Red Tape Theatre Blog

Red Tape Valentine: Alex Kyger and Les Enfants Terribles

2011-02-13T06:39:00.002-06:00

Alex is one of our newest ensemble members, and currently in the role of Director of Community Engagement. Alex comes to Red Tape by way of Les Enfants Terribles, a local buffoon troupe that first performed at Red Tape as part of CFANN 2010. After finding out how amazing Alex was, we couldn't help but scoop him up, and are eternally grateful that he can tear himself away from the buffoons every now and then.

Dear Mes Enfants,The more grotesque you are, the more I love. Love, Alex

Alex Kyger and Les Enfants Terribles- Celebrating our 3 year anniversary in March!

Hang out with Red Tape on Industry Night
Monday, February 14 at 8:00
After party at Wilde
Tickets: http://www.redtapetheatre.org/ , code: mermaid

Red Tape Valentine: Paige Sawin and Don Marcus

2011-02-13T06:38:00.002-06:00

Paige has been an ensemble member since 2009, and is our resident casting director. She is also an actor and will be performing in our upcoming production of Tragedy: a tragedy. Paige and Don met when Paige smartly cast the dashing Don Marcus in 2009's Mouse in a Jar. After that we just couldn't bear to see him go and cast him in The Love of the Nightingale. Not only does Don love everything Red Tape, but is a fantastic assistant to Paige. Whether it's proctoring auditions or picking Paige up in his warm car after a late night at Red Tape, Don can always be counted on around here.

Donny, you will always hold the key to my heart. Thank you for your never-ending support. I love you. Xo, Paige

Paige Sawin and Don Marcus- Together 1 year and a half

Hang out with Red Tape on Industry Night
Monday, February 14 at 8:00
After party at Wilde
Tickets: http://www.redtapetheatre.org/ , code: mermaid

Red Tape Valentine: Mackenzie Brown May and Vic May

2011-02-13T06:35:00.002-06:00

Vic first worked with Red Tape in 2008 as the lighting designer for Pugilist Specialist. We were relieved to learn he was married to Mackenzie, behind the scenes guru to the stars. Mackenzie originated the role of Red Tape's Production Manager with Dog in a Manger and has worn a variety of hats since. We have to admit, Vic is pretty cool too, and we were proud to bring him into the ensemble in 2009 after his performance in An Enemy of the People. Vic and Mackenzie are a true Red Tape power couple and can be counted on for everything from set construction, cleaning, front of house, even costume design!

Mackenzie most recently designed costumes for our current production of Church/Pullman, WA (with delivery services from Vic), and Vic will be performing in our upcoming production of Tragedy: a tragedy.

If not for theatre, I never would have met my husband. Thanks to the summer stock gods and love to my Victor. -Mackenzie

Vic and Mackenzie- Together 6 years, 8 months, married 3 years 4 months

Hang out with Red Tape on Industry Night
Monday, February 14 at 8:00
After party at Wilde
Tickets: http://www.redtapetheatre.org/ , code: mermaid

Red Tape Valentine: Robert L. Oakes and Marti Lyons

2011-02-13T06:32:00.002-06:00

Robert is a founding member of Red Tape and also serves as the board president. Rob has been in numerous Red Tape productions, and adapted Henrik Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People for Red Tape in 2009. He is currently performing in Church/ Pullman, WA. Marti is a talented director and the Literary Manager at Lookingglass Theatre Company. Rob and Marti met last season when Marti directed Rob in the Fresh Eyes Project. From there they spent a taxing, cold, strange night working the box office for CFANN 2010, and the rest is history. Marti will be directing our upcoming production of Tragedy: a tragedy this spring.

"To my Valentine, Marti Lyons, who inspires me to be the best artist I can be!"- Rob
"A poem: Happy Valentine's Day my dearest Reverend Jose"- Marti

Ensemble Member Robert L. Oakes and Marti Lyons- 12 months and counting

Hang out with Red Tape on Industry Night
Monday, February 14 at 8:00
After party at Wilde
Tickets: http://www.redtapetheatre.org/ , code: mermaid

Red Tape Valentine: Lona and Philip Livingston

2011-02-13T06:28:00.002-06:00

Lona was first seen in Red Tape’s Enemy of the People in 2009. Since joining the ensemble she has performed in The Love of the Nightingale and Obscura: A Voyeuristic Love Story. Even with everything Lona does for Red Tape, we are equally happy to have Philip around! A talented and accomplished artist in his own right, Philip can always be counted on to help out with front of house, open his lovely home to Red Tape events from photo shoots to parties, and we couldn’t live without him and his skills during strike. We might still be looking at the Obscura set if it wasn’t for Philip!

