He and David Shepherd found the form that would best serve his ideas about socially relevant theater. They established the Compass Players, the first improvisational theater company in the United States, in the University of Chicago vicinity in 1955. Perhaps the reason Sill's work is so resonant, despite its essentially e phemeral nature, is that he has never viewed a production as an entity, or an end, unto itself. Theater comes out of the consciousness of the community. Theater is concerned with reality.
Reality is shared.
And reality of the moment can occur only with spontaneity. I think theater is responsible for the image of the human. Making theater that mirrored the human image and reflected the consciousness of the community is exactly what the Compass Players did. The troupe consisted of actors and volunteers who were excited by the idea of satirical cabaret theater that would enlighten and inspire its immediate community. The actors also participated in workshops led by Spolin, who briefly returned to Chicago at the urging of Sills and Shepherd.