Category: Theatre Festival
Review: Chicago One-Minute Play Festival (Victory Gardens)
New Festival Showcases Short Works by Local Artists, Sampler-style
by Dan Jakes and Oliver Sava
This May 15-16, Victory Gardens premiered Chicago’s first One-Minute Play Festival (OMPF), a benefit event that featured bite-sized works by an eclectic mix of prominent and upcoming local theater artists. Creator and “curator” Dominic D’Andrea originally debuted the series in New York in 2007, where it has since grown to San Francisco and Los Angeles . For its first ever stop in the Midwest, considering the event’s magnitude–50 playwrights, 10 directors, and nearly 60 actors–this year’s showcase demonstrated promising potential for an exciting annual Chicago theater institution.
That is, if it finds a stronger footing. Micro-plays are nothing new, especially in the Windy City, long-time home to the Neo-Futurists’ Too Much Light and Second City; one set the bar for two-minute plays, and the other made one-joke flash bits a sketch trademark. D’Andrea and producer Will Rogers’ OMPF also rides off the larger 10-minute play trend. Their efforts to boil down theater even further, though, prove to be fruitful–sometimes even enlightening. Below is a list of the night’s highlights.
Paper Airplane, Aaron Carter
| The finest piece in the festival. A young boy expresses his anguish over his father’s looming death while tossing folded paper planes across the stage. His ability to speak is limited to the papers’ flight, leaving him choked and frustrated with each audible crash landing. In less than a minute, Carter encapsulates the panic of grief, and animates the cruel handicap children endure to express pain. Those planes approached visual poetry. |
Two Vegans, Robert Tenges
| A couple engaged in love making–some of it hilariously acrobatic–get their kink on by dirty-talking their favorite (or to cool things off, least favorite: (“raw kale…raw kale!”) foods. At first, it’s funny nonsense. Then, after you uncomfortably internalize your own link between taste/sexual satisfaction, it’s hysterical. |
A Play, Kristoffer Diaz
| You’re the hero in this monologue. The audience member to your right is the protagonist. Your left, the antagonist. Diaz’s simple, straight-forward instructions don’t feel like a gimmick. His inconclusive end ponders some sophisticated ideas about the broader implications of storytelling, ones that resonate long after the play’s 60 seconds are up. |
The Last Walk, Lisa Dillman
| Sad pets are an easy go-to for emotional impact…but that doesn’t make using them any less effective. A dog reminisces about the good days with her very recently deceased owner. Confused, she brushes up against his dead body for affection…and if you don’t cry a little at the thought of that, then you’re a monster. Only a few high-pitched “aw’s” were heard in the house during an otherwise hushed fade-to-black. |
Inequity, Jake Minton
| Penis envy comes early for two little boys (played by full-grown adults, of course) in a school bathroom: One stands proud, pants down and bare-butted at a urinal, while the other sits devastated, hiding his…well, you know. Minton makes a nice little joke about men’s biggest insecurity. |
Haiku Fight, Caitlin Montanye Parrish
| A couple hashes out an argument by having a refereed 8 Mile-style slam, with Japanese poetry filling in for hip-hop. It’s a simple, wonderfully clever juxtaposition of the writing form’s serenity versus the needling aggravation of a relationship fight. |
This Just In, Stephen Louis Grush
| Liberal sensibilities about prejudice get turned over on their heads when one easily dismissible stereotype gets paired with one that’s equally unfair, but–for many viewers–may hit a little closer to home. Those might sound like the makings for a didactic issues play. With the right amounts of humor and levity here, they aren’t. |
Bag Thief, Laura Jacqmin
| A mix-up at an airport luggage carousel leads to suspicion and accusations. Jacqmin doesn’t quite know how to end her play–what she settles for lets the air out of its balloon and betrays her otherwise solid work. Up until the final seconds, though, it’s fun stuff watching two men calmly navigate each other’s logic and contemplate one another’s mind games. |
Blackout, Chisa Hutchinson
| As the name suggests, Hutchinson’s play takes place with the house and stage lights off. Her monologue discusses nyctophobia (fear of darkness) in friendly, clinical terms. Once she starts in about the ghastly things you could be imagining, it’s hard not to nervously giggle and realize you’re an adult who’s once again–briefly–afraid of the dark. |
In Not Our Finest Hour, Andrew Hinderaker
| You can spot a gag coming within the first few seconds of this context-free comedy. A line of actors take a swig from a water bottle and pass it on. Anticipation builds; titters slip. The fact that the punch line is exactly what you’d expect compounds the simple humor in this satisfying, straightforward piece. |
Wisconsin, Andrew Hinderaker
| Anyone who’s experienced the unique isolation of a rural Midwest winter can attest to the truth and melancholy spoken in this eloquent monologue. A young man describes a blackened hand rising out of the snow. Hinderaker’s vivid image is striking on conflicting levels–it’s unsettling, somber, and in its own way, serene. |
Free, Zayd Dohrn
| A United States Marine quietly bemoans the chaos of modern war and rejects America’s authoritative façade. His speech is upsetting for all the obvious reasons, and for some less common: notably, the futility of humanitarian efforts and the false hope instilled by the military’s hierarchy. |
A Short Story, Emily Schwartz
| A narrator gives up on his own story, much to the protagonist’s chagrin. Schwartz’s non-story leaves the nameless hero waiting and frustrated as the nonchalant storyteller signs off on her would-be adventure. Smart, funny metatheater. |
Love Play for Two Chairs, Seth Bockley
| When you think about chairs having sex (though in any other context, why would you?) the word “whimsical” probably doesn’t come to mind. And yet, like an x-rated Fantasia, Bockley and director Jeffrey Stanton achieve just that. Annoyed by the noise of his enchanted furniture getting it on, an apartment owner sets out to end his two chairs’ tryst. His solution is delightfully absurd–the fact that it’s irresistibly adorable makes matters even stranger. |
Unsolicited Advice for Next Year’s Fest
Now that the One-Minute Play Festival has taken its first entertaining, successful baby steps in Chicago, here’s what we at we’d would like to see from the show in its future incarnations…
A Greater Assortment of Styles:
Only a few plays in 2011 were noteworthy for really bucking traditional conventions. The message in Gloria Bond Clunie’s Falling about resilience in the face of natural disasters, for instance, wasn’t particularly moving or inspired, but her play stood out from its peers for its striking use of projections and puppetry. That left us with a question: How can the other works of 50 unique artists have looked so homogeneous? Talking animals, inner-monologues, contentless scenes and gripes about public transit bore the brunt of too many shows. No movement pieces? No one-minute musicals? Festival organizers take pride in the lack of dictated thematic guidelines for the playwrights (as they should). Still, there has to be a way to commission a more diverse body of work.
