Chicago has a rich tradition of theater companies started by young college graduates looking to make a name in the theater circuit, such as the Steppenwolf.

NIU is now a part of that tradition thanks to alumni who started the Bruised Orange Theater Production Company.

2002 graduates Mark Spence and Clint Sheffer and 2001 grad Mary Foster founded the company last year, and it has since produced one play, “Lake Front Property.”

“Long Story Short,” an episodic play the company’s managing director, Tiffany Joy Ross, deems “an autobiographical play about the development of a theater company,” will premier April 11 at the National Pastime Theater.

Spence, whose current tasks include directing and sound design, said the idea of starting a production company at NIU was the dream of many in the acting program.

“Not specifically the three of us [had the idea to start a company] but pretty much everyone at NIU threw the idea around,” Spence said.

After the trio graduated, each went down a separate path. Spence went home to Nebraska; Sheffer traveled with a company to study in Hungary; Foster worked with friends in the Virgin Islands. The three met up again in late 2003.

“We decided to settle in the city,” Spence said. “Things kind of flowed between the three of us.”

Today, the company includes six members. Each act in the performances as well as assume various roles. All members but one are NIU graduates.

“We are not specifically Northern-based and not specifically interested in being pro-Northern, but that’s how it’s been working out,” Spence said. “There have been a lot of great actors out of Northern. It behooved us to find people with different backgrounds and experiences to contribute.”

Sheffer is the company’s in-house writer and wrote “Lake Front Property” as well as “Long Story Short” and other plays that will be produced in the company’s future including “Poor Man’s Amos,” and “Nebraska Project,” a musical based on Bruce Springsteen’s album, “Nebraska.”

“We are a very young company,” Ross said. “I think that’s important. We started up because we have a voice and wanted to be influential. Clint’s writing is young and fresh and gives the youthful generation a voice as opposed to a nondescript generation of people.”

Spence, who also directed “Long Story Short” and does sound design for the company, said students looking to start their own companies need to know about acting.

“Obviously, you need to learn your craft,” Spence said. “Pay attention to what you learn in your classes.”

Spence said he strongly recommends that students know how to deal with many other issues besides acting, such as maintaining your company on a non-profit status, filing tax and IRS paperwork, fundraising and networking. Other aspects to take into consideration include creating a Web site and eye-catching advertisements.

“Being aware as an artist is important, but there’s so much more than putting on shows,” Spence said. “It helps to be able to know how to do more than one thing.”

With an eye on managing, the company has high goals set for its future.

“Within the next five years, we want to be the top non-equity company in the city,” Ross said.