what: all our tragic adapted from all 32 surviving greek tragedies by sean graney
where: the hypocrites' space at the den in wicker park
accompaniment: emily & surprise friend paige
drinkability: complimentary water and coffee, with a full bar. we drank...a lot.
show length: 12 hours, 7 intermissions (no joke)
out of four: four/four
when the hypocrites first started announcing their incredible feat in spring of this year, the idea of sitting in a room for twelve hours watching tragedies unfold in front of you was the last thing i thought i wanted. i laughed (along with many others around me in the theatre world)- guffawing at the idea that people would attend AND hand over their hard earned cash to do it as well. but then, as the months unfolded, as the actors started settling into their roles and the buzz started growing, and as people DID buy those tickets and DID sit in those seats and DID declare that it truly was a feat well done...and then people started going again...well, my interested was more than piqued.
so: i found myself walking through the doors of the hypocrites' new home- a street-level addition to the much-loved and ever-busy den theatre- a beautiful flex theatre that seats 200. the stage separated the audience down the middle, and the room was already filled and buzzing with patrons finding their seats for the day, loading up on complimentary fruit and veggie snacks, and filling up their first cups of coffee for the day. we were ready.
sean graney spent time at harvard university under the radcliffe institute fellowship devising AOT and returned with an absolutely beautiful, hilarious, heart-warming, heart-wrenching exhaustive tale spread over four parts, and ultimately: 9 hours of acting. we spent the remaining three hours on breaks (seven intermissions in all) ranging from 15, to 30, to an entire hour break for dinner. having each story broken down in this fashion helped the day clip along- especially the first 8 hours or so- as time zipped by as quickly as i sit wishing it would every day at my desk at work.
i don't really even know how to review a show like this- as it was so long, so complicated, covered so many years of history, so many humans, creatures, myths (twenty-four actors covered all of them, most playing 3-4 roles over the marathon experience). i gave it four/four not because i thought the show was flawless, but because for all intents and purposes, this is absolutely going to be hailed as the show you should have seen in 2014. not all performances were perfect- in fact i witnessed many actors go to "10" too quickly in their speeches or time within a confrontation in a scene and have nowhere to go- their lines lost in a vocal mash of affectation and volume. the set and its effects weren't perfect- within the first act of the play a large feather was supposed to fall from a box in the celing- and we all joined in a collective "awwww" when it stuck and failed to tumble to stage. the pace wasn't perfect- the second part of the story started off at a pace so much notably slower than the hilarity we had just left of the world of herakles and his goofy quick-witted ways. but- when we stood and clapped 12 hours later and i had tears streaming down my face from the enormity we just experienced- those imperfections didn't matter. they had done it.
highlights of the show for me were overall: maximillian lapine- covering a gamut of characters including eurystheus, polynikes, ajax and xerxes over the day. max is not a small man, but ran, jumped, yelled, declared, danced, and even rode a childs bicycle around the stage. his physical energy alone was enough to have your eyes glued to him the moment he stepped on stage, and his talent only made him shine brighter. company member walter briggs stole the show in my eyes as herakles. i even declared between acts that i simply didn't want to leave the world of herakles- i enjoyed watching him so much. his later roles as pentheus the gaunt and agamemnon aren't to be forgotten as well. lastly for the men: ryan bourque, especially as menelaus was incredibly fun to watch. in the last hour of the show as he led the audience in uproarious laughter following his tantrum of returning home and finding the house having no tea in it was such a highlight of the show. beginning with herekles and ending with menelaus was the best bookends we could ask for.
let's not forget the incredible women of the show- such amazing opportunities for the women who took the show by storm, never stopping- always at their strongest and funniest. lindsey gavel stood out for me first- mostly because i envied every single role she got to fill- and she filled them so well. starting as one of the seven sisters alkestis, graney & co. allowed her to show off her gorgeous tattoos in her flowing dress. she shined the most as tiresias- the blind prophet of thebes- adding an air of hilarity and mystery to the character and piqued my interest each time she entered, blindfolded and sassy. the three "odd-job" women who acted as our narrators - erin myers (alice), lauren vogel (sophie), and kate carson-groner (erdie)- all brought a wide array of talents to the storytelling- ranging from operatic singing to instrument playing (guitars, flutes, accordians, oh my!) - these women gave a beautiful air to the tragedies- singing over each dialogue leading to death.
i could go on and on about each actor, each character, each costume, each prop, each "how did they do that?" (ahem: arrows), but i'd be a rambling fool. long story short: if you didn't see all our tragic, you missed an important part of chicago theatre history.
good news for you, though: they're remounting summer 2015. don't miss it.
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upcoming october shows:
wednesday october 8th, 8pm: strawdog theatre's fail/safe
sunday october 12th, 7pm: profiles theatre's the cryptogram
TBD: cornservatory's deathtoll
join me, will you?