“Lona and Philip having a November Valentine's Day in France.” –Lona

Lona and Philip Livingston, at 22 years- well, we were mere children

Hang out with Red Tape on Industry Night
Monday, February 14 at 8:00
After party at Wilde
Tickets: http://www.redtapetheatre.org/ , code: mermaid

Red Tape Valentine: Meghan Reardon and Spencer

2011-02-13T06:25:00.002-06:00

Megan joined the ensemble after appearing in Red Tape’s The Love of the Nightingale in 2010. She is now our Director of Loyalty and Retention. Meghan performed in Obscura: A Voyeuristic Love Story and can be seen on stage now in Church/Pullman, WA. Spencer first appeared at Red Tape in cognito to surprise Meghan during Nightingale. We’re so glad he did not whisk her back to NYC with him!

“This is me with my best friend of ten-plus-years-and-counting, Spencer. He is my partner-in-crime and an honorary member of my family (he was even in our Christmas card one year). Our fake facebook marriage has lasted longer than many real marriages.

When I was in my first Red Tape show, he surprised me by flying in from New York to see the closing night performance. He even went as far as to wear sunglasses and a hat during the show so I wouldn't recognize him and get thrown off (for the record it didn't work--I'd know him anywhere).

Being so far away from him never gets any easier and all my theatre stuff cuts into precious phone time all too often. So this V-Day shout-out is for my dear, funny, finicky, favorite fella, my Spence!” –Meghan

Meghan and Spencer- going on 11 years

Hang out with Red Tape on Industry Night
Monday, February 14 at 8:00
After party at Wilde
Tickets: http://www.redtapetheatre.org/ , code: mermaid

Red Tape Valentine: Carrie Drapac and Kira Elliott

2011-02-13T06:19:00.002-06:00

Carrie has been an ensemble member since 2010. She appeared in The Love of the Nightingale, and can be seen on stage now in Church/Pullman, WA. Her Valentine is her amazing business partner and co-owner of Comfy Fitness. Not only is Kira particularly understanding when Carrie is rehearsing and in a show, but she’s also been known to make an appearance at a cast party herself.

“Not only is Kira a huge theatre fan, but she helps build our business in a way that gives me time to be an active Red Tape ensemble member. Without her I don't know how I'd manage both owning a small business and pursuing a fulfilling life as an actor. Happy Valentine's Day to the best business partner a girl could ask for!” –Carrie

Ensemble Member Carrie Drapac and business partner Kira Elliot, partners in fitness for 3 ½ years

Hang out with Red Tape on Industry Night
Monday, February 14 at 8:00
After party at Wilde
Tickets: http://www.redtapetheatre.org/ , code: mermaid

Red Tape Valentines: Nick and Erica

2011-02-11T06:37:00.002-06:00

Nicholas Combs and Erica Sartini

Nick has been an ensemble member with Red Tape since 2009. He has appeared in Enemy of the People, The Love of the Nightingale and most recently, Obscura: A Voyeuristic Love Story. Erica is a casting director and founder of Two Birds Casting. She's a Red Tape regular, never missing an opening night, and even volunteering to usher or take on other odd jobs. She collaborates regularly with our casting director, Paige Sawin, and will be heading up casting with Two Birds for our upcoming production of Tragedy: A Tragedy.

"We make it work because we both understand we have other loves, meaning Red Tape Theatre and Two Birds Casting, of course." - Erica

"To the Love of my life, who doesn't fuss when I say "I'm going to Red Tape honey, be back in like an hour" and then I come home 4 hours later.... I love you! -Nick

Nick and Erica, 3 years strong

Hang out with Nick and Erica on Industry Night
Monday, February 14 at 8:00
After party at Wilde
Tickets: http://www.redtapetheatre.org/ , code: mermaid

Red Tape Valentines Party

2011-02-11T06:34:00.002-06:00

Industry Night at Red Tape Theatre
Church/Pullman, Wa
Monday, February 14 at 8:00
$10 Tickets
http://www.redtapetheatre.org/, code: mermaid

Red Tape is hosting an industry only performance of their critically acclaimed Church/Pullman, Wa- Two Plays by Young Jean Lee. Come to the show, then head to Wilde with the cast and Red Tape ensemble.

Theatre on Valentine’s Day?! Red Tape is the perfect place to bring a date or to meet someone new. Not to toot our own horn, but Red Tape’s got a pretty good record in the love department. From couples that met at Red Tape, to partners conceding that “if you can’t beat, ‘em, join’em,” our Red Tape family just keeps growing!

