RECOMMENDED

The story goes that songwriter Harold Arlen hailed a Manhattan taxi one rainy day only to have the cab driver serenade him with “Stormy Weather.” “Do you know who wrote that?” Arlen inquired. “Sure, Irving Berlin,” answered the driver. “Try again.” “Richard Rodgers.” “Nope.” “Cole Porter?” “Actually, I wrote it.” “Who are you?” asked the skeptical driver. “Harold Arlen.” “Harold who?” Despite having composed more than 400 songs including many of the biggest hits of the twentieth century, Arlen has never been a household name. Though he was the songwriter’s songwriter, when “Over the Rainbow” was voted the No. 1 “Song of the Century” by the Recording Industry of America and the National Endowment for the Arts in 2001, Judy Garland’s name was there but Arlen’s name was never mentioned. And yet, had you asked Garland, Sinatra, Ella or virtually any of the singers or songwriters closely associated with the classic American Songbook who their favorite songwriter was, the answer was simply, “Harold.” Read the rest of this entry »

"Aggression Therapy"

For five weeks this June and July, Beau O’Reilly and Curious Theatre Branch will bring back the third incarnation of his short play series, “Three Story Animal,” combining three story-based theatrical adaptations each night running in rotating repertory, three nights each week. Each night, O’Reilly combines one of his own stories with one renowned writer—like Beckett, Hemingway, Donald Barthelme—featuring Theater Oobleck actors and one guest writer/performer:  animator Chris Sullivan, monologist Diana Slickman, poet John Starrs, Curious co-founder Jenny Magnus, and playwright Mark Chrisler.

Why curate such an assorted three-part evening? “It’s a simple answer,” according to O’Reilly. “The first show we did at the twentieth-anniversary of Rhino Fest, calling it ’20 Story Animal.’ I wanted to do a bunch of stories from people who had been in the Rhino and some of my own. When people asked if I would do it again the next year, I thought, what’s the second story animal? It ended up being me and a guest. And in introducing the third element this year, I’ve been playing with short adaptations of pieces by famous authors… the gestures of short-story writing and novel writing applied to theater.” Read the rest of this entry »

RECOMMENDED

There are no seats for “Fuerza Bruta: Look Up”; you’ll spend the entire sixty-five minutes standing on the stage of the Auditorium Theatre. Actually, you’ll spend most of the time jumping, cheering and dancing along with the joyous cast of this truly spectacular event, leaving the theater in a state of euphoria, wanting more. Or not, if your idea of a night at the theater is a well-defined personal space and a performance that at least attempts to create a cohesive narrative. Cohesion is consciously, anarchically rejected in “Fuerza Bruta,” as evidenced in one of the pieces—the show is made up of a series of disconnected performance fragments—when the cast is crammed into a too-small room above and in front of the audience, fidgeting to the point of destruction, where walls made of boxes, furniture in the form of checkered-tableclothed plastic tables, chairs and trash cans are soon rained down toward us. Soon free of the confines of conformity, the cast breaks into a joyous dance before descending the stage to frolic amongst the audience, dancing, breaking harmless styrofoam forms over unexpectant heads and then suddenly disappearing to regroup for the next piece.

A cultural mashup that might be the perfect entertainment for our times, “Fuerza Bruta: Look Up” is a burst of joy, a feast for the eyes, ears and mind. A fin-du-monde what-the-hellness seems to wash over the whole affair, sometimes decadent, sometimes erotic, always playful. The cast is a handsome mix of youngish boho chics, with a vaguely exotic aura emanating from the Argentinean origins of the work’s artistic director/impresario Diqui James (who also co-founded the seminal “De La Guardia”), composer Gaby Kerpel and many of the other key creators and cast members. The show’s pieces seem to alternate between a dystopian futurism and a utopian surrealism, with tableaus distinctly conjuring up visual art motifs from those movements. Or, alternately, men suffer, women play. As in a man, in a suit and tie, running on a giant treadmill for no apparent reason. He is shot, wounded and keeps running. Does he represent the seemingly constant state of political turmoil, with coup d’états and brutal military regimes that haunt Latin America? Or perhaps the inextricable blend of big business and violence that accompanies commercial power flexed outside its natural borders? Juxtaposed with such dramatic imagery, women soon frolic balletically on a giant shimmering wall, as if dancing on the wind. Later, erotic nymphs enchant the crowd in a giant overhead dipping pool of sorts, conjuring up Homerian Sirens, Surrealism and synchronized swimming at the same time. Read the rest of this entry »

In this numbingly drab one-man show, actor Ben Pardo languidly moves around the sparse stage reciting poetry for a full hour—and although the amount of memorization here is rather impressive, the delivery is decidedly not. From very brief Emily Dickinson and A.E. Houseman pieces, to the lengthy Samuel Taylor Coleridge classic “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”—which takes up more than half the show’s running time—Pardo imbues them all with the same lifeless line readings.