Super-titles:
Many of the short plays benefited from having the names of the shows known; some even took on new light. Dimmed houselights and tiny program font made seeing them impractical–unless you were really straining, you had to do without. An inexpensive or creative way to integrate the show names could further enrich the work.
Clear Intent Behind Curation:
Was there or was there not an intended arc to the evening? We couldn’t tell. Directors took on about 10 plays each, and their pieces were presented together in ten unique “clumps.” The order that clumps were presented in and the plays within them, though, did not have an obvious flow. Perhaps one wasn’t intended–regardless, having one might keep the night as a whole engaging.
The Chicago One-Minute Play Festival is produced as a benefit for Victory Gardens Fresh Squeezed, their alternative programming and audience engagement initiative. With a shared mission, both Fresh Squeezed and the festival aim to represent a wide and diverse range of playwrights, actors, and directors working in the great city of Chicago.
Reviewers: Dan Jakes and Oliver Sava
Review: 6th Annual Chaos Festival (Point of Contention)
Where ten writers write ten plays actualized by ten directors
| Point of Contention Theatre presents |
| The Sixth Annual Chaos Festival |
| at Lincoln Square Theatre, 4754 N. Leavitt (map) through April 6 | tickets: $15 | more info |
Reviewed by Katy Walsh
Lovers, killers, single-cell organisms, survival is dependent on embracing the chaos. Point of Contention Theatre Company presents The Sixth Annual Chaos Festival. Ten writers wrote ten plays actualized by ten directors. The cluster of ten minute shows is a showcase sampling of new work. It’s something for everyone on the all-you-can-eat-buffet. The morsel nibbling allows for tasting a variety of a la carte offerings without getting stuck with a dissatisfying main entree. For the curious palate, it’s a series of one bite wonders. If it’s sweet, there is the next daily special by the actors, writer, or director to crave. If the recipe is bland, a future spicier version could bring out the flavor.
Second Helping, Please
Three of the shows were unique, lip-smacking, gourmet surprises. Minutiae written by Barry Eitel, is an evolutionary exploration of scientific wit. Under the direction of Rachel Staelens, Nicci Schumacher and Rafael Torres spar in a lively, rambunctious survival of relevance. The Four Senses of Love written by Arthur M. Jolly is a hilarious coupling of two members of a sensory-deprived support group. Under the direction of Brandon Boler, individually and collectively, Jonathan Helvey and Lisa Cordileone sarcastically work through their affliction with no senses. Wet Work written by Jenny Seidelman is an intriguing, comedic encounter between two very opposite men. Under the direction of Brandon Baisden, Ray Ready plays it perky, irritant to an established, smoldering Joshua Volkers. The odd duo captivates to an unexpected conclusion.
Can’t Make Out the Taste, But I Like it
Two of the shows aroused with a lingering aftertaste. Jib and The Big Still written by Elizabeth Birkenmeir is a guy zoning out to avoid the chaos around him. Under the direction of Michael Wagman, David Holcombe, Jaclyn Keough, and Warren Feagins effectively use extremes in physicality to contrast angst. Quiet Killers, written by Kristen Palmer, is teenagers musing over death and human instinct. Under the direction of Brea Hayes, Drew Anderson, Natalie Nassar, and Eric Ryan Swanson are over-the-top morose. It’s how the goth-set does funerals.
Had It Before, It’s Enjoyable
Three of the shows have the familiar homestyle goodness of leftovers. The Narcoleptic Pillow Fight written by Alex Dremann is a couple fighting through bouts of hysterical, empathetic or selective narcoleptic episodes. Under the direction of Allyson B. Baisden, Megan E. Brown and Andy Cameron heighten the amusing buffoonery of ‘narking out’. The Rollercoaster of Love written by Joe Musso and A Play or Something Like That written by McCarry Reynolds are two delicious potato salads at the same picnic! It’s actors playing actors working a relationship scene. Both are interesting mini ‘Circle Mirror Transformation’ but not everybody eats potato salad.
Pass the Salt
The final two shows are a little too bland to make it to the big meal. A Portrait of The Artist as a Middle Age Woman written by Jerry Lieblich is a mid-life crisis without the crisis. It needs a dash of Charlie Sheen antics to make it more potent. A fictional Latin lover (Ben Johnson or Jeff Taylor, no headshot, identify unknown) overpowers with his humorous take. He’s hilarious but it’s like putting ketchup on eggs… all you taste is ketchup! White Cotton written by Craig Jessen flirts with infidelity as an engaged man visits his ex-girlfriend. The love triangle doesn’t have quite enough foreplay to make the audience care about who has the long-lasting orgasm.
The Sixth Annual Chaos Festival is a savory smorgasbord offering. With ten opportunities to curb your theatrical craving, your hunger will be satisfied. Bon Appetite!
| Rating: ★★★ |
The Sixth Annual Chaos Festival plays through April 6th at the Lincoln Square Theatre (address), with all April performances at 8pm. Tickets are $15, and can be purchased online or by calling 773-326-3631. Running time: Two hours, which includes a ten minute intermission.
Rhino Fest 2011: A Fruit Salad of Fringe
A Fruit Salad of Fringe
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All plays reviewed by Paige Listerud
Time simply won’t allow for a thorough review of all the productions curated for Curious Theatre Branch’s 22nd Annual Rhinoceros Theater Festival. But an initial smattering might give you a glimpse of the good, the bad, and the deeply uncertain. Chicago’s fringe theater scene is clearly a subculture that depends on prior acquaintanceship—to know which fringe theater companies have a solid reputation for good work and which are still finding their feet and their voice. The following is a truly random selection of Rhino Fest 2011, a fruit salad of fringe, if you will, chosen for variety within the first weekends of the festival—many more productions remain throughout its 5-week run (through February 13). Check out the rest of its schedule.
All performances @ Prop Thtr, 3502 N. Elston (map)
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| Curious Theatre Branch presents |
| All That Fall/All the Flowers Are Dead |
All That Fall by Samuel Beckett
Judith Harding, Matthew Kopp, Kate O’Reilly, Meg Hauk and Beau O’Reilly beautifully revived this Beckett radio play, all the while seated at a table crammed with hats and various noisemakers for special effects. Mrs. Rooney (Harding) takes a sojourn from her home to the train station where she means to pick up her husband. Along the way, she runs into various neighbors who may be a help, a hindrance, a peril, or a temptation to her. Beckett’s love of the cadence of language out of Irish mouths suffuses All That Fall, even when characters acknowledge that they are speaking a dead or dying language. It’s a play in which the old survive, even through complaining about the weariness of going on. Youth is either dying or removed by more insidious means. Curious’ production was so charming, rich and evocatively rendered, it’s a pity they will not be performing All That Fall past the first weekend of Rhino Fest. This production truly deserves a remount. If their production of Mexico, a poem play by Gertrude Stein is done half as well, then Chicago audiences are in for a real treat.
