The Constructivists Present ‘5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche’

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Photo by Jake Badovski - Kłamię Studios

Bug by Tracy Letts (2026)

Robert W.C. Kennedy (Dr. Sweet), Joe Lino (Peter) and Jaimelyn Gray (Agnes)

The Constructivists’ website states, “Where passionate theatre is a public good and the necessary catalyst for change.” Established in 2017, the theater company specializes in productions that harmonize visceral emotionality, social relevance, dark humor and creative risks. Founder Jaimelyn Gray refers to The Constructivists as her “island of misfit toys” where new and seasoned players alike have found a one-of-a-kind home. The company recently wrapped up its eighth season and will kick off season nine this October.

“I want to do theater for people who have misconceptions about what theater is or who it is for,” Gray says. “I don’t care where you’re from, what you look like or what your background is - I just want the right person for the part. I largely don’t even look at resumes; it’s just a vibe I get from people and their chemistry.”

The Constructivists’ first rule is “don’t be an asshole.” There are currently about a dozen core members with each season comprising two or three productions. Gray named the company for the idea that its members build theater up as a meaningful, fundamental part of society and their own lives. “It really provides a necessary catharsis to the human brain and is a valuable resource to communities,” Gray remarks. The company logo is designed to reflect this ethos with its i’s dotted to look like people. An upright and upside-down triangle represents masculine and feminine, and all who exist in between.

Thought-Provoking Shows

Company member Ekene Ikegwuani joined The Constructivists’ season four production of Wink by Jen Silverman in 2021 and has remained a core member since. “I feel very strongly that we do interesting, thought-provoking shows where you don’t know where else you would see it,” they affirm. “I appreciate that The Constructivists value finding new artists and taking chances on people because those definitely lead to larger things.” In fact, Ikegwuani can attest to this, noting that they earned the lead role in Wink without an extensive resume. “There’s a lot of pipelines for people who went to UWM for musical theater or drama and they’re getting gigs before they’ve even graduated from school. This is coming from someone who didn’t go to school for theater.”

Though the company does not have a dedicated space - with Gray even referring to The Constructivists as the “Goldilocks of Milwaukee theater” - they have used Broadway Theatre Center for a number of productions which they attest has brought new people to them on account of proximity to larger companies like Skylight Music Theatre and Milwaukee Chamber Theatre.

It is no secret that Wisconsin regularly ranks nationally at the very bottom for arts funding, both at the state and federal level. Ikegwuani expands, “Since March 2020 when the world shut down, a lot of live venues’ futures were uncertain. Especially since Covid, theater has become more accessible to people - not always in terms of price - but there’s now more recordings that are able to be seen by people that there weren’t before. Especially for storefront theater companies, it’s a scary time, but The Constructivists made it through all of that.”

Successful Season

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Photo by Jake Badovski

Bed and Breakfast of the Damned by Cameron McNary (2025)

Clockwise from left: Molly Kempfer (Melissa), Ken Miller (Dan), Stacy Madson (Sheryl), Becky Cofta (Carol) and Phillip Steenbekkers (Ben)

Season eight was The Constructivists’ most successful season yet, both financially and attendance-wise between the three shows: Cameron McNary’s Bed and Breakfast OF THE DAMNED, A Very Deadly Constructivists Holiday! by Patrick Schmitz and various artists, and Bug by Tracy Letts. Ikegwuani points out that the entire run of Wink in 2021 had fewer people than a single show Bug had this past spring. Since 2023, Deadly Holiday! has become an annual staple that presents an opportunity every year for new writers to get involved with a festive Milwaukee tradition.

In terms of classes, The Constructivists offer an auditioning workshop in January as well as a Michael Chekhov Acting Technique course in spring taught by Laura Sturm of Chicago. “The Chekhov technique I think really works well for Milwaukee artists because it gets your whole body involved, and artists can really use that as part of their skillset,” Gray observes. “I’m really excited about the progress actors make in a really quick amount of time from doing that one introductory class.”

Gray recognizes that the dark comedy world is dominated by male playwrights, so she and The Constructivists are determined to ensure plentiful female and non-binary representation within the company’s future shows. Season nine will balance out the previous season’s male-heavy character with what Gray describes as a “very feminine energy” while focusing on local playwrights, starting with 5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche by Evan Linder and Andrew Hobgood. Then after Deadly Holiday! will be Amber Regan’s The Great Cleanse in spring.

“We have lots to do in terms of our diversity in leadership, and that’s something we’re talking about as a company,” Gray mentions. “The best places in the world are those with people from so many different backgrounds. We’re working on that.”

“I think we’re in a good spot,” Ikegwuani contends. “Given what the next season looks like and how it’s very actor-focused, these meetings we’re having this summer will help with a lot of what’s going on in the background. This last season was very technically heavy; the technical aspects of both Bed and Breakfast and Bug were massive. Instead of thinking we need to top that, we’re bringing things back to focus on the people before we do some of that stuff again. It’ll be fun to watch the way the company grows with this next season.”

Arts Advocacy

While The Constructivists can be supported with donations and volunteers, Gray also encourages folks to talk to their elected officials about arts funding and advocacy. “I cannot impress that enough,” she states. “Please tell them how important theater and art are in your life and that they are underfunded. We need to be pushing that value forward by using our state, city and county dollars. I believe that if theater was more present in peoples’ lives, society would be better.”

Ikegwuani describes the vast number of ways to be involved with a theater production, from acting to writing to sound and music to building sets to costuming. “There’s people who go to school for fashion design and they are costumers on theater shows. Jaime’s husband is a construction worker and builds all of the sets for every Constructivists show.”

They continue, “The other part of it is that kids don’t have places to go, and these third spaces keep getting shut down or you have to spend money just to sit in there. Especially since Covid, after the pandemic sent everyone home, now low-income people are more busy than ever because they have to work so much. Having more structure at a state and federal level for supporting the arts is very necessary.”

Oct. 8-24 at Pink’s Accessible Theater House, 1104 W. Historic Mitchell St. Visit the Constructivists’ website to learn more or get in touch.