Check back all weekend for Valentine’s and stories of what it’s like to be stuck with a Red Taper, and how we all make it work.

Don’t miss Industry Night on 2/14…You could be next!

Tickets: http://www.redtapetheatre.org/
Code: mermaid (only available for 2/14)
After party at Wilde featuring $4 domestic bottles and some Valentines drinks like Cupid’s Cup and Burr Royale

"Church / Pullman, WA" Artwork

2011-02-03T08:18:00.003-06:00

Congratulations to the cast and crew of Church and Pullman, WA!

Running Jan 27 to Mar 5 at Red Tape Theatre!

Seeking Artists for CFANN 2011!

2011-01-20T15:02:00.004-06:00

WHAT IS CFANN?

The Chicago Fringe Artist Networking Night (CFANN) hosted by Red Tape Theatre is a one night event that brings together artists and arts enthusiasts for an evening of performances, installations, and tasty treats from neighborhood eateries. Red Tape is known for its transformative space, and CFANN is no exception. Guests will find themselves in a cool, lounge style venue surrounded by provocative intersections of visual, interactive and performance art. Past events have featured visual artist Judith Joseph, buffoon troupe Les Enfants Terribles, and DJ Miles Polaski, with treats from Argo Tea, Zad Restaurant, and Pastoral.

CFANN 2011, on April 9, 2011, will be all this and more. This years’ performance showcase is driven by dance and movement, immersed in fun, diverse and arresting visual, video and audio art, guaranteed to create an exhilarating and inspiring experience.

Admission to the event is an all access pass and includes wine and snacks all night.

WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR

Work that push boundaries and provokes conversation will be featured at the core of the event. Artists are encouraged to dig into their wildest imaginations and submit pieces that are being shown for the first time, part of a larger project, or just need greater visibility. Artists of all genres and interdisciplinary are encouraged to apply.

DEADLINE: The deadline for submitting your work for the event is February 11, 2011. Selected participants will be notified of their participation no later than one week from the submission deadline.

Greetings from Meghan Reardon!

2011-01-19T13:23:00.003-06:00

Greeting to all you friends of Red Tape out there in the blogosphere!

Meghan Reardon here, your friendly Director of Loyalty and Retention. If you were able to attend our fall production of Obscura you may have found yourself in for more than just a play. Whether you joined us for a beer at our Friday Night Bar Nights, stuck around after every show for Set Tours led by the actors or headed over to Cloud 9 with us after our Industry Night Performance, we hope that you had the chance to get to know Red Tape and for us to get to know you!

The upcoming production of Church and Pullman, WA will provide some similar and brand-new events and activities to help make your night at the theatre a more engrossing experience. Join cast, crew, company members and other members of our audience every Friday during the run for a drink or a bite to eat at the fantastic WILDE’S BAR & RESTAURANT, just around the corner on Broadway (3130 N. Broadway, to be exact). Also, after every production, you will have the opportunity to join the cast and crew for a special activity. Now, I can’t be too specific about the activity without spoiling the surprise of walking into the space and set of these experimental one-acts but here are some hints: It’s crafty and it will help create the mood and environment for the next weekend’s audiences. Sound exciting and mysterious enough for you?

Also, for you industry-types, mark your calendars for our Industry Night, Monday, February 14. Look for more information on that night-of-fun from yours truly or our dashing DOCE, Alex Kyger.

Thanks for reading, and see you around the theatre!

~Meghan Reardon

Church and Pullman, WA run Jan 27 -Mar 5 at Red Tape Theatre.

Meet the Playwright: Young Jean Lee

2011-01-13T10:32:00.004-06:00

When starting a play, I ask myself, "What's the last play in the world I would ever want to write?" Then I force myself to write it. I do this because I've found that the best way to make theater that unsettles and challenges my audience is to do things that make me uncomfortable. I work with stories that I find trite and embarrassing, I keep the development of the text as open and unstable as possible throughout the rehearsal and performance process, and I emphasize rather than hide problems in the text and production. I'm constantly trying to find value in unexpected places. My work is about struggling to achieve something in the face of failure and incompetence and not-knowing. The discomfort and awkwardness involved in watching this struggle reflects the truth of my experience.