If these were original pieces, or even more obscure pieces by renowned writers, these dull recitations may have retained a bit of interest, if only from a scholarly viewpoint, but Pardo has chosen standard texts, including the infamous “Hamlet” soliloquy—yes, the one that begins “To be or not to be!” Pretentiousness, thy name is Pardo.

Even the most stirring Shakespearean dialogue falls flat here: lengthy pauses are deadening to the show’s already bloated running time, the blocking feels like mere wandering and by the end I expected an undergraduate professor to stand up and begin giving notes on basic dramatic delivery. (Zach Freeman)

Gorilla Tango, 1919 North Milwaukee, (773)598-4549, through July 2. $10.

"Casanova Takes a Bath"

By Monica Westin

It’s a notable month for Theater Oobleck. With the remount of the company’s recent Rhino Fest contribution, “Casanova Takes a Bath,” at Prop Thtr in late May, and their current ambitious cantastoria project in conjunction with Links Hall (along with recent performances at the Hideout and the Packer Schopf Gallery), the company’s various members are performing and collaborating all over town. We spoke with two Oobleck members: David Isaacson, Oobleck founding member and the writer and performer of “Casanova,” and David Buchen, part of the brains and much of the work behind the cantastoria projects at Links and elsewhere, about the ancient forms and influences in contrast with the contemporary concerns of Oobleck’s various performances around town.

I have to admit that I missed “Casanova” at Rhino Fest. Can you talk a little about the play and how it will be different in this production?
David Isaacson: You’re not the only one! It was easy to miss. I did it along with Beau [O’Reilly of Curious Theatre Branch] and it was a weekend matinee, very easy to miss. For the handful of people who made it to the show at Rhino, this one won’t be very different, but for the rest of us… It’s a show that combines the fun of Casanova’s memoirs with commentary on our current economy. It sounds like a strange connection, but the way it works is to use episodes from the life of Casanova as mini-allegories for aspects of our current financial crisis, where the little vignettes hopefully add a layer of understanding to how we got here. Read the rest of this entry »

Photo: AJ Zanyk

By Monica Westin

Playwright-director Young Jean Lee brings one of this spring’s most anticipated shows to the MCA this week: “The Shipment,” a subversive minstrelsy performance that’s in keeping with her history of experimental, confrontational plays about racial identity. What’s different is that where previous shows about race centered around stereotypes of the Korean-American experience Lee identifies with, “The Shipment” addresses African-American identity politics, presenting cultural images of Black America through various sketches, dance, stand-up comedy and drama.

We spoke with Lee about seeking discomfort, avoiding irony and bringing her ever-changing and highly praised show to Chicago.

“The Shipment” has gone through several adaptations after what you’ve described as “unsuccessful workshops.” Has it continued to change?

We’ve continued to tweak the show based on where we are in performances, from Carolina to Europe… We actually had to make a major change in touring the show in Europe because in the first shows the audience thought the play was about how backwards Americans are for having race problems—one more quaint story of American stupidity—with the idea that Europe doesn’t have race problems. We had to add in a long paragraph making clear that they were implicated too. Read the rest of this entry »

RECOMMENDED

The world of experimental performance can feel quite elusive and tough to navigate in Chicago—lucky for us, accomplished local artists Mark Jeffrey (SAIC faculty) and Sara Schnadt (Department of Cultural Affairs) are working hard to make it a little easier, by curating the bi-annual IN>TIME Performance Series. An eclectic mix of local, national and international artists, this latest installation of IN>TIME includes a much anticipated work-in-progress showing from new local company Every House Has a Door, which is the latest project of Lin Hixson and Matthew Goulish, co-founders of the renowned Goat Island performance group (of which Jeffrey was a member), which disbanded in 2008. Other artists include Angela Ellsworth, presenting “Another Women’s Movement,” a “roaming durational tableau of well-armed frontier women;” SAIC students and emerging local artists Justin Cabrillos and Jessica Hannah, performing work developed through the IN>TIME Incubation series; and, featured international performance group OOUR, from Zagreb, Croatia. So clear your calendar for Saturday night—this is a one-night-only event, not to be missed.

