what: voolf by chris garcia peak
where: berger park cultural center ballroom - edge water
accompaniment: ally, becky & alicia
drinkability: total fail. not byob (to my knowledge) and no booze at the space. dry show.
show length: 80 minutes without intermission
out of four: two and a half/four
first show of january leads me to see a company i haven't seen previously, a show i wasn't familiar with, and a space i'd never seen a show in before. loving all the firsts.
i was first introduced to cock and bull's company when their production of TITANIC was running around the internet last year. cock and bull are labeled as "chicago theatre's bad-boy" according to the huffington post- proudly proclaimed on their facebook page. while i wasn't able to see TITANIC during its run, when they started releasing promo images for VOOLF late last year my attention was immediately drawn. their photography mixed with their marketing campaign (facebook-based) left me seeing a plug for the show almost every time i logged in, so of course i had to get out to see it. last night was industry's pay-what-you-can (tickets normally $20), so i jumped at the chance to save some green and see some theatre.
berger park cultural center is located right at the lake so i made my slippery and cold trek into the building. they have the audience convene in the 'lobby' until house opens and grandmother oma (played hilariously by sarah august hecht) comes down to greet and lead us up the three flights of stairs into the space. they performed out of the attic of the cultural center- which was the perfect setting for peter's 'bedroom'.
you're immediately engulfed in the highly-stylized fantastical interpretation of peter and the wolf. the cast of four is on stage almost the entire time, grandmother oma serving as a sort of narrator taking us from scene to scene. the illustrious voolf, played by the gorgeous tuckie white, sits off stage in view whenever she's not onstage flirting, dancing, singing, or devouring the other characters. the ever-present voolf sets the stage and my eyes constantly darted back and forth between her and grandmother oma.
peter (played by eddy karch) is at the center of our story- a boy filled with wonder and lust- a character whose age and time of life is never clearly identified. he is in love with the voolf and also terrified of her (as it seems- all characters are).
the design elements of this show are really tops. costumes, makeup, puppetry set, music, lighting, everything is an actors dream come true. the four of us looked at each other in excitement as soon as we stepped in...but eventually that dissipated. while the characters in VOOLF are intriguing, funny, charming, and even sexy- the storyline was almost impossible to follow. i was never fully aware who was alive, who wasn't, if we were in a dream sequence or reality, where we were in time in the story- and if the characters were fully themselves or over-heightened imaginings of themselves. the artistic director/director/costume designer chris garcia peak describes the show was "...an avant-garde production based on the story of Peter and the Wolf" and ultimately "...a desire for the characters to discover their own appetites and sexual identities". while i walked away gathering that- i didn't gather much more. and maybe that was the point?
i can't conclude without highlighting the excellent use of puppetry throughout the show. all four actors either had previous puppetry experience or caught on quickly because the puppets drew me in and kept me captivated- more than the people controlling them. doesn't hurt that they were beautifully crafted as well.
VOOLF runs through february 1st- i'd recommend seeing it as a lovely piece of art, not as a storyline you can necessarily grasp. enjoy, theatre lovers.
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upcoming january shows:
sunday january 19th, 5pm: steep theatre's strangers, babies
thursday january 23rd, 8pm: the two tongue's theatre collective's alchemy of desire/dead man's blues
sunday january 26th, 2pm: promethean ensemble's the lark
join me, will you?