-Young Jean Lee (From Young Jean Lee's Theatre Company Website)

For More on Young Jean Lee and her company, visit http://www.youngjeanlee.org/

YOUNG JEAN LEE was named by American Theatre magazine as one of the 25 artist who will shape the American theater over the next 25 years. She was born in Korea in 1974 and moved to the United States when she was two years old. She grew up in Pullman, WA and attended college at UC Berkeley, where she majored in English. Immediately after college, she entered Berkeley’s English PhD program, where she studied Shakespeare for six years before moving to New York to become a playwright in 2002. Since then, she has directed her plays at Soho Rep (LEAR; THE APPEAL), The Kitchen (THE SHIPMENT), The Public Theater (CHURCH), P.S. 122 (CHURCH; PULLMAN, WA), HERE Arts Center (SONGS OF THE DRAGONS FLYING TO HEAVEN), and the Ontological-Hysteric Theater (GROUNDWORK OF THE METAPHYSIC OF MORALS). She has worked with Radiohole and the National Theater of the United States of America. She is a member of New Dramatists and 13P, has done residencies at Yaddo, the MacDowell Colony, the Ucross Foundation, and Hedgebrook, and has an MFA from Mac Wellman's playwriting program at Brooklyn College.

Her plays have been published in New Downtown Now (an anthology edited by Mac Wellman and herself), in Three Plays by Young Jean Lee (Samuel French), American Theatre magazine (September 2007), a collection of all of her plays entitled Songs of the Dragons Flying to Heaven and Other Plays (Theatre Communications Group), and THE SHIPMENT and LEAR (Theatre Communications Group, June 2010). She and her company have been the recipients of grants from the Creative Capital Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Trust for Mutual Understanding, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, MAP / Doris Duke Charitable Foundation Creative Exploration Fund, Tobin Foundation for Theater Arts Grant, Edith Lutyens and Norman Bel Geddes Foundation, Arts Presenters/Ford Foundation Creative Capacity Grant, New York State Council on the Arts, the MAP Fund, the Greenwall Foundation, the Jerome Foundation, and the Foundation for Contemporary Arts. Her work has been invited to tour to venues in London, Paris, Vienna, Hannover, Berlin, Zurich, Brussels, Budapest, Sydney, Bergen, Oslo, Trondheim, Rotterdam, Salamanca, Toulouse, Chicago, Chapel Hill, Portland, Seattle, Philadelphia, Columbus, Pittsburgh, Boston, Williamstown, and Minneapolis. Young Jean is currently under commission from Lincoln Center Theater, Playwrights Horizons, and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. She is the artistic director of Young Jean Lee’s Theater Company, was a finalist for the 2010 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize for THE SHIPMENT, a recipient of the 2009 Brooklyn College Young Alumni Award, the ZKB Patronage Prize 2007 of the Zurich Theater Spektakel, a 2007 Emerging Playwright OBIE Award, a 2010 fellowship in playwriting from NYFA, and a 2010 Prize in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

Church and Pullman, Wa run Jan 27 -Mar 5 at Red Tape Theatre.

Chipotle Partners With Red Tape!

2011-01-12T14:34:00.006-06:00

Hey Red Tape fans,

My name is Alex and I’m thrilled to be Red Tape’s first Director of Community Engagement! Serving in this position is a joy because I have the opportunity to tell Lakeview businesses about Red Tape, our brand of theatre, and most importantly; our audience. We’re constantly looking for new ways to engage local businesses in a way that has a positive impact on their business, Red Tape, and our dedicated fans.

Being in Lakeview, we’re extremely lucky to be surrounded by some great businesses and supportive business owners. Their willingness to keep their doors open late or offer discounts just for our audiences cannot go unnoticed. If you joined the cast of Obscura at the pub across the street, Brendan’s, or came to our Industry Night after party at Cloud 9, then you played a major role in thanking our surrounding businesses for all they do for us at Red Tape!

Most importantly, I hope you’ll take part in our latest partnership with our friends down the street at Chipotle. During the run of Church & Pullman, WA, you can use your program to receive two burritos or burrito bowls for the price of one! The offer is good from January 27th to March 5th at the Chipotle on Belmont and Broadway, a favorite spot for all of us at Red Tape!

I trust I’ll see you at Church & Pullman, WA and hopefully see you afterward at one of our many local partners. Enjoy the show!

Alex Kyger
Director of Community Engagement
Red Tape Theatre Company

Agents Decorate Our Set!

2010-12-15T07:12:00.004-06:00

On December 12, 2010 Red Tape Theatre hosted our third Secret Agents Event. Ensemble member Meghan Reardon had our guests create artwork for the set of Church. Their artwork will be displayed through previews where audience members will be asked to provide the decor for future performances. She explains how in the attached clip.

