I’m continuously on my soapbox on this blog about audiences needing to be exposed to challenging theatrical material. I hate to break it to the gazillion people who made Wicked such a phenomenon in the city, but there’s more to the stage than flying witches and saccharine pseudo-pop musical theater songs. I feel very strongly that people should think and feel MORE when they come to the theater to truly get immersed in the power of live performance; if they want mindless escapism, than they can stay home, break open a PBR, scratch some belly, and watch COPS or Real Housewives of Orange County. Fortunately, Chicago is a city with a thriving, risk-taking, multi-faceted theatrical community, so there’s no shortage of adventurous productions to sample. And one of the most adventurous, and most notable and worthwhile that I have seen in years, is Right Brain Project’s startling environmental production of Fernando Arrabal’s rarely produced masterpiece, And They Put Handcuffs on the Flowers, currently being staged in a suffocatingly tiny, raw, black box performance space on the fourth floor of a warehouse building by the train tracks at Ravenswood and Irving Park. For me, this production is what makes the Chicago storefront scene explosive: staged for hardly any money, not expecting to make any (the play is free with suggested donations), comprised of innovative, can-do directorial fervor, bravely naked (both literally and emotionally) acting, and yes, challenging, material that will provoke a variety of reactions from the audience, from repulsion, attraction, discomfort, admiration, inspiration.
Feb 10
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