what: the dueling gentlemen, a silent play by marvin quijada
where: the hq in wicker park
accompaniment: emily!
drinkability: they have donation-based wine and beer
show length: 1 hour, no intermission
out of four: three/four
as i just closed a show originally inspired by a silent film and wanting to translate it directly to stage, and then immediately discovering the difficulties of this (keeping audiences interested, when/how to display the dialogue, etc), i was immediately interested to see how marvin quijada's new play THE DUELING GENTLEMEN translated to the stage, and i was pleasantly surprised.
the silent theatre calls home at the HQ- a space i'd never experienced, but was happily walking distance from my apartment and the bustling wicker park neighborhood- where everyone in the business agrees there's a lack of theatre in such an art-driven area. you wouldn't know there was live theatre going on if you were just walking down the street casually, so we cautiously pushed open the door, walked up the 3 flights of stairs and arrived. the weekend offered pay-what-you-can tickets, a gracious nod to theatre-goers after being reader recommended after opening last weekend.
the hq feels like your college apartment- blankets strewn up to mask the windows, a worn and functioning piano, and a friendly black cat roaming the premises (who might jump up and sit on your lap if you're friendly and encouraging enough!). in short: its a cozy room which places you right in the action.
quijada and howard burst onto the stage to ian paul custer's impressive vaudevillian piano punching as peter the perfectionist (quijada) and albert the alcoholic (howard). they perform their hit show - the ugly blonde - for us, a comic, fast-paced muti-character slapstick which leaves the two breathless by bows. we then cut to backstage where we see the feud between the two best friends arise- as albert the alcoholic struggles with...you guessed it: his alcohol problem. its revealed that the partnership has a five year contract that binds them together to perform the ugly blonde multiple times a day.
the structure of the show is done quite well- we see each performance of the ugly blonde get, well, uglier and uglier as the feud between quijada and howard escalates and the both of them consume more rage and alcohol as the night goes on. quijada smartly sets up the ugly blonde for the audience to attach to, become familiar with, then strips the performance down as the show goes on- a line that could have easily been crossed resulting in tiring of seeing the same short show over and over again.
quijada and howard are fantastic at what they do- they run, sweat, fight, plot, drink, laugh, joke, and more- all while being completely silent. nothing is over the top and small gestures take the place of phrases with the aid of projections for dialogue. with the way the hq is set up, the actors often blocked sight lines for the dialogue- leaving the audience to strain around them, especially in longer moments. but otherwise- you get the jist. the talents of custer aren't to be ignored either- it was a surprise and delight to remember to look at his reactions during his complicated and never-ending playing. he often aided the comedy along- and they found the perfect musician to do so.
i applaud quijada and the work that the silent theatre is putting on. there's nothing else like it in the city- and you should get yourself a seat at the hq, crack open a pbr, pet the black cat and enjoy quick and dirty silent theatre.
THE DUELING GENTLEMEN runs through august, tickets are $15-$20.
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upcoming august shows:
saturday august 23rd 8pm: upright citizen brigade la's asssssscat
friday august 29th, 8pm: oracle theatre's the jungle
sunday august 31st, 3pm: cole theatre's ecstasy
join me, will you?