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Two Lights, getting ready to take the stage with their first production at the Neo-Futurarium this weekend

“I believe that theatre is an art unlike any other because it asks for a type of bravery that is scarce in this world,” says Dan Dvorkin, one of the founders of Two Lights Theatre Company.

Named for Five for Fighting’s “Two Lights,” a song that speaks of this type of courage and bravery, Dan and his co-founder, Becky Leifman, are themselves the Two Lights, or two bright ideas, behind the new company.

Buffalo Grove natives, Dan and Becky, met through their high school theatre program, where they made plans to start their own company once they graduated college. But this summer, while on break from school—Becky a junior at Syracuse University in New York and Dan a sophomore at DePaul University in Chicago— the pair decided now was as good a time as ever to get started.

“We wrote letters to our friends and family who donated money to our company, and once we had enough to put on a show we knew things would really start to pick up,” says Becky. They also received a scholarship from the Larry Berkowitz Foundation at the Buffalo Grove Park District. Then they held auditions, casting an ensemble of 11 actors ages 18 to 24, five of which they knew from high school. “We also used our resources and friends in other theatre programs to come and help us collaborate on this project with the directing, stage managing and technical directing.”

Their first original production, “Where We Go,” premiers this Friday and plays again Saturday at the Neo-Futurariam, 5133 N. Ashland--home to Chicago’s much-loved, long-running show Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind. “Where We Go” was inspired by interviews with Chicagoans about their dreams. Becky and Dan used those dreams to develop characters and story lines.

“This play explores what happens when people lose their inhibitions and allow their minds to wander without any boundaries,” says Dan. “It follows the lives of three families who are distant and lost within their reality”

Becky hopes their production will be ‘meaningful theatre,’ and that the audience will learn something after watching the show.

“Most of the shows we hope to do are going to be ensemble-based, meaning that everyone shares an equal role in the creativity and process of the productions we make,” says Dan. “Our projects will ask much of our artists in mental, physical and emotional ways, in the end creating work that speaks a message.”

While they are still in school, the pair says they hope to continue working together in the summers and on school breaks.

“We are planning some pretty exciting things for next summer,” Becky says, “however nothing is set in stone so I won’t reveal too much.” Her ultimate goal is to eventually be able to turn Two Lights into a full-time career.

But for now, both Becky and Dan will be thrilled to fill the Neo-Futurariam’s 145 seats two nights in a row with eager theatre goers and supporters.

Tickets for “Where We Go” are still available. Email  Two2lights@gmail.com for reservations or for more information.