About Us
The K’ilu Company sparks Jewish discovery through immersive theater and imaginative play. We create at-home kits, live programs, and educator trainings that bring Jewish tradition to life.
Our Story
K’ilu Founder Jonathan Shmidt Chapman has spent his career at the intersection of theater for children, family engagement, and imaginative play. When he became a parent, a big “lightbulb moment” happened as he started introducing his son to Jewish tradition: What would happen if we connected the dots between the worlds of interactive theater and Jewish early childhood education? That curiosity became a calling, leading to the creation of several projects that have reached thousands of families, synagogues, and schools across the country.
Jonathan founded The K’ilu Company to bring Jewish education and family engagement to life at-home, in school, and live in community. We collaborate with a team of incredible artists, educators, and designers to create transformative experiences across the Chicagoland area and in communities nationwide.
Our Vision
We are inspired by the Passover ritual of experiencing the holiday “... k’ilu hu yatza mimitzrayim”—as if we personally went out from Egypt. We don’t just tell the story, we explore it with our senses and our imaginations. The K’ilu Company applies this tradition across Jewish early childhood learning and engagement.
Early childhood is a crucial time in the development of Jewish identity. Research shows that Jewish early childhood education provides children and their families with a vital foundation for greater and longer-term involvement in Jewish life.
Theatrical play ignites early childhood learning and exploration. Research shows that theater-based learning in early childhood cultivates empathy, curiosity, self-expression, memory-making, and social bonding.
Theater and imaginative play can transform the way we introduce Jewish tradition to very young children. By imagining themselves within Jewish tradition and experiencing it in a hands-on multi-sensory way, they become part of the story.
Who We Are
Jonathan Shmidt Chapman
Founder & CEO
Jonathan Shmidt Chapman is an award-winning artist, writer, and Jewish educator. As the founder of The K’ilu Company, Jonathan reimagines Jewish early childhood engagement through theater and play. His projects have reached thousands of families and classrooms across the country. Jonathan was named the Covenant Foundation’s inaugural Jewish Family Education Fellow in 2023. He is also the recipient of a Pomegranate Prize, the Jewish Education Project’s Young Pioneers Award, and the Children’s Theatre Foundation of America Medallion Award. He was invited to join the inaugural cohort of the Mandel Institute’s Jewish Education Leadership Program. As an internationally recognized artist creating theater for kids and families, Jonathan’s work has been presented by Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, the Kennedy Center, and Seattle Children’s Theatre. His work has been featured by NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt, The New York Times, and American Theatre Magazine. Jonathan co-authored Envisioning the Future of Theater for Young Audiences for the National Endowment for the Arts, and he currently serves on the faculty at Northwestern University. He holds an M.A. in Educational Theatre from New York University. He lives in the Chicago area with his husband, Rabbi David Chapman, and their two children Elior and Amitai.
“Jonathan has found innovative ways to use theater and music to bring Torah to life for the youngest members of our community. He has helped us build a vibrant community of babies, pre-schoolers, and their grownups.”
— Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum
“Jonathan uses immersive theater to introduce very young children to Torah, Jewish learning, peoplehood, spirituality, and ethics in deeply impactful new ways … this needs to be available to every single parent and kid.”
— Rabbi Stephanie Kolin
Jordan Zelvin
Program Manager
Jordan Zelvin is a multi-hyphenate artist, teacher, and Jewish storyteller. With a B.A. in Educational Studies and Theatre from Denison University, Jordan has extensive experience in child-centered, play-based learning, as well as, immersive theater/dramatic play as a means to discover identity, community, and life-long curiosity. As a Jewish teaching artist, Jordan views storytelling as a collaborative experience. She discovered the intersection of her own identities as artist, teacher, and Jewish person in a production of Across the Sand: A Theatrical Passover Experience written and directed by The K’ilu Company founder, Jonathan Shmidt Chapman. This “lightbulb moment” led Jordan on a journey of reimagining what early childhood Jewish education could be, which led straight to The K’ilu Company. Jordan is also a faculty member of Mensch Academy, co-founder of Chronic Collective Chi, a company member of PlayGround-Chicago, and a comedian of Malarkey Comedy where you can find her performing with CSz on Thursdays and Improvised DCOM on Fridays at The iO Theater.