All the Flowers Are Dead, written and directed by Matt Rieger
Matt Rieger’s script is almost American Primitive in its construction and dialogue. Two households live in grinding poverty and predictable misery. Jerome takes care of his ailing mother, hoping that his new job planting flowers for the Park District will give them a better chance. His girlfriend, Rusty, gives him a bicycle to get to and from work but she also pressures Jerome into further commitment. Meanwhile, Augie has to contend with his dad, Nicky, for whom another drink is always the right decision and mom is no help when she finally stops pressuring Nicky to find employment and joins him in drink. Sadly, the first half of Rieger’s play is too plodding and the dialogue too boilerplate to capture the imagination. The play only comes alive once Nicky, to regain his son’s affection, steals Jerome’s new bicycle to give to Augie. The play’s conclusion is devastating but takes far too long to get there, making All the Flowers Are Dead a work in progress more than a completed play.
| Strange Lupus Theatre presents |
| Lemonade Stand |
| Written by Jordan Scrivner Directed by Ernest J. Ramon, Sasha Samochina and Jordan Scrivner thru Feb 10 | tickets: $12 | more info |
It looks like another sunny day at the beach with a lovely young woman, Laura (Jessica Bailey), tending her humble and homey lemonade stand. But, in fact, it’s a way station on an asteroid at the other end of a wormhole, through which astronaut Alexander Russell (Ken Brown) has been propelled from his position on Earth’s moon. How did he get here and how will he get back—or go forward, since time and space have been thoroughly transcended? Laura’s answers Alex’s questions rather cryptically, plus the pair faces interruptions from a thoroughly goofy Professor (Crispin Rosenkranz), an affable and romantic delivery guy (Ernest J. Ramon) and a Russian gal (Sasha Samonchina) in disco attire. Strange Lupus’ production still looks rough around the edges–what with Brown coming off more like a confused actor than a confuse astronaut and Rosenkranz’s daffy, congenial professor still in need of refined comic timing. As is, Scrivner has a charming and profound script with Bailey and her delivery guy holding the production’s center. Simple but effective lighting effects from Maria Jacobson and Shannon Penkava, paired with Ramon and Samochina’s sound design, give Lemonade Stand its out-of-this-world vibe.
Featuring: Ken Brown, Jessica Bailey, Crispin Rosenkranz, Ernest Ramon, Sasha Samochina, Tommy Heffron, Paul Scudder
Sound Design by Ryan Dunn and Sasha Samochina
| Lisa Fay and Jeff Glassman Duo present |
| Currency |
| Performed by Lisa Fay and Jeff Glassman More information |
Lisa Fay and Jeff Glassman have the consummate professionalism of a longstanding comic team. While undoubtedly their short theater pieces contain comic moments, their real intent is to go to the center of human movement, habit and meaning. “Coffee Cup Duet” establishes the rhythm of a simple business meeting over coffee, as well as the rituals inherent in meeting and needing transactions wherein coffee and its accoutrements establish the common ground. “’Napse” is a mysterious and unearthly piece, combining Glassman’s commonplace movements with the gargling, choking, chewing, distortions and whispers Glassman conjures from a small mic saddled in his cheek. One never knows where Glassman is going next with the world he creates from each garbled sound. The suspense alone leads to a finish that unites the everyday with eternity. “Time and Again” examines the stop and start repetitive habits of a couple over the issue of when to return a book to the library. Fay and Glassman’s timing is impeccable and interrogates the very coming and going, leaving or staying that makes a relationship. “Homeland” hits the hardest, with a solitary housewife moving backward in time, from the moment she weeps into a phone in her hand to the violation of her home that has provoked her upset. The piece chillingly depicts where we are now.
| Two Weeks Productions presents |
| The Spores of Eden |
| Written by Peter Axel Komistra Directed by Dylan S. Roberts thru Feb 12 | tickets: $12 | more info |
Agatha (Lisa Herceg) and her daughter Linda (Cathlyn Melvin) spare it out over the last egg out of a dozen Agatha has set out in an Easter egg hunt for Linda to find. Not finding the 12th egg, Linda gives up and refuses to go looking for it, even when it begins to rot and stink up the house. A battle of wills ensues when Agatha keeps replacing the rotten egg for Linda to find and Linda keeps refusing to go in search of it. Decay becomes the only thing the two women know and seems to be the only thing by which the Father (Paul Cary), speaking posthumously, endorses—or so we think. Everything remains at an impasse until Topher (Rory Jobst), Linda’s banished brother, arrives one evening to try and understand his banishment and his wayward life ever since. Peter Komistra seems to not know what to do with characters with such implacable wills as he has crafted here. While the cast does an admirable job with Komistra’s language, the characters themselves only oppose or undermine each other but never reach any kind of clear and creative rapprochement. While it’s thoroughly legitimate to return the play’s circumstances to the same decaying state in which they begin, the conundrums of seeking or failing to find renewal also receive a muddled treatment in the course of the work. The Spores of Eden needs a strong editorial hand and clarification—and it may also benefit from not leaning so heavily on the “Book of Genesis”.
- Featuring: Cathlyn Melvin, Rory Jobst, Lisa Herceg, Paul Cary
- Directed by Dylan S. Roberts
Unleash the Rhino!! (a festivus for the restofus)
Okay, Chicago theatergoers, time to get your fringe on
Written by Paige Listerud
Curious Theatre Branch opened its 22nd Annual Rhinoceros Theatre Festival this past Friday, January 14th, drawing hundreds of avant-garde theater artists from around the country to showcase over 20 off-beat and experimental works and performances at the Prop Theatre space. Curious Theatre remounts Sarah Kane’s critically acclaimed 4:48 Psychosis under the direction of Beau O’Reilly, plus an adaptation of Gertrude Stein’s little known play, Mexico. Expect mind-opening and consciousness-bending theater experiences from School for Designing a Society, Deja Links, Strange Lupus, BoyGirlBoyGirl, The Whiskey Rebellion and many, many more.