Church and Pullman, WA run Jan 29 - Mar 13
www.redtapetheatre.org

See what they created:

James Palmer discusses "Church" and "Pullman, WA"

2010-12-14T07:22:00.006-06:00

On December 12, 2010 Red Tape Theatre hosted our third Secret Agents Event. Director James Palmer discussed Young Jean Lee's plays Church and Pullman, WA which Red Tape will produce Jan 26 - Mar 5.

Church re-examines an Evangelical church service through the eyes of Millennials, while Pullman, WA takes you to a surreal support group where three battered souls attempt to answer the question "How to live your life."

www.redtapetheatre.org

Obscura Artwork

2010-10-17T22:00:00.002-05:00

Only four more chances to see Obscura! We must close October 23. Get your tickets through our website.

Kickstarter Campaign Concludes

2010-10-16T09:47:00.003-05:00

Red Tape Theatre again thanks the wonderful people who contributed to the Kickstarter Campaign for the world premiere of Obscura!

They hit our $600 goal and then surpassed it raising 680!

Thank you for supporting experimental theatre in Chicago!

Kickstarter Campaign Supporters
Jaclyn Biskup
Nicholas Combs
Kira Elliott and Carrie Drapac
Ben Fuchsen
Whitney Green
Katy E. Hall
Alyssa Jaksa
Philip Joseph
Sandy Karuschak
Whitney Kraus
Levi Lerner
Paul Pasulka
Melinda Prawer-Stock
Meghan Reardon
Erica Sartini
Merle Shein
Skip Shein
Yung-Sang Tang

Red Tape Rockstar: Kyle Land

2010-10-06T15:15:00.003-05:00

Kyle is this months Red Tape Rockstar! Kyle joined Red Tape in April 2009 when he designed lights for Enemy of the People. Kyle was also the Technical Director for that production. The position of Tech Director is a key position in the production team, responsible for making sure every aspect of the play comes together in time for opening. Red Tape is known for our bad-ass designs; so the TD is super important to our process.

This month, Kyle was the Tech Director on Obscura. As you’ve probably seen (and if you haven’t, get your tickets now), the set for that show is pretty amazing! Kyle built that bad-boy all by himself with some help from our ensemble members. On top of that, he lit it too! Kyle clearly went above and beyond the call of duty for this production and we are deeply thankful. Kyle always kept a cool head and pushed through. What he accomplished is nothing short of amazing. We hope he takes great pride in his set as we take great pride in having in our ensemble.

Seeking Scripts for Fresh Eyes Project

2010-09-30T04:39:00.002-05:00

The Fresh Eyes Project is a bold, new workshop process designed to create and develop plays that are innovative in form or subject. Our directors, dramaturges and actors work alongside the playwright to customize a rehearsal period best suited to the exploration of a particular play.

Here’s how it works:
Once selected, we match you with a director. Together, you design a rehearsal process best suited to your goal, whether it is to finish the play, work on the dialogue, or see if all those puppets in scene 4 really make sense. We give you a cast, a dramaturg, rehearsal space and the month of March and let you go at it. At the end, we invite everyone involved in FEP and in Red Tape to come and see wherever you are in the process without the prying eyes of the public. The following week, your cast performs a selection of your new masterpiece at the Chicago Fringe Artists Networking Night (CFANN).

Here’s what we need from you:

- 10 page submission along with a full synopsis of a project that is innovative in subject or form.
- 1 page description of what they would ideally like a workshop to include at this point in the development of their project.
- If selected as a finalist, playwrights will be asked for a full copy of the script on November 15th (or a detailed outline and source material for an incomplete project)
- Availability for the month of March.

Submissions must emailed to rebstev@gmail.com by October 31st, 2010. Please put “FEP Submission” in subject of email.

Kickstarter Campaign reaches the goal!

2010-09-26T11:28:00.004-05:00

Red Tape Theatre thanks the wonderful people who contributed to the Kickstarter Campaign for the world premiere of Obscura!

Thanks to you we have surpassed our $600 goal! In addition Kickstarter will allow Red Tape to keep any additional funds raised before October 15!

To support our Kickstarter campaign click here.

Kickstarter Campaign Supporters
Jaclyn Biskup
Nicholas Combs
Kira Elliott and Carrie Drapac
Ben Fuchsen
Whitney Green
Katy E. Hall
Alyssa Jaksa
Philip Joseph
Sandy Karuschak
Whitney Kraus
Levi Lerner
Meghan Reardon
Erica Sartini
Merle Shein
Skip Shein
Melinda Prawer-Stock
Yung-Sang Tang

Obscura runs Sep 23-Oct 23.
Tickets are available through our website.

