Chicago Sun-Times: Tweets in Collaboraction’s Sketchbook Fun to Follow
by Hedy Weiss, Theatre Critic
Collaboraction, the multidisciplinary creative collaborative, produced its first Sketchbook project nine years ago — long before the advent of Twitter. But in a way it anticipated the phenomenon, creating a sort of Twitter theater. This year, for example, the two different Sketchbook programs that will run in rotating repertory are comprised of seven wildly different theater pieces, none longer than 10 minutes. And seen together (all 14 works were on view at Saturday’s opening marathon) they communicate something about what (and how) we all are doing in this crazy world while exploring this season’s animating question: What is the new American fable?
Now housed in the Building Stage (rather than the Steppenwolf Garage), the event has acquired a greater intimacy and cohesion, with the audience — whose demographic profile is truly Twitteresque — seated on a hodgepodge of risers, close to the stage and in full view of one of two large video screens. A DJ spins part of the sound mix. The brick walls of the space are adorned with specially commissioned photographs that capture the essence of each work performed. Popcorn and soda is for sale. A team of stage manager-style “landscapers” moves set pieces (and, from time to time, the audience) to fit the needs of the piece at hand. And for the first time this year, the works have been created by both individual authors and theater ensembles.
Though there is a high-tech vibe in the air throughout, the essential beauty and humanity of live theater prevails. Here are some highlights:
Program I
“Who Put the Dead Bird in My Mailbox?,” Sarah Hammond’s quirky, darkly comic inquest of a dastardly deed, performed by a wonderfully deadpan Jennifer Waldrop.
“Kid,” William Nedved’s heartbreaking tale, which unspools like the narrated storyboard of a screenplay, about a little boy attempting to escape the trauma of his mother’s death and his father’s rage and depression.
“Pseudoephedrine,” Ken Urban’s spacey tale of a guy (tangled aloft in silk ropes) who has overdosed on a decongestant and hears the voices of both an old girlfriend and a zany version of the Indigo Girls.
“SpaceLab.2030,” a terrific piece of mime, superbly devised and performed by Dean Evans, about an astronaut whose antiseptic environment is invaded by an alien life form. Curtis Williams’ music is first-rate.
“Constriction,” Jennifer Barclay’s tale of punkish high school “bad girls,” with a story that starts with them in hell and unspools in reverse to reveal (with a subtle twist) how they landed there.
Program II
“Fix Your Teeth, B*tch,” zestily devised and performed by the ingenious Carolyn Hoerdemann (with a little help from Samuel Beckett), is a dentist’s chair fantasia that will have you laughing all along the way. The American Dental Association should book this piece for its next convention.
“Beatrice and Beau,” Chelsea Marcantel’s exceedingly clever look at the love-hate component in intimate relationships, expertly performed by Sarah Gitenstein and Michael Salinas.
“Kattywampus,” Joseph Ravens’ strange, eye-popping look at a freakish humanoid with a gigantic head who hurls strange fruit at the world. Eerie but memorable, with masterful maskmaking.
“The Gist,” a Plasticene Theatre-style exercise in menace — devised by Mark Comiskey, with steely performances by Laura T. Fisher, Michael A. Macias and Brian Shaw — about a dangerous menage a trois.
“Para Carmen,” Sandra Delgado’s haunting work of dance, music, masks and ritual devised for (and beautifully performed by) an ensemble of young Latino actors.
“What Am I Supposed to Be?,” Sean Graney’s powerful “chorale” in which people of every description seem trapped by the expectations and labels they’ve adapted despite the contradictory voices inside themselves.