“We’ve struck an interesting balance between past and future with this festival,” explains Beau O’Reilly. “We decided to accept Deja Links—they’re a continuation of Club Lower Links which Leigh Jones ran in the 1990s. Even though Rhino Fest began around the same time, they’re really pre-Rhino and a lot of performance art was generated out of there. It’s where Ira Glass and David Sedaris got started. So, we have a significant number of people represented from that period—older artists doing some very mature and complete work, like Lisa Fay and Jeff Glassman Duo and then, of course, we showcase some student work from the SAIC and full-length work from young writers.”
Curious Theatre also kicked off the Fest with a benefit opening night–the Full Moon Vaudeville, hosted by Curious and the Crooked Mouth String Band.
Rhino Festival Schedule
for more information, visit the Rhino Festival website
All tickets $12 in advance, $15 at the door | Buy tickets | See calendar.
Curious Theatre Branch presents
4:48 Psychosis
By Sarah Kane
Sarah Kane’s last play returns in a critically acclaimed production directed by Beau O’Reilly.
The play charts the journey from life into death, from darkness into light, from pain into love.Spiked with gallous humor, the play charts the journey from life into death, from darkness into light, from pain into love. Talk back / post show panel discussion with director John Moletress, the cast and crew and invited guest speakers (TBA).Spiked with gallous humor, the play charts the journey from life into death, from darkness into light, from pain into love Spiked with gallous humor, the play charts the journey from life into death, from darkness into light, from pain into loveSpiked with gallous humor, the play charts the journey from life into death, from darkness into light, from pain into love
Performance Dates: Friday, January, 14, 21, 28, February 4, 11. All dates at 7pm
School for Designing A Society presents
10 to 4
directed by Susan Parenti
An acoustic play which twists shards of political activism and thought’s aging into the brain of language.
Saturday, January 29 and Sunday, January 30 at 7pm
Lisa Fay & Jeff Glassman Duo presents
Currency
Dense theater shorts in which ‘natural-looking’ behavior is subjected to contortions, subversions and convolutions, letting ‘natural’ show its socially constructed face.
Friday, January 21, Saturday, January 22 and Sunday, January 23 at 7pm
See the rest of the schedule after the jump.
Brian Posen interview: Sketchfest and future of Stage 773
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Brian Posen discusses Sketchfest, Stage 773′s future
By Keith Ecker
Brian Posen thinks big. Just look at his brainchild, the Chicago Sketch Comedy Festival: In ten years time, the international sketch comedy festival has grown into the largest event of its kind in the world. In fact, this year’s is the biggest yet, boasting 129 groups and more than 800 artists. That’s a far cry from the 30-plus sketch groups the festival started off with.
But Posen’s visions of grandiosity extend beyond the world of sketch comedy. He’s a lover of all forms of performance art. Whether it’s drama, musical theater, dance, sketch, improv or stand-up, he wants to showcase it. And fortunately he has the power to do just that, thanks to his position as the artistic director of Stage 773 (formerly Lukaba Productions, formerly the Theatre Building). He’s currently planning a heavy-duty renovation of the building, splitting one of the three theaters into a cabaret space and a black box space. Ideally, the complex will become a sanctuary for all performance artists, featuring larger productions on the two main stages and smaller variety acts in the new spaces. It’s Posen’s hope this will create a "cross-pollination," with the end goal being to get theatergoers enthused to see comedy while convincing comedy nerds to see theatre.
I spoke with Posen the day before the launch of this year’s Sketchfest. We discussed the festival, cheap beer and the future of Stage 773.
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Above: Pictures of some of this year’s 129 sketch comedy groups.
Q: How did Sketchfest start?
Posen: It was in 2001. Sketch comedy had begun to flourish. A bunch of sketch groups started to emerge. I had been in this musical comedy group called The Cupid Players and had just finished directing [sketch group] Stir Friday Night. At the same time, I was given this theater space [the Theatre Building], and I wanted to do something with it. So I asked some sketch groups if they wanted to do a small run. We ended up having a little over 30 groups.
It went well, and I wanted to do it again. So I sent the Cupid Players around the country to other festivals, and we learned how to run our festival. So it was this fluke of an idea that I started to nurture. And by the third year, we had taken over the entire Theatre Building.
Q: How does managing the old Theatre Building, now Stage 773, affect the production of Sketchfest?
Posen: The Theatre Building was really good to us. They bent over backward for us. But now we have the freedom to do certain things that we couldn’t before. We can decorate the space anyway we want it. Before we would have to ask for permission to hang posters in parts of the lobby or had limitations on where we could post signage. Now we don’t have to worry about that. We also don’t have to use Ticketmaster, which means our audience doesn’t have to pay those surcharges. Also, the beer’s cheaper now.
Q: This year’s festival claims 129 sketch groups. How many did you have to turn away?
Posen: About 100 groups. I hate doing that. One thing I’m protective of is that all groups are treated equally. We don’t give awards; we don’t say someone is better than another. Our whole vibe is about building a community.
Q: How do you select what groups get into the festival?
Posen: I have an eight-person committee of performers, directors, producers, a tech designer and someone who is not in the profession. It’s really important to have that outsider. They all watch all the submission videos and rate them from 1 to 100. We have a spreadsheet and input all the numbers. But it’s not just based on that. We also look at the uniqueness of the groups. A couple years ago, there was a group we accepted that didn’t quite have the numbers, but they were all over 50. We rarely get a group that is in that age range. It was an awesome point of view to have here. So if there is something that can help the festival get even more diverse, we will consider that, too.
Q: You mention "points of view." How does that factor into sketch comedy?
Posen: With sketch, the artist who is performing the material is also the writer, so it’s all extremely personal to the artist. There are 129 groups this year, and each is coming from a very specific point of view. We have all Asian groups, all black groups, all lesbian groups. We also have kids groups, some with 11, 12 and 13 year olds. When I watch them, I think, "My God! What an awesome point of view. We as adults have to learn from this because they are blowing us out of the water."
Q: How would you describe the difference between a sketch and a one-act play?
Posen: To me, sketch is a mini one-act that is usually focused on satire. So we are making fun of something. There’s something we need to say to the world, and satire is how we do it.
Q: Since you’re so tuned into the comedy scene, have you noticed any emerging comedy trends?
Posen: The big thing that has changed is how easy it is to make video. People that make comedy have become a lot more technically savvy. As for the content of the comedy, there’s always these phases based on what’s going on in the world. And I think one of the biggest things I see right now is commentaries on just how dumbed down our society has become in the last 10 years.
Q: You’re planning on renovating the Stage 773 space this summer. What’s the impetus for doing this?
