Jacob Juntunen founded Contraband Theatre in 2016 to produce his script Hath Taken Away outside of institutional confines—no boards or non-profit legalities. After ten years of making theatre in Chicago, Jacob found that artists often struggled against institutions that supposedly served them. For Contraband’s inaugural production, Jacob found an abandoned church on a hill in cornfields and filled it with theatrical lights. When spectators drove up, the church glowed in the darkness. There was a single row of seating in a rectangle with room for thirty spectators around the small playing space. It was exactly what Jacob meant: no asking permission, just art. Since then, Jacob has been the only constant of Contraband Theatre which remakes its ensemble and structure to fit each individual project. But every production follows the original impulse to be a DIY art incubator outside of institutions. Come check us out!