zimv20
Apr 28, 2005, 01:37 PM
i do theater in chicago. usually as a writer or sound designer, sometimes as an actor. my theater company, wnep, (http://www.wneptheater.org/) opened a new dada show (http://www.wneptheater.org/_html/dadaneueweltaffen.html) last week. i'm in it and wrote a good chunk of it.
we got three reviews on opening weekend, published today.
Reader review (http://www.chireader.com/listings/static/listings.html#SOIREE) (complete with a Critic's Choice and a picture of me):
Even if our elected leaders didn't seem to have sprung directly from a George Grosz cartoon, the precisely delineated tomfollery the WNEP Theater unleashes in the latest installment of its intermittent "Soiree Dada" series would deserve a standing ovation. Or at the very least an approving hail of biscuits. I don't know that a gen-u-ine Dada show is possible in the postmodern age, but these angry clowns pull off something close to it thanks to their classic combination of ultraheavy commitment and a featherlight touch - even when verbally assaulting members of the audience, they're pros who keep matters from spinning out of control. Don Hall's invisible direction is strong, and there's no weak link in the cast of four; but 'NEP stalwarts Jen Ellison, who commands the proceedings in drag, and Bob Wilson, whose canid-laden monologues are the show's most affecting, howl loudest of all.
- Brian Nemtusak
Chicago Tribune review (http://metromix.chicagotribune.com/search/mmx-g4r1s8mr7.8apr27,1,4900082.story):
'Soiree Dada' throws curves while playing it straight
By Kerry Reid
Special to the Tribune
Inspired by the World War I-era high jinks of Tristan Tzara and his Zurich cohorts, WNEP's "Soiree Dada: Neue Weltaffen," which translates as "New World Apes" or "New World Monkeys," is both a homage to the trickster spirit of the Cabaret Voltaire and an explosion of rage, fear and gleeful nihilism firmly rooted in our contemporary malaise. (Both the new pope and the Terri Schiavo circus, among other current events, are referenced with biting sarcasm.) The cast of four, directed with panache by Don Hall, balances rawboned nonsense with laser-beam intelligence and wit. The script provides just enough background on the original anti-art movement to allow context for the uninitiated.
The magnetic Jen Ellison, dressed in a pinstripe suit with her red hair slicked back, makes a formidable Dietrichesque ringleader. Her interrogations of audience members (including this writer) contained both hilarious improvisational riffs and serious-as-a-heart-attack probings into the mindscape of conventionality. Those wary of audience participation should know that it's almost mandatory here. Three members of the audience are "volunteered" to write a one-act script, which is performed at evening's end.
But the secret to this show's success is that the performers never talk down to the audience — they implicate themselves in our age's unholy mess of consumer capitalism, warmongering and hand-wringing ennui as much as they do us. "Dada sees your full potential, and rejects you anyway," they promise. Rejection has never felt so oddly uplifting.
Through May 28 at Trap Door Theatre, 1655 W. Cortland St.; 773-755-1693.
Timeout Chicago review (http://www.timeout-chicago.com/article.jsp?xy=theater/9.theater.soire):
Soireé DADA: Neue Weltaffen
Dir. Don Hall. With ensemble cast.
WNEP Theater at Trap Door Theatre.
Four white-faced performers assault us with noise, spectacle, derision and indeterminate accents. They defy every theatrical convention they can think of, pick on individual audience members, and violently confront us with the ridiculousness of our own cultural ideas about war, death, love, religion and consumerism. And, fortunately, we laugh. We laugh a lot.
Is it even possible to shock and awe a Chicago storefront audience these days? WNEP's latest exercise in Dada-style performance, the kind that Tristan Tzara and company employed in Zurich and Paris 90 years ago to shock audiences out of complacency, will have a harder time dismaying and disturbing modern audiences. Too much of Dada (a forerunner to Surrealism and Absurdism, among other movements) has trickled down into mainstream culture. These postmodern days, we all want to demonstrate that we're in on the joke, which is why we start laughing before anything even happens.
This isn't to say that the show is not worthwhile. Soireé DADA was a cult hit in an open run at WNEP's former space, and it's easy to see why. It's fascinating and chaotic, topical and provocative, and really, really funny. We're never sure how much is scripted and how much is improvised, especially when there's so much interaction with audience members (if you're squeamish about confrontation, best to stay away). It's also clear that, perhaps unlike Tzara, Hall and the ensemble want us to be entertained. These dadaists are okay with giving us a good time while they make us uncomfortable.—Kris Vire
i encourage any/all chicago area people to come see it. it's unlike anything you've seen before.
pic used in the Reader:
http://www.wneptheater.org/images/dada_nw/wainscotting_scream.jpg
we got three reviews on opening weekend, published today.
