Venture Theatre
Venture Theatre was born out of a dream Mike Eserkaln had a few years back. That dream was to provide a place for local playwrights to showcase their talents, and to give local theatregoers an intimate venue to enjoy live productions.
Mike has owned ComedyCity, a local improv troupe, for the last several years. A published writer himself, Mike’s hope is to help cultivate local talent and provide a place for them to flourish. That place is Venture Theatre. Having visited several theatres throughout the country, Mike brought together various ideas from those places, along with his own creative flair.
An ever-growing legion of writers and theatre enthusiasts meets several times a month to share their work, give feedback and provide encouragement. This band of writing hooligans, known as “Write Club,” developed the first 2005/06 season of productions and continues to generate 4-5 world premiere shows each season.
If you are interested in participating in Write Club, you can click here to email Mike.
The Building
Venture Theatre is housed in the old De Pere library. The construction for the building began in 1935 as part of a public works program, and finished in 1936. It utilized stone cut from the Scray’s Hill quarry. An addition to the building (which is now Venture Theatre) was added in the 1960’s. Major remodelling was completed in 2005, but many elements of the original building were retained including 1930’s light fixtures, the library circulation desk, several bookshelves, and the original fireplaces.
Venture Theatre shares this historic setting with ComedyCity - De Pere, Northeast Wisconsin’s longest running comedy club. This comedy troupe performs live, improvisational comedy shows every Thursday, Friday & Saturday night. More info on ComedyCity can be found here.
