"There is a point at which the cash flow becomes a problem as a result of the delayed arrival of grants, weak ticket sales, and a lack of expected contributions from benefits and individual donors," Geoffrey Curley, the company's artistic director, told the Chicago Sun-Times. "So the staff and board have decided that the best way to proceed is to stop all expenditures, to wait for a few grants that we still have coming and try to pay our outstanding bills to our artists, landlord and printer." Earlier this year, Roadworks canceled plans to stage the Chicago premiere of Rinne Groff's Orange Lemon Egg Canary. It had also scheduled a production of Neil LaBute's The Shape of Things. Roadworks' annual budget is $260,000, the Sun-Times said. The troupe recently moved into a permanent space at the Chopin Theatre.

Since its foundation in 1991, Roadworks has shown itself a youthful, energetic company attracted to adventuresome scripts. It has brought to Chicago challenging, nervy plays which have found success Off-Broadway, such as Kenneth Lonergan's This Is Our Youth, Eric Bogosian's subUrbia, Mike Leigh's Ecstacy, Amy and David Sedaris' The Book of Liz and Patrick Marber's Dealer's Choice. (It is less know for producing original work.) It's reputation was such that it often presented work at the lofty Steppenwolf Theatre Company.