Who We Are
Mission Statement
Make-Believe Association is a community of artists and audiences who believe that telling stories together, and talking about what they mean, creates a more vibrant democracy. Our productions showcase Chicago’s finest actors, writers, and sound designers for a national audience; our public conversations draw on the insights of Chicago’s kaleidoscopic population. All our work aims to advance essential American ideals: pluralism, equality, and having a good time.
This mission guides all our work, from our preview performance (a reading of Thornton Wilder's The Long Christmas Dinner) to the audio dramas and conversations of the Make-Believe Podcast, and beyond.
founder and executive producer
Jeremy McCarter
Jeremy McCarter founded Make-Believe Association in 2017 after five years on the artistic staff of the Public Theater in New York. He has executive produced all of Make-Believe’s programs, co-creating Lake Song and co-writing City on Fire: Chicago Race Riot 1919 with Natalie Moore. He is the author of Young Radicals and the co-author, with Lin-Manuel Miranda, of two New York Times bestsellers: Hamilton: The Revolution and In the Heights: Finding Home (with Quiara Alegría Hudes). He served on the jury of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and wrote the liner notes to Stephen Sondheim’s Company. He has written about culture and politics for New York Magazine, Newsweek, The New York Times, and other publications. He studied history at Harvard and lives in Chicago with his family.