Posen: Smaller spaces are a big trend. We want to renovate one of the theaters to create a black box stage and a 70-plus-seat cabaret. These two spaces will be conducive to turnover every two hours. This way the space itself becomes a draw for the audience. So instead of going to the space to see a specific show, they are going to the space to see what shows are playing. We also hope to cross-pollinate the audiences. So the guy leaving the big stage can exit the theater and see the stand-up show in the adjacent space. It’s not easy to get more people to see theater, but we can encourage the people that do see theater to see more things.
Sketchfest Links:
- SKETCHFEST SURVAVAL GUIDE
- Sketchfest 2011 Schedule
- Sketchfest Kids-Teens Schedule
- History of Sketchfest
- Buy Tickets and see video
See more Sketchfest Youtube videos HERE
Chicago Fringe Festival announces Pilsen play line-up
CHICAGO FRINGE FESTIVAL 2010
Pilsen Lineup and Venues, September 1st – 5th
The Chicago Fringe Festival has announced the complete lineup for its inaugural performing arts festival, slated for September 1st through the 5th in the Pilsen neighborhood. In the spirit of fringe festivals worldwide, 46 productions were selected by lottery from a total of 156 applicants. The final schedule will be released on August 1, 2010.
13 states will be represented at the uncensored festival, including New York, California, Maryland, Massachusetts, Colorado and Nevada. In addition, 2 international productions will make an appearance at the festival, with works from Israel and Canada making their Chicago debut. All told, 198 performers will participate in this landmark event.
Local Chicago artists will have a strong showing at the festival, with many acts looking forward to performing for a hometown crowd. New Millennium Theatre Company will present a revival of The Texas Chainsaw Musical, directed by Artistic Director Chad Wise. Genesis Ensemble, a two-year-old performance collective, will present sweet, half-darkness.
"Pilsen’s vitality and connection to the arts made it a natural fit for the festival," says Executive Director and Founder, Sarah Mikayla Brown. "We’re excited to push both artistic and geographical boundaries as we introduce our audience to new works in what may be a new neighborhood to them."
Fringe Central
At the heart of the festivities will be Fringe Central, located near Racine and 18th Street. Live music, entertainment and outdoor exhibits will be accompanied by delicious food provided by local favorite Honky Tonk BBQ. "Fringe Central will be ground zero for participants and audience alike to kick back, relax, and enjoy thesights and sounds of Pilsen. We’re excited to provide a place where folks can share ideas, network and just enjoy good company," says Associate Producer Vinnie Lacey.
Fringe Central will also play host to the Chicago Fringe Preview Party on August 28, 2010. Attendees will get an early taste of festival offerings as selected performers preview their Chicago Fringe productions.
8 Venues
All eight venues have been announced, including the Chicago Art Department Gallery, Dream Theatre, Temple Gallery, EP Theater, Chicago Arts District Galleries, Casa Aztlan and Simone’s Bar. Six of the venues are non-traditional spaces, and the Festival is currently raising capital to ensure premium flooring, lighting, sound equipment and technicians are in place to transform each space into a premiere performance venue.
MidwestFringe Circuit
The Chicago Fringe Festival will also mark the last stop of the first annual MidwestFringe Circuit, featuring three other American fringe festivals: Kansas City, Minnesota and Indianapolis. Four productions from each festival were selected by lottery to tour all four cities.
Guarenteed production slots at the 2010 Chicago Fringe Festival:
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- Shanna Shrum – Skinny Dipping – Not Your Mama’s One Woman Show!
- Timothy Mooney Repertory Theatre – Moliere Than Thou
- Lincoln Square Theatre – The Parenticide Club
- Shakura World Theatre – Columbine & Roses
- Piel Morena Contemporary Dance – Machito Pichon
- Rebecca Kling – Uncovering the Mirrors
- 2nd Story Theatre – Cabinalysis… or, Build Your Own Damn Cabin!
- Citadel Theatre Company – 5 Times 10 – A Collection of 10 Minutes Plays
- Les Enfants Terribles – Believe in Nothing, Mock Everything
- The Consortium Project – Knee-Jerk
- Megan Rhyme – Inner Cartography
- Ripettes Burlesque – The Ripettes Burlesque in… Peter Panties: A Neverland Burlesque
- Hubris Productions – Annee Pocalypse
- The Anatomy Collective – TBD – Untitled Anatomy Collective Project
- New Millenium Theatre – The Texas Chainsaw Musical
- No Small Productions – What To Expect
- Weber & Einstein – Please Love Me, High School Boyfriend
- Jason Economus – The Steve Show
- Genesis Ensemble – sweet, half-darkness
- Terra Mysterium – Finding Eleusis
- Patchwork Woman Performance – Bridges
- The Hollow Tree – Scenes of a Love Like Nature
- The Talking Cure – The Talking Cure Presents
NON-LOCAL
- Theater Undeclared – Grind: The Musical
- Swanderwoman Productions – Driving the Body Back
- No Snowcones Productions – That Greek Thing
- Jeff Kreisler & Up Top Productions – Get Rich Cheating
- Meddlin’ Productions – Girls and Dolls
- Adam Theater – Hansel & Gretel the end of a fairy tale
- Terri Cyrmes – Single Girl in a Gay Man’s World
- Pantea Productions – Silken Veils
- Nicole Kearney Productions – And Ya Don’t Stop a hip hop play
- Les Kurkendaal – Christmas in Bakersfield
- RE/Dance – The Lonely Visitors
- Paul Diem – Mulatto Child – Voices From the Margins
- Evan O’Sullivan – Evan O’Television Presents: Double Negatives
- BITE Theatre – KRAIGSLIST
- La Rinascita – The Fugitives
- Howard Petrick – Rambo: The Missing Years
- Gemma Wilcox – The Honeymoon Period is Officially Over
- Opium, Fireworks and Lead – Exhausted Paint: The Death of Van Gogh
- Patrick Devine – Breaking Down in America
- Maire Clerkin The Bad Arm – Confessions of a Dodgy Irish Dancer
- And Giggles Productions – The Playdaters
- Tiberius Productions Touch My App
- What’s a Girl to Do Productions – Drunk with Hope in Chicago
REVIEW: Sketchbook X (Collaboraction)
Collaboraction celebrates the creative spirit with Sketchbook X
| Collaboraction presents |
| Sketchbook X: People’s Choice |
| at Chopin Theatre, 1543 W. Division (map) through June 27th | tickets: $20-$35 | more info |
reviewed by Keith Ecker
What is a play exactly? Is it a dramatic staging of a story? Is it people moving around in a physical space in front of an audience? And furthermore, what separates a play from a sketch or a scene or even a performance art installation?
