Columbia College Chicago students build “We Make Monsters,” an immersive, devised production that explores how communities create myth — and monsters — together.

From March 11–21, 2026, the School of Theatre and Dance at Columbia College Chicago will present “We Make Monsters,” a devised and immersive production created and directed by Professor Brian Shaw ’86 — and built in collaboration with the students who perform it. 

The production was not drawn from a prewritten script. Instead, it emerged through rehearsal. In devised theatre, the ensemble generates material together through improvisation, writing, movement, and discussion. Students are not simply cast in roles — they are active creators of the world they inhabit. 

Building the Monster Together 

For Shaw, collaboration is the point. 

“Oddly enough, I seem to remember thinking of the title first,” he says. “And I take the title literally— ‘We Make Monsters.’ It is a very human occupation — and it happens at the cultural level as well as on an individual level.” 

Shaw and the ensemble built the piece from the ground up, contributing research, imagery, movement vocabulary, and narrative threads as the script evolved. 

That ownership shaped the student experience from day one. 

“From the beginning, I was given full ownership over my character,” says senior Acting major Ashley Lo, who performs in the “Woodlands” faction of the play. “It was daunting at first, but once the writing process started, it became a fun exploration.” 

Because the production places performers inside gradually monstrous circumstances, Lo found herself drawing from personal instinct as much as theory. The process included journaling, physical experimentation, and constant revision. 

“It really does feel like an ensemble riding a wave together,” she says. “We go through the highs and lows, problem-solving through it all. It has been challenging, but ultimately deeply rewarding.” 

The work demands flexibility. 

“Due to the nature of this production, there is a lot of writing, rewriting, and restaging,” Lo explains. “This calls for the ability to adapt quickly and allow for the fluidity of ideas to come and go without attachment.” She describes the experience as “an exercise in unapologetic play.” 

That sense of exploration carried across the ensemble. 

“I was interested in the idea of making a monster out of insecurity,” says senior Acting major Edgar Lopez Jr. “It is human to speak negatively about ourselves, so I pulled from the ways people view their own image.” 

Immersive by Design 

The production is built around the idea of factionalism — the ways people gather around affinities such as geography, language, family, or belief. Performers and audience members are divided into four factions. Each group encounters one community within the piece before the worlds begin to intersect. As tensions rise, factions construct their own mythologies about one another. 

“Immersive theater is the most effective way to bring the audience through that journey,” Shaw says. 

The world-building extends beyond performance. Isaac Udelhofen, a junior Theatre Design and Technology major focusing on sound and scenic design and one of five co-scenic designers on the project, notes that much of the spatial design was conceived before rehearsals began. 

“Our initial ideas really got to impact the design of each space and the different stories that it could inspire,” Udelhofen says. 

As scenes developed, the scenic team refined elements to custom fit the show. A highlight was collaborating with student props designer Emma Jean Golden and the lighting and costume teams to create the production’s “Mega Monster” puppets — a giant hand and arm, foot, mouth, and eyeball engineered with special effects. 

“Working on an immersive and devised piece such as this one had no shortage of problems to solve and ideas to pitch,” Udelhofen says. “It was a huge group effort from all the different teams working on the production to pull this monster off.” 

For him, the reward is simple: “My favorite part of this show was making new, weird, and crazy art with my incredibly talented friends.” 

A Commitment to Collaboration 

Since graduating from Columbia’s Theatre program in 1986, Shaw’s work has spanned cross-disciplinary collaborations, international projects, community-centered performance, and traditional theatre production. As an educator, he has embedded that collaborative ethos into the student experience. 

As he approaches retirement next year, “We Make Monsters” reflects that commitment — placing students at the center of authorship while inviting audiences to examine how communities define themselves and others. 

“This thing called the internet was emerging just as I was entering the profession,” Shaw notes. “Today’s artists must move fluidly between digital and live spaces, collaborating across platforms while remaining rooted in embodied performance.” 

That philosophy will unfold in real time: an ensemble building a world together — and asking audiences to consider how, and why, monsters are made. 

• Theatre and Dance

Recent News

• Adjunct Faculty Member’s Game Wins Award for Technical Achievement
• ‘Love You, Love Your Work’ Brings Student Art Crawl to Campus
• Columbia Students Recognized by Fashion Scholarship Fund and Virgil Abloh “Post-Modern” Scholars for Industry-Focused Work
• Cerqua Rivera Dance Theatre Makes Debut With “Urgent Motion/Shared Ground”
• Columbia Student Named Intern of the Year at ESPN Chicago and Lands Job