what: love tapes by penn jillette & steven banks
where: mary arrchie's angel island space in east lakeview
accompaniment: dustin!
drinkability: byob! we took giant high lifes.
show length: 90 minutes, no intermission
out of four: three/four
there's been a bit of a trend happening in the theatre world as of late- the trend of audience participation and the breaking of the ever-coveted "fourth wall". i read this article via a share on facebook with a declarative "hear! hear!" accompanying it from the poster. the following night i saw LOVE TAPES, which continually brings up audience members on to the stage (myself included at one point) throughout the production and wondered how hard the squirmers would be squirming during this one.
the inconvenience handles the heavy audience participation task with grace. upon entering the theatre you're handed a red bandana and asked to put it on as a signal that you are willing to participate in the show. the audience was small the night we attended, and i did not see one person shy away from tying the bandana around their heads or arms- all the while settling in to see the show and being completely unaware of what the participation could be. theatre bravery at angel island. bravo.
LOVE TAPES is supported by two of the inconvenience's poster children - real life-couple mary williamson (the company's art programming & creative director and the host of the ever-successful FLY HONEY SHOW) and chris chmelik (the company's artistic director). these two power-house chicago art-makers spend most of the time solo on stage, accompanied only by strangers from the audience.
the story is of melinda (williamson) and her obsession with the fictional rock band umlaut. she makes a declarative love tape to kevin in the band. this is the first audience interaction of the night as she approaches a man in the audience, welcoming him into her apartment and handing him a video camera. we see the video feed on a large tv screen set center stage and i found myself ping-ponging between the tv and the live-action. we continue this monologue format for two more videos from melinda before we're introduced to carl (chmelik), kevin's personal assistant who takes it upon himself to reply via his own love tapes. the cycle continues.
beyond the emotion-driven performances by williamson and chmelik, the inconvenience banded together to create the ultimate rock stage environment with an impressive stage build with the "umlaut" logo plastered across the floor. mutiple tvs were set up across the stage and played umlaut videos and interviews ala vh1 during transitions, which was a welcomed distraction to the occasionally clunky scene changes. the inconvenience did what it does best: drew in from their art, dance, and music-talented members to create a multi-faceted show with only two bodies on stage.
LOVE TAPES closes this weekend and they're even offering a pay-what-you-can evening on 7/3. don't miss this show if you can- its hard work that deserves to be seen.
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upcoming july shows:
wednesday july 30th, 7:30pm - jackalope theatre's exit strategy
the rest TBD
...join me, will you?