These are the questions I was left pondering after seeing Collaboraction’s tenth annual Sketchbook festival, a showcase of original mixed media performances. This year’s theme was “exponential.” Yes, it is fairly nebulous, and this is perhaps one reason why the output lacks a certain concreteness and cohesion. Characters and plot become secondary to evoking visceral emotions. Sketchbook X in many ways is more circus than drama.
This isn’t to say that the finished product is all spectacle and no substance. There are some standout pieces.
The one that clearly stands out the most is Five Lesbians Eating a Quiche. Unlike other pieces that become crushed under their own weight, Five Lesbians is a witty, stylized comedy. Devised by Evan Linder, the play features five women (Sarah Gitenstein, Mary Hollis Inboden, Beth Stelling, Maari Suorsa and Megan Johns) who head a local social club centered around a shared love of quiche. The women click and cluck like 1950s southern church ladies and harass the audience. When communist Russia bombs the outside world, all quiche is destroyed. The women go into a tizzy, which leads to their outings.
Five Lesbians works because it is the most refined piece of the festival. The script feels fully fleshed out, the actors are well aware of their characters and the comedic timing is impeccable. There is a lot of commitment, and there is little ambiguity. It has an aesthetic all its own that is so engaging I’d pay to see a full-length production.
Other standouts include Sacrebleu (devised and performed by Dean Evans, Molly Plunk and Anthony Courser), a pantomimed, slapstick comedy about two eccentric French fur trappers. The short monologue The Blueberry (written by Sean Graney and featuring Celeste Januszewski) is a thoughtful meditation on existence that explains string theory with blueberry imagery.
Other pieces, however, just don’t pan out. What I’m Looking For (written by Brett C. Leonard and featuring Joel Gross and Heather Bodie) is little more than a heavy-handed music video for a Rufus Wainwright song. Meanwhile, The Untimely Death of Adolf Hitler (written by Andy Grigg and featuring Eddie Karch, Anthony Moseley, Erin Myers, Greg Hardigan and Dan Krall) lacks enough wit to drive the piece beyond its premise. But you can’t expect all the pieces to be gems. Besides, if you don’t like something, just wait 7 to 10 minutes for another play.
As usual, Collaboraction has succeeded in making the festival feel like a big event. The interior of the Chopin Theatre is awash in glowing light and fog. Two large screens flank the sides of the stage and streamers stretch from the floor to the ceiling. It all makes for a breath-taking first impression.
If you want to see all 19 pieces in a row, you’ll have to see the show on a Saturday. Be warned, though. It’s a 4.5-hour long journey, though you are encouraged to come and go as you please.
Overall, Sketchbook X is a mixed bag of intriguing works. The majority of the pieces lack refinement, but there are a few plays that are polished treasures. The theme gets lost among the many productions, but I don’t think that’s the point. Rather, Sketchbook is more of a party that aims to celebrate the creative spirit, and in that sense, it succeeds.
| Rating: ★★★ |
REVIEW: Living Newspapers Festival (Jackalope Theatre)
A Lot of Wit, a Bit of Melodrama, a Dash of Epic, and a Big Slice of Apple Pie
Jackalope Theatre and Silent Theatre Company presents:
Living Newspapers Festival
Devised by Kaiser Ahmed, Gus Menary, Andrew Buden Swanson and Jon Cohen
Written by Andrew Burden Swanson, Paul Amandes, Matt Welton, Cassandra Rose
through January 30th (more info)
review by Paige Listerud
Inspired by the Federal Theatre Project, a program that put starving dramatic artists back to work under FDR’s Works Progress Administration, Jackalope Theatre revives the Living Newspaper, a style of documentary theater based on current events pulled straight from newspaper articles. The Living Newspaper of the New Deal was controversial for its time, originating from multimedia theatrical experiments of the Bolshevik Revolution and the Epic Theater style of Bertolt Brecht and Erwin Piscator. Basing its drama on social and political issues, often told from a liberal/leftist point of view, the Living Newspaper drew fire from conservatives in Congress, which shut it down in 1939 after an investigation by the House Un-American Activities Committee.
So it is that the five plays of the Living Newspapers Festival exhibit social commentary that is melodramatic, wildly satirical, a little agitprop, often surreal in its risk-taking but also laced with flourishes of old-school American patriotism. Both buoyant, youthful energy and casual professionalism sustain the production’s even tone and fully embodied concentration. The affable and rough-hewn presence of host Eric Prather rounds out Jackalope’s production with fresh accessibility—and a bit of corn, too.
Of all the plays, The Death of Print, by Andrew Burden Swanson, comes closest to old-fashioned social melodrama. Based on the closing of Ann Arbor’s local newspaper, the small town newsmen of St. Anne’s must also compete in a dwindling economy against the advance of new media technology. Reporter Jake Gallagher (Swanson) rails against the loss of a local voice and the mercenary media takeover that will never serve the older townspeople of St. Anne. But who knows if he, too, will need to use the Internet in pursuit of reviving St. Anne’s local paper. Without acknowledging any need to shift with the times, the preachiness of Swanson’s work undercuts its realism, even if Charles Murray (Jack McCabe), his news editor, adds the depth of camaraderie to their relationship and Jake’s post-partum wife Agnes (AJ Ware) contributes needed tempering to his quixotic character.
Trouble Shoot, by Paul Amandes, wanders into surreal territory while addressing the escalating suicide rate of our currently deployed military and the unwritten policy of the President not sending letters of condolence to the families of these suicides, as opposed to other deaths at the front. Worn out by multiple tours, Chance (Pat Whalen) is ready to eat his M4, personified as a death-dealing military dominatrix by Candice Gregg—weird, but maybe only just as weird as Dad (Bill Hyland) expecting the government’s little symbolic gestures to make his son’s death alright. For her part, Mom (Kristin Collins) also has an unhealthy fascination with Chance’s gun and expects the military to track it down and ship it to her so that she can destroy it. In the midst of hurts that won’t heal, the question, “Would a letter from the President have made this so much better?” hangs over the whole piece.
The riot of the evening is Night of the Gators by Matt Welton. A small town in Louisiana becomes terrorized when greedy gator farmers manipulate their alligators’ genetics and reproductive capacity, leading to an explosion in hybrid human-gators that prey on human flesh. “It’s Arma-shit-hill-geddon out there,” cries Bobby (Danny Martinez) barely making it safely home. “We should not have played God with those creatures of God!” Only minutes later do we discover this is a propaganda piece by PETA, once the PETA Activist (Daisica Smith) strides onto stage and leads the audience, gospel-revival style. But equal time is given to the other side, which is more than any news organization will do these days for the public good. Joel Reitsma’s Politician is so fabulously greasy he could consider running for office. Of course, we learn the terrible consequences of not running gator farms—to hilarious effect.