My Life with a Dialect Coach

2010-09-20T13:24:00.002-05:00

Dialect coaches speak a different language. It's all about phonetics, plosives, fricatives and that sly schwa sound. And they expect that you know what they mean!

I first met Obscura's dialect coach, Jason Miller, in a coffee shop. The Obscura script states Ms. Craw is 'foreign' so it was up to us to figure the rest out. We narrowed the character down to eastern European-mostly because the language and syntax made it seem the right choice. Serbian? German? Polish? Russian? It didn't matter; Jason was prepared to show me how proper use of pitch, rhythm, consonant and vowel placement (that ubiquitous schwa, again) can make any accent fluent and authentic.

Jason turned the coffee shop into a performance piece; he stood there breathing and intoning, gesturing and projecting while folks refilled their cups and ordered doughnuts all around him. It was thrilling - all 2 and 1/2 hours, for me certainly and I think for the coffee drinkers too. Working with a dialect coach is a bit like seeing a therapist: they make you honest; they give you homework, and you always leave feeling better.

Come see Obscura and decide for yourself where Ms. Craw comes from. Thanks, Jason.

Lona Livingston
Ensemble Member

Obscura runs Sep 23-Oct 23.
Tickets are available through our website!

Meet the Cast! - Nick Combs

2010-09-18T09:26:00.003-05:00

"Ensemble acting in Chicago began in the 1950s with creative collaborations that subsequently evolved into the ensembles that now constitute a major segment of Chicago theater." - Encyclopedia of Chicago

I'd like to think that Red Tape Theatre Company will continue this acting ensemble idea for many years to come. Being a part of a theatre's ensemble as an actor is a dream; made famous by Steppenwolf Theatre with such actors as John Malkovich, Gary Sinise, Joan Allen, and Laurie Metcalf. I believe the reason Steppenwolf and so many other Chicago-based theatres have ensembles is because it creates a home for the actors in a city that is flooded with talented actors. In college, professors know who their actors are, and many times they will pick their season based on who they have in the program. This allows the actors to grow and be comfortable. This same idea is what makes being ensemble member at Red Tape work for me. Once you’re an ensemble member of a theatre, you’re able to work and act like a family and whether you have a huge disagreement or an off-night performance, you are able to just let it all go and be forgiven. Working on Obscura I'm blessed to be sharing the stage with three other ensemble members. The level of trust that normally develops through rehearsals is already established. I've worked with them before, I know them and there is an understanding of what we are trying to do in this play. I find myself being more creative when I'm in the room with these people, I can just be myself.

Nick Combs

Ensemble Member

Obscura runs Sep 13-Oct 13

Tickets are available through our website.

First Look at Obscura!

2010-09-14T06:51:00.002-05:00

This Sunday, September 12, ensemble members Nick Combs and Meghan Reardon performed a scene from Jennifer Barclay's Obscura at our Secret Agents Event!

Obscura runs Sep 23- Oct 23.
Tickets are available through our website!

Hammers, nail, and puppy dog tails!

2010-09-14T06:47:00.002-05:00

If you build it they will come....and Kevin Costner isn't even a part of this. How exciting!

Chop saws and the smell of 2x4's and getting sawdust in my hair reminds me of my dad building things in the basement while I was growing up. and of Saturdays in high school...when all of us Drama Club Nerds would wake up early, head to the theatre, and work all day at set construction, creating this whole new world for us to play in....and on and under and around. I can't tell you how fortunate I feel having this constructive background in the pockets of my life-experience-tool-belt (whoa! cheese!) really, though....being adept at hammer-swinging has come in handy over and over again in my life as an actor.

And such was the case at Red Tape last week.

Since joining the ensemble back in June, I've helped out striking two different shows, but working on Bill Anderson's set for Obscura marked my first real construction with the company. And this, I love. Strike is always fun, seeing as how you get to just tear stuff apart and break things and generally show off your destructive prowess. . .

But building. building is a whole different beast.

When you're building a set you have to be specific, thoughtful, and patient. Luckily for me (and the actors in Obscura) our TD, Kyle Land is all of those things. Because, if the steps aren't all exactly the same height, the actors are going to trip every time they walk upstairs. If the platform you're putting ten feet in the air isn't secure, the actors could plummet to their DEATHS in the middle of act two! Well. probably not, but you get the idea. Kyle is a master builder, and it was loads of fun working with him. He kept me in line....mostly... It's just that there is a precision that comes with building an entire set that is simply exhilarating. If you put this riiiight here, and that riiiiight there, you suddenly stand back to see a looming monstrosity that you created with your own hands. It's part of the art of theatre that, as an actor, I think we tend to forget about. The set can often tell a story by itself. We actors, that are stomping around on it every night are just extras. With voices....