In conversation with the performance series, there will be an artists’ symposium on Friday afternoon, examining professional sustainability for artists. The panel will feature an array of prominent artists and scholars, including Sara Jane Bailes, Roberto Sifuentes, and Tricia Van Eck. (Valerie Jean Johnson)

IN>TIME Performance Series: Saturday, March 27. 6pm-9pm, Chicago Cultural Center. Free. Symposium: Friday, March 26, 1pm-5pm. Chicago Cultural Center, 5th floor, Millennium Park Room. Free (reservations required).

Great Small Works' "Marcovaldo Planets"

By Monica Westin

It’s a big weekend for Seth Bockley. In addition to his highly-anticipated performance promenade “The Twins Would Like to Say” with Dog & Pony opening at Steppenwolf Garage on Sunday, Bockley has curated the impressive lineup of artists at Links Hall’s Toy Theater Festival this weekend.

Bockley champions toy theater for its populist roots in nineteenth-century paper theater, which could be made in anyone’s living room as a precursor to television. The form has morphed from living-room entertainment to a cheap, DIY way of making performance that Bockley loves because it’s “not rarefied art.” We spoke to Bockley about this form he wants to be reclaimed as an everyday act.

Toy theater seems to be an exciting and increasingly popular form lately—I’m thinking of companies like Great Small Works, who I know are going to be part of this show. Why do you think there is such a strong interest in toy theater today? When did you personally become interested in the medium?

I became interested in toy theater, and puppetry more generally, through work with Redmoon back in 2004 during my mentorship with Frank Maugeri, now the artistic director there. I originally was more interested in writing and had no intention, really, of getting involved with puppetry, but through seeing what Frank was able to do with the medium, I became extremely excited and interested in this form of storytelling. So oddly, I had become involved as a writer for puppet theater, which was a strange thing to be, and our collaboration allowed me to see the potential of this form. I see it as a form that can both be in dialogue with and in competition with cinema—working with puppetry is closer to the work of a filmmaker rather than a theater director. One of the many cool things it allows is a way of performing animation—performing film really—by other means. Read the rest of this entry »

RECOMMENDED

Unfortunately, there was only one performance of Chris Sullivan’s creepy, gorgeous, hilarious, and profoundly one-off show at Rhinofest this year. However, “Mark the Encounter” has been in development for years (it shows), and so it’s possible there will be another incarnation in Chicago, though its creator plans to take it on the road before that happens. If and when it does, it’s an important one to see—rarely do we get a chance to see a performance piece that has been as meticulously worked as Sullivan’s, nor one that incorporates truly arresting—and at times brilliant—writing, perfectly disturbing comedy and a sense of the absurd delivered with droll understatement.

This is all to say that “Mark the Encounter” is very smart and at most times seemingly the work of a deranged consciousness. The show follows a dream logic, beginning with a doctor convincing a woman to donate her newly vegetable husband’s heart to a creepy marionette named Fred. Fred appears again as the fantasy of the dead man’s alleged brother Nosmo, whose insanely funny, and very very sad inner life turns out to be the expressionist hinge around which the short scenes rotate. Nosmo has a Peruvian mountain man living where his heart used to be (dysphemistically called a homunculus). His fantastically depraved and hilarious fantasies of seducing his brother’s widow run up against deeply unhealthy psychotherapy sessions that easily outstrip the subject’s usual treatment. Other scenes, intertwined and undermining one another, including an undertaker with the hustle of a used-car salesman and a series of horrific funeral elegies delivered with professional deadpan, somehow do more than stay afloat. This show embodies the niche between performance art and theater that Chicago desperately needs filled, and it does so in a damn smart, damn funny way. (Monica Westin)

Rhinofest.com

By Monica Westin

Links Hall’s new director, Roell Schmidt, is as diverse as the programming at Links; a playwright, producer and successful head of development and marketing at Lookingglass Theatre and the Chicago Chamber Musicians. We spoke with Schmidt, who started at Links in July, to get a sense of her plans.

Given your background in development, it seems that one of your focuses is going to be bringing in audiences?

That’s absolutely one of my most important missions. Performers don’t perform for themselves. I feel strongly that one of my major efforts has to be to ensure that the audience attendance is first at the scene, the way it was for Poonie’s this fall. We’ve been able to hit capacity a few times, and that’s our continued goal…. One method I found effective at other places has been the mighty power of the creative college student. There’s a great granting program that allows us to hire undergraduates to come and work on staff, and they’re tapping into all of their social-networking knowledge and creativity, thinking about who would be the right groups or individuals to know about an event, and how to get them that information. Read the rest of this entry »