repertory will consist of "Leaving Iowa" by Tim Clue and Spike Manton, "Always Patsy Cline," "Around the World in 80 Days" and "They're Playing Our Song." A new summer arts festival will showcase the arts in St. Charles.
Meanwhile, the Noble Fool name is toast.