There’s a magnificent poetry to Cassandra Rose’s Washington in Winter. All funding has been cut for the historical re-enactment of George Washington’s famous crossing of the Delaware to defeat the Hessians at Trenton. One father, playing George Washington (John Milewski) remains humorously undaunted in the face of cold, cut funds, reluctant adolescent troops (his children), and interrupting cell phones. But the evening also reveals “Washington’s” terrible vulnerability. At the end, Lucy Hancock, as the daughter playing Private Wesson, delivers Thomas Paines’ words so profoundly, no doubt remains whatsoever why they should be imprinted upon our lives forever.
The Silent Theatre Company delivers Slice of Americana, a day in the life of miners deep underground; which they do without words and in almost total darkness, the lamps on their protective helmets serving as the only sources of light until spotlight is used to heighten moments of fantasy. One could almost call this Norman Rockwell Underground, although it’s not likely Rockwell would depict a budding romance between two of the men. While the fantasy sequences may be of the lightest sort, we become so involved in their daily work in darkness that by the time one miner bursts into singing “The Star-Spangled Banner” its spontaneity is unquestionable. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen any drama go so boldly for male pride and patriotism but Silent Theatre succeeds in making it an authentic moment.
The Living Newspaper Festival only lasts this weekend, but producer Kaiser Ahmed wants to make it a quarterly happening. Their display in The Artistic Home’s lobby goes into greater depth on the history of the Federal Theatre Project. Dramaturg Jon Cohen remarked on the similarities between now and then in the right’s targeting of arts’ funding. Try to catch this before it closes. The energy alone will give you hope for the future—for preserving current and relevant dramatic art, the 1st Amendment, and the nation–and the fun in doing it.
Rating: ★★★
REVIEW: 24th Annual Young Playwrights Festival
The voices of the future are here.
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January 7-31, 2010Fridays and Saturdays @ 8:00 p.m. Sundays @ 3:00 p.m. special first preview performance on Thursday, January 7 @ 8:00 p.m. Click here to purchase tickets (All seats just $15 each) |
review by Oliver Sava
The three works that comprise Pegasus Players‘ 24th Annual Young Playwrights Festival offer unique views on youth, mortality, and abuse, and were all written by high school students. Aided by professional writing mentors, the playwrights are given the opportunity to see their ideas take shape under the guidance of some of the city’s top directing, acting, and design talent. The results are positive across the board, but like any group of adolescents, maturity varies from script to script.
The Nowhere People
Gabriella Bonamici‘s heartbreaking drama about widower Ernie (Benjamin Sprunger) and his mission to communicate with his dead wife, Ann, is the highlight of the evening, expertly directed by Kimberly Senior, who has steadily created a career around her ability to capture grief on stage (see: Timeline Theatre’s All My Sons and Next Theatre’s The Overwhelming). Luckily, Ernie’s neighbor Danny (Alice Wedoff) has a ghost of her own, and she’s been building a ghost-machine to open a portal to the spirit world and send it back. Bonamici’s script moves with fluidity and ease, filled with humor while never losing the gravity of the loss of a loved one on the human spirit. The script also handles exposition beautifully, gradually revealing essential information about the characters as the dramatic tension builds, and each discovery adds a new layer to the conflict. As landlord Sid (Michael Gonring) becomes increasingly concerned with Danny’s mental health and the ghost-machine’s uncanny ability to knock out the building’s power, Ernie has to decide between his own life and the answers he so desperately seeks. Sprunger and Wedoff have great chemistry, bonding through their joint experiences of loss and their common goal of reaching into the afterlife, and both actors are fully committed to the slightly far-fetched circumstances. The actors shine because of the script, a subtle yet powerful examination of the ghosts that haunt us all, and the extraordinary measures people go to escape the past.
Rating: ★★★½
Roller Coaster
Trapped atop a roller coaster, Effie (Rinska Carrasco) and Milo (Gonring) discover the unexpected connections they share while learning a bit about themselves. Gixiang Lee‘s hilarious script balances high school dramedy with a hefty load of cultural references that actually serve to flesh out the characters rather than simply give the piece an air of relevance. Effie enthusiastically singing Salt N’ Pepa’s "Push It" as they are elevated to the top of the coaster while Milo clings for dear life, terrified at what awaits below. Total opposites, but you know what they say about opposites. Lee’s script isn’t realistic, the Effie and Milo’s relationship is almost completely based on coincidence, but it is her fearlessness with the comedy that makes the piece so memorable. Milo’s list of fears, ranging from heights to large rabbits to "the small but ever present threat of death from falling out of bed," is brilliant, and the T.P. Employee (Sprunger) that comes to their non-rescue is played with a ridiculousness that borders on caricature but works in the context of the play. The humor might not be the most sophisticated, but Lee creates sympathetic characters that are easy to root for, making Roller Coaster an excellent comedic piece with real heart.
Rating: ★★★
deliver me from evil
In therapy after being hospitalized for attempted suicide, Magdelina (Wedoff) reveals a history of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse inflicted by her mother (Gilmary Doyle) in Kat Blackburn‘s deliver me from evil.The strain of past trauma begins to weigh on Magdelina’s relationship with girlfriend Soda (Caren Blackmore), and she must confront her demons in order to salvage the only loving relationship she has ever known. Petra (Carrasco), Edward (Gonring), and Jenny (Mildred Marie Langford) represent the childish, masculine, and feminine aspects of Magdelina’s tortured psyche, giving form to the poetry in her journal. These sequences, combinations of interpretive movement with symbolic imagery, have varying degrees of success. One particularly chilling entry features the four teens cutting together, the act taking on a communal nature reminiscent of ritual sacrifice, but at times the poetic sections feel a little too much like they were ripped from a teenager’s journal – angstful , angry, and lacking in maturity. The actor’s do a fine job with the material, but deliver feels the most like a play written by a high school student of the three.
Rating: ★★½
Review: Oak Park Theatre Festival’s “Fifth of July”
For 35 years, the Oak Park Theatre Festival has used its outdoor location to give their productions an authentic vibe and to allow their audiences to enjoy the summer weather while enjoying theatre. This works particularly well for staging Shakespearean works, which, after all, were originally produced in an open-air setting. In more recent years they have staged more modern plays in their slice of Austin Gardens’ park, carefully selecting plays that already have an outdoor setting, like William Inge’s “Picnic.” Set in the front rooms and yard of an old Missouri home, Lanford Wilson’s Fifth of July is a perfect fit for the festival’s aesthetic. Considering the production runs through June and July, it also helps that the play takes place on Independence Day and the morning following. The play is perfectly suited for a staging in a park, but the story and themes are muddled in their current production by some indecisive approaches to the play.
