Rula Sirhan Gardenier is a triple threat. She’s strikingly attractive, highly energized, and has overcome the challenges of her immigrant background-which included a harrowing escape from an arranged marriage. Now, after years of working both in the corporate sector and acting on a variety of Chicago-area stages, this River Forest mother’s latest role is managing director of Circle Theatre.
“Rula has a drive and passion that seems unstoppable,” says Circle Theatre Producing Director Bob Knuth. “She is a real go-getter with an amazing amount of positive spirit-which is contagious. Having her on board at Circle has already led to a new and renewed sense of energy. It is the kind of spirit that will help Circle keep on going for another 23 years.”
Escaping an arranged marriage
Last seen on Circle’s stage in the Spanish classic, “The House of Bernarda Alba,” Rula has an extensive background in acting. Her credits include working with Donna Blue Lachman on the two-woman show, “For You Were A Stranger,” which the pair performed together in Chicago. The drama focuses on relations between Jews and Arabs. Gardenier was born in the Middle East.
“I was just a teenager when I fled to escape an arranged marriage,” she explains. “We had moved to England from Palestine when I was 13, and when I was 17 or 18, I discovered my family had scheduled me to marry a 34-year-old step-cousin. So of course I rebelled. With the help of a male friend, I escaped with little money to the United States. I was out of touch with my parents for a very long time. You see, Arab children are much like Asian children. Ideally they are supposed to be very compliant and obedient. I was naïve and terrified when I fled to New York City. But I knew I didn’t want to marry this man.”
The traditional Middle Eastern female role-to be demure and non-aggressive-was not a part Rula could easily play. To speak one’s mind, to hold strong opinions, to take charge of one’s own destiny, for a woman, she said, would cause people to harshly comment, “She’s like a man-this is bad.”
“While my mother was trying to imprison me,” Rula observes, “She really freed me. By enforcing my future, she caused me to flee and to make my own way. It was scary and I was unclear what might happen to me, but I was determined I would not stay and marry that man.”
Eventually after adjusting and arriving in the Midwest, she left a secure corporate Chicago position to pursue acting. Almost from the beginning, she was playing a variety of nationalities.
“Because of my looks, I play many different ethnic roles-from Greeks and French characters to Isabella Rosselini types. Sometimes I have been hired to play Latino, but since I don’t speak Spanish, I cannot take the role if it involves dialogue.”
Rula has also done plenty of “voice-over” work in commercials as well as what she calls the truest form of American theater: the industrial film. These movies are often used for training in the corporate world. Since they need to accurately reflect ethnic diversity, the directors hire many types from a wide variety of backgrounds.
Most recently Rula was seen in “The Miracle,” an independent film.
An uncertain future
Though she plans to continue pursuing acting opportunities, for now she is immersed in her new gig as managing director of Circle Theatre.
“I am thrilled to immerse myself in the company,” she says, though she’s also protective of time with her two children, Carter and Rami.
She takes on her new role during what could be a precarious transition period for the theater company. The building that houses Circle Theatre has just been sold, she revealed. With Madison Street booming in downtown Forest Park, such a development may not be surprising. But what will it mean for the company?
“I want everyone to know what’s happening with us. People need to rally around Circle. Our audiences have been supportive all along, so now let’s see how much they will continue to support the arts.”
Circle Theatre has been a fixture in the local arts community since the mid-1980s. From the beginning, this innovative company has enjoyed a reputation as an intrepid, cutting-edge storefront troupe that thrived on taking changes.
When the church in which they were performing burned down, Circle moved into the first floor of The Hain Building, an old 1920s department store on Madison Street. There they began to mount a string of exciting new works, launching playwrights who went on to national careers, and winning rave reviews and heaps of awards, including the coveted Jefferson citations. Circle became known for doing dicey, edgy work. It was the first company this side of Halsted Street, for instance, to feature nudity. They also created a niche for themselves showcasing dazzling productions of Broadway musical “flops.” Though some shows are more popular than others, their critically acclaimed mounting of Oscar Wilde’s 1895 comedy “An Ideal Husband” is so successful, the only complaints being voiced concern getting tickets.
Despite the insecurity of an unfocused future, caused by the sale of their space, Rula Sirhan Gardenier feels the outcome of this situation will be positive-even exciting.
If The Hain Building were to be upgraded, that would be terrific, of course. The apartments above the theater have occasionally provided unwanted challenges. I recall watching a show that was not “Singing in the Rain” yet it was “raining” on the performers. Some upstairs tenant’s bathtub overflowed.
Will Circle be cut adrift? Will the company have to move from its home community, leaving behind their brand-new, expensive air-conditioning system?
Rula hopes people rally around the company and support them whatever happens. Despite the uncertainty, or maybe because of it, Gardenier is full of enthusiasm.
“I know how to access the business world and to earn money,” she points out. “I quit a corporate job, giving up a huge salary after 18 years to become a full-time actor and now managing director. One of my goals is to upgrade audiences and keep building our numbers at Circle.” She also hopes to build up relations with banks and local businesses.
Yet she’s disappointed that many are not fully aware of the achievements of Circle Theatre. “They are missing out on a wonderful artistic experience for themselves and their children,” she says.
Re-igniting Circle
Artistic Director Kevin Bellie, says, “Rula’s amazing energy and business acumen have reinvigorated the spirit of Circle Theatre. She has the power to make stagnant programs re-ignite. This is a special trait that so few possess. Rula, on the other hand, overflows with this quality.”
Gardenier attributes much of her vigor and insight to her immigrant background. “We look at things differently,” she notes. “I think Circle could be a Steppenwolf just waiting to happen. The product is certainly a viable commodity. What will happen to us remains to be seen. Could we move to Oak Park? What does our future hold? This is a very exciting point for us, despite the insecurity of the building being sold. I’m really thrilled that we are moving ahead.”