But the set.
The set creates a world for us to play in. It tells us so much about where we are, and who are and why we are. Even though I'm not acting in this production, being a creator of that world--knowing that the story wouldn't be the same without me. . . well, that is a pretty cool feeling.

soooooooooo. come see Obscura! It's like shake 'n bake...and I helped! but. with wood. and no chicken.

Amanda Reader
Ensemble Member

Obscura runs Sep 23- Oct 23.
Tickets are available through our website!

Casting Inside the Circle

2010-09-08T12:08:00.002-05:00

A theatre company is its ensemble. The mentality that I have developed as a Casting Director for Red Tape Theatre Company is that we are nothing without the support of a core group of talented and respected artists. Red Tape is truly as exciting as ever, now adding to our ensemble after the successful production of The Love of the Nightingale. From my own point of view, this makes the casting process a more fruitful experience. I am able to continually work with our core group of actors to create a wonderful jumping off point in casting a production. Our ensemble’s reputation allows me to pull experienced outside actors, who have really honed the craft and see art the way Red Tape does. Red Tape encourages humility, hard work, and imagination. These values beat in the hearts of our ensemble.

The good thing is that I work with a lot of amazing artists, however from a Casting Director’s standpoint it can be quite difficult. There is no question that each production should have ensemble member in it. There is so much talent that it is sometimes hard to nail it down! Fortunately, collaboration between James Palmer, the ensemble, the director, the playwright and myself cuts a clearer path. Usually, in the beginning stages of choosing a play for the next season it is pretty clear of who is appropriate for what role.

An importance to the development of Red Tape is the artistic growth of each individual ensemble member. Upon joining Red Tape, I was surprised to hear that this was a responsibility of the company. I thought that it should be the ensemble’s responsibility to ensure the growth of the company. I quickly realized that artistic development of the ensemble parallels the successful development of a theatre company. This is one of the most significant aspects in casting an ensemble member.

I feel this sets us a part and makes our company special. When a role is appropriate for an ensemble member and stretches their skill level it benefits the individual while promoting the company’s mission to engage our audience in new ways and transcend the traditional.

Paige Sawin
Casting Director

Obscura runs Sep 23-Oct 23.
Tickets are available on our website!

A new role for Meghan Reardon

2010-09-07T12:12:00.003-05:00

Hello all!

First-time blogger and company member Meghan Reardon here. I am lucky enough to play the role of Salvia in the lovely and peculiar world of Obscura, but I want to fill you in on my even newer role, Director of Loyalty and Retention here at Red Tape!

In addition to having the catchy acronym of DOLR, my job is to create new, exciting ways of turning our network into a community. Our plays have always engaged our audiences in different and unexpected ways and we want to take the same approach to getting to know each of you! Get geared up for a few special events we have planned for Obscura.

After each performance, you’ll have the opportunity to literally step into the world of the characters. Join cast and company members as they take you through a tour of the set. Explore where the characters live and give yourself the chance to see even more of this voyeuristic love story! And if you still don’t have enough Red Tape in your life, join us every Friday night during the run of the show at Brendan’s Pub immediately following the performance. Grab your play-going friends and a beverage of choice and get to know your friendly Red Tapers.

And there’s plenty more in store for everyone, all you have to do is be there. See you around the theatre!

Meghan Reardon
Ensemble Member

Obscura runs Sep 23-Oct 23.
Tickets are available on our website!

Meet Jennifer Barclay - Playwright of Obscura

2010-09-01T11:45:00.002-05:00

Obscura was my thesis play at UC San Diego, where I recently earned my MFA.

I began writing Obscura while on a summer writing retreat in Paris. I sat at sidewalk cafes where all the chairs faced out for better people watching, and I people watched and wrote. But Obscura is the product of years of listening to my neighbors through walls and ceilings and floors in all my apartments across Chicago and San Diego. Listening to the neighbor below me bang on my floor when my sink started to flood his apartment, hearing the neighbors beside me hurl intimate insults, and feeling the weight of my neighbor’s death directly overhead. These were people who I knew intimately on one level, but for the most part I didn’t even know their names.

Jennifer Barclay
Playwright of Obscura

Obscura runs Sep 23- Oct 23.
Tickets are available on our website!

