Michael Roush moved into the Moore-Dugal House at 333 Forest Ave. last spring after it sat vacant for years. Now, while restoring the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed landmark to its 1923 appearance, he's turned its front lawn, balcony and front door over to Forest Theatre Company for free outdoor Shakespeare.
The company's production of "All's Well That Ends Well" opened Aug. 7 and runs weekends through Aug. 23, with shows at 5 p.m. Admission is free, and audience members can bring blankets or use chairs provided on site. Reservations are available at forest-theatre.org/plays.
Roush is the stepson of Jim Dugal, whose parents bought the home in 1962. The Dugal family lived there longer than any other owners. Robert Dugal, the last family member to occupy the house, died in 2020, and the property remained empty until Roush arrived from California in spring 2025.
As we reported Aug. 12, the production is Forest Theatre Company's sixth annual outdoor Shakespeare and its first in Oak Park. The company previously performed at the Altenheim in Forest Park but moved after Forest Park announced plans to develop the village-owned portion of that property.
Roush told the Forest Park Review after the Aug. 7 opening that coordinating actors through the house took significant planning, but that having an audience on the lawn was worth it. He said additional community events at the property are already in discussion.
The house as stage
The production uses the home's architecture as part of the performance. Actors exit through a tall gate on the side of the house or via the front door, and during several scenes they project lines from the upstairs balcony down across the yard. There are no microphones and no artificial lighting.
Richard Corley, who founded Forest Theatre Company in 2021, told the Forest Park Review in a July preview that the setting's acoustics suit the stripped-down approach. The Moore-Dugal House faces another Wright home, and the two properties were built so residents could hear each other from their balconies.
"You can't make a moment by lighting. … If the actor doesn't do it, it isn't happening," Corley said in July. "I consider that radical in a way theater isn't anymore."
The production features a predominantly female cast, with CC Meade playing the heroine Helen and Megan Wells as the Countess.
A family connection
Roush studied classical theater at the University of Minnesota and later connected with Corley in Arizona, where Corley cast him as Romeo and Hamlet. When Roush moved to Oak Park, he reached out to propose the Moore-Dugal House as a venue.
The original house was built in 1895 in the Tudor Revival style. After a fire on Dec. 23, 1922, Wright redesigned the upper stories, completing the reconstruction in 1923. The home is part of the Frank Lloyd Wright-Prairie School of Architecture Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1973. It sits one block south of Wright's own home and studio.
Roush said restoring the structure requires painstaking work to match original paints without damaging century-old materials. He hopes to finish the first floor by summer 2027.
Both Corley and Roush have said outdoor Shakespeare at the Moore-Dugal House will become an annual event. Remaining performances run Friday through Friday, Aug. 14-16 and Aug. 21-23, all at 5 p.m.