Fifth of July is part of a trilogy documenting the American experience of the Talley family living in Lebanon, Missouri, including the 1980 Pulitzer Prize winner, Talley’s Follies. The play takes place in 1977 and showcases the disillusionment of that era. The protagonist, Kenneth Talley, Jr. (Stef Tovar), is a gay Vietnam veteran who lost his legs in the war. His sister, June Talley (Lydia Berger), was a former hippie and now is struggling as a single mom. Both of them find little to celebrate on Independence Day. They have a big gathering of family and friends, including their Aunt Sally (Kate Kisner) and married friends John and Gwen (Brandon Dahlquist and Rebekah Ward-Hays). The holiday festivities quickly sour when friends and family start bickering about jobs, custody, and the price of the Talley household.
Pamela Maurer and Alexis Vejar’s set, basically a house with select cuts made in a few of the walls, makes great use of the surroundings. The setting allows for some great stage pictures; conversations could be happening in one area of the house while other characters can be chilling out on the porch or lawn, lighting up the entire space instead of just one corner.
While director Michael Weber succeeds at balancing the stage, he fails at telling a truly cohesive story. It was difficult for me to follow any particular narrative. Important plot points weren’t really served up in any way, voiding the production of an accessible story. Instead of juggling the multiple subplots while supporting Ken’s main story (a decision of whether or not to return to teaching at his old high school), all of the stories were muddled together and none of them came out fully formed. Most of the performances were decent, although some were too over-the-top. A problem that a couple of actors had, which also contributed to the garbled narrative, was synthesizing high emotional distress almost without warning. Instead of building the tension, characters would be chatting to one another and then one would be shouting or crying all of a sudden, which doesn’t work with Lanford’s script. A technical issue that might have added to this was that the set was littered with floor mics, which I suppose helped the actors’ voices compete with passing planes and cicadas, but they also amplified every step and door slam to a distracting level. It might be a necessary evil in order for the dialogue to be heard, but it also took a toll on the overall storytelling.
Still, the Oak Park Theatre Festival is a good time, and is especially suited to summer in Chicago. One thing I learned from the locals, though, is that you should bring plenty of wine, food, and bug spray. Enjoying theatre al fresco, even if it’s not of the highest caliber, is still its own fun experience.
Rating: ««½
Cast and Crew
Lydia Berger (June)
Danny Bernardo (Jed)
Brandon Dahlquist* (John)
Charles Gardner (Wes)
Glynis Gilio (Shirley)
Rebekah Ward-Hays (Gwen)
Kate Kisner (Sally)
Stef Tovar* (Ken)
Kieran Welsh-Phillips (u/s Gwen & June)
Director: Michael Weber*
Stage Manager: Robert W Behr*
Costume: Ricky Lurie
Lights: Jeremy Getz
Sound: Kyle Irwin
Set: El Fish
House Manager: Jeff Weisman
Box Office: Mary Liming
* denotes member of Actors’ Equity Association
Stages 2009 – Calling all Musical Theatre devotees!!!
THEATRE BUILDING CHICAGO PRESENTS
STAGES 2009
the 16TH ANNUAL FESTIVAL OF NEW MUSICALS IN PROGRESS
Presented by Theatre Building Chicago
AUGUST 21-23, 2009
Especially for musical theatre junkies (and their friends) – Theatre Building Chicago presents STAGES 2009, a festival of 5 new musicals in progress, a new topical revue and 2 panel discussions Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, August 21-23, 2009.
The three-day musical extravaganza performs each new work twice in concert readings and studio presentations. Now in its 16th season, STAGES focuses on the development of new works of musical theatre. The new works, in staged-reading format, include:
» SONGS IN THE KEY OF TODAY
| A new topical review of songs written specifically for STAGES. Works include numbers by Martin Charnin, George Stiles & Anthony Drew, Wally Harper and Sherman Yellen, Owen Kalt and Elizabeth Doyle and many other writers. Friday 7:30pm, Sunday 4pm (a pre-show reception at 6:30pm will be held before Friday’s performance) |
» GIRL DETECTIVE
| Murder is hard. Adolescence is harder. Casey Ames, a teenager transplanted from New York City to a small town in Pennsylvania, is obsessed with becoming a detective. This musical explores the full spectrum of teenage angst. (Saturday 1pm, Sunday 4pm) |
» HUNGER
| This American drama reveals the true history of intrepid settlers who head west to fulfill their dreams but encounter a nightmare of challenges that test their faith, spirit and their very souls. |
» ON THE BRINK
| When an aging grandfather is confronted by Death in the form of Mr. Brink, he thwarts Mr. Brink’s plans by trapping him up a tree. With Mr. Brink unable to do his duty, no one can die. Mr. Brink works through the grandfather’s family and friends to try and convince the old man to free him and to restore the natural order. |
» OPENING DAY
| A troubled Vietnam vet living with his sister is visited by an army buddy who dredges up the memories of a mutual comrade lost in a battle they both survived. This moving drama explores the themes of guilt, forgiveness, love and how we survive our own personal histories. (Saturday 1pm, Sunday 4pm) |
» SONG POEMS WANTED! THE MUSICAL
| Song poems are the vanity publishing side of the music recording industry. The musical features dozens of actual song poems (such as Aliens Stole My Dog) and tells the stories of a song poem composer and the everyday people who submit their poetry for “consideration”. (Saturday 4pm, Sunday 7pm) |
Panel discussions (available to all ticket-holders)
Writing Theatre for Young Audiences – Saturday August 22nd 10:00 AM
Learn what elements make imaginative and engaging theatre for children. What are the special considerations and specific responsibilities in writing material for young audiences? Writers and producers who specialize in this audience share their experiences, trade secrets and vision for the craft.
Understanding Intellectual Property Rights – Sunday August 23 – 10:00 AM
Experts in the field will speak on the intricacies and legal issues regarding adaptations, obtaining rights, paying for the underlying rights and what is a reasonable fee. What is public domain? Privacy laws regarding what you can and cannot use regarding real people and events in new works.
STAGES 2009 tickets are now on sale at the box office: 773-327-5252
and Ticketmaster 1-800-982-2787 (www.ticketmaster. com)
For more info, including personnel and performer’s names, ticket pricing, performance location, transportation, and interview possibilities for the press, click on “Read more”