Meet Julieanne Ehre - Director of Obscura

2010-09-01T11:41:00.002-05:00

As a city dweller, I’ve lived in multiple apartments where I’ve spent years listening to my neighbors -- sometimes in their most private moments -- without ever actually meeting them face to face. Despite being crammed into small units on top and underneath of one another, we often do not interact with the very people who we unwittingly share intimate moments of our lives.

Jennifer Barclay’s play, Obscura: A Voyeuristic Love Story, is a symphony of sounds colliding from the recesses of various units in an apartment building. I was drawn to the play because of Jennifer’s original voice and her unique and rhythmic use of language. But I’m most attracted to the deeper questions the play raises about our society. In a world of instant messaging and Facebook Friends, how have we simultaneously become more isolated and yet more intertwined by technology? With the “millennial” generation coming up in the age of the internet and reality television, what happens to the public vs. private dichotomy and how will this altered view of privacy shape our personal relationships and our culture?

I look forward to exploring these questions with all of you in this blog and at Red Tape’s production of this fantastic World Premiere play!

Julieanne Ehre
Director of Obscura

Obscura runs Sep 23- Oct 23.
Tickets are available on our website!

Red Tape Rockstar: Amanda Reader

2010-08-31T19:07:00.002-05:00

August’s Red Tape Rockstar is ensemble member Amanda Reader!!!

Amanda recently joined the ensemble after her performance in the critically acclaimed Love of the Nightingale. This month Amanda has been working Box Office for Les Enfants Terrible, striking the Enfants’ set, spending day after day building the set for Obscura, and on top of that, she has taken the lead on a number of fundraising projects.

Amanda approaches her work with much thought and a positive attitude. That’s what makes her a Red Tape Rockstar!

Red Tape Announces 2010-2011 Season

2010-08-28T06:48:00.007-05:00

Red Tape is proud to dedicate its seventh season to the exploration of the space between. We hope to shed light on the secrets and fears that keep people from making physical and spiritual connections. To that end, we journey to three imaginative worlds where the rules are obscured and the 'here and now' seems far away.
Get your tickets now for our upcoming productions!

Obscura: a voyeuristic love story
September 23 - October 23
World premiere
Tickets on sale now
Written by Jennifer Barclay
Directed by Julieanne Ehre

Red Tape proudly presents the world premiere of Jennifer Barclay's Obscura: a voyeuristic love story. Behind the walls of an aging apartment building, the reclusive neighbors' lives are being closely monitored. Amidst the Orwellian atmosphere, Ned invents a story to win his neighbor's heart. But the arrival of a stranger threatens to unveil their darkest secrets.

Featuring Ensemble Members Nicholas Combs, Lona Livingston, Robert L. Oakes, and Meghan Reardon

Church/Pullman, WA
January 26 - February 26
Chicago premiere
Written by Young Jean Lee
Directed by Jaclyn Biskup

One of the boldest voices in contemporary theater, playwright Young Jean Lee tackles two pivotal subjects: religion and self-esteem.

Church
This exuberant church service is a celebration designed to play with the expectations of religious and non-religious alike. It is an uplifting, joyous and inspirational event that may be Lee's most miraculous experiment to date.

Pullman, WA
Unhappy? Confused? Three ordinary, awkward characters, will make an earnest, frequently disastrous attempt show you how to live a better life.

Featuring Ensemble Members Robert L. Oakes and Meghan Reardon

Fresh Eyes Project
March 2011

Fresh Eyes Project is an incubator for new and experimental work. It focuses on the needs of playwrights, providing them with a director, actors, dramaturgical support and rehearsal space. Fresh Eyes is produced by Rebecca Stevens.

Chicago Fringe Artist Networking Night
April 2, 2011

CFANN is a one-night only celebration for artists, by artists. Artists of all disciplines and media showcase their work and network with other artists in the Chicago community. Food, drinks, friends, art - what more could you ask for?

Tragedy: A Tragedy
May 4 - June 4
Chicago Premiere

Written by Will Eno
Directed by Marti Lyons

The sun has set over streets, houses, government buildings and American backyards everywhere. The world is dark. A news team is on the scene. Nobody knows if the sun, once down, will ever rise again. But there is a witness, and the witness will speak.

Featuring Ensemble Members Vic May, Paul G. Miller, and Paige Sawin

Red Tape Theatre Company is committed to the creation of new and experimental work. Our ensemble collaborates with playwrights, musicians, dancers, and visual artists on our two mainstage productions. This