Reader review (http://www.chireader.com/listings/static/listings.html#SOIREE) (complete with a Critic's Choice and a picture of me):
Even if our elected leaders didn't seem to have sprung directly from a George Grosz cartoon, the precisely delineated tomfollery the WNEP Theater unleashes in the latest installment of its intermittent "Soiree Dada" series would deserve a standing ovation. Or at the very least an approving hail of biscuits. I don't know that a gen-u-ine Dada show is possible in the postmodern age, but these angry clowns pull off something close to it thanks to their classic combination of ultraheavy commitment and a featherlight touch - even when verbally assaulting members of the audience, they're pros who keep matters from spinning out of control. Don Hall's invisible direction is strong, and there's no weak link in the cast of four; but 'NEP stalwarts Jen Ellison, who commands the proceedings in drag, and Bob Wilson, whose canid-laden monologues are the show's most affecting, howl loudest of all.
- Brian Nemtusak
Chicago Tribune review (http://metromix.chicagotribune.com/search/mmx-g4r1s8mr7.8apr27,1,4900082.story):
'Soiree Dada' throws curves while playing it straight
By Kerry Reid
Special to the Tribune
Inspired by the World War I-era high jinks of Tristan Tzara and his Zurich cohorts, WNEP's "Soiree Dada: Neue Weltaffen," which translates as "New World Apes" or "New World Monkeys," is both a homage to the trickster spirit of the Cabaret Voltaire and an explosion of rage, fear and gleeful nihilism firmly rooted in our contemporary malaise. (Both the new pope and the Terri Schiavo circus, among other current events, are referenced with biting sarcasm.) The cast of four, directed with panache by Don Hall, balances rawboned nonsense with laser-beam intelligence and wit. The script provides just enough background on the original anti-art movement to allow context for the uninitiated.
The magnetic Jen Ellison, dressed in a pinstripe suit with her red hair slicked back, makes a formidable Dietrichesque ringleader. Her interrogations of audience members (including this writer) contained both hilarious improvisational riffs and serious-as-a-heart-attack probings into the mindscape of conventionality. Those wary of audience participation should know that it's almost mandatory here. Three members of the audience are "volunteered" to write a one-act script, which is performed at evening's end.
But the secret to this show's success is that the performers never talk down to the audience — they implicate themselves in our age's unholy mess of consumer capitalism, warmongering and hand-wringing ennui as much as they do us. "Dada sees your full potential, and rejects you anyway," they promise. Rejection has never felt so oddly uplifting.
Through May 28 at Trap Door Theatre, 1655 W. Cortland St.; 773-755-1693.
Timeout Chicago review (http://www.timeout-chicago.com/article.jsp?xy=theater/9.theater.soire):
Soireé DADA: Neue Weltaffen
Dir. Don Hall. With ensemble cast.
WNEP Theater at Trap Door Theatre.
Four white-faced performers assault us with noise, spectacle, derision and indeterminate accents. They defy every theatrical convention they can think of, pick on individual audience members, and violently confront us with the ridiculousness of our own cultural ideas about war, death, love, religion and consumerism. And, fortunately, we laugh. We laugh a lot.
Is it even possible to shock and awe a Chicago storefront audience these days? WNEP's latest exercise in Dada-style performance, the kind that Tristan Tzara and company employed in Zurich and Paris 90 years ago to shock audiences out of complacency, will have a harder time dismaying and disturbing modern audiences. Too much of Dada (a forerunner to Surrealism and Absurdism, among other movements) has trickled down into mainstream culture. These postmodern days, we all want to demonstrate that we're in on the joke, which is why we start laughing before anything even happens.
This isn't to say that the show is not worthwhile. Soireé DADA was a cult hit in an open run at WNEP's former space, and it's easy to see why. It's fascinating and chaotic, topical and provocative, and really, really funny. We're never sure how much is scripted and how much is improvised, especially when there's so much interaction with audience members (if you're squeamish about confrontation, best to stay away). It's also clear that, perhaps unlike Tzara, Hall and the ensemble want us to be entertained. These dadaists are okay with giving us a good time while they make us uncomfortable.—Kris Vire
i encourage any/all chicago area people to come see it. it's unlike anything you've seen before.
pic used in the Reader:
http://www.wneptheater.org/images/dada_nw/wainscotting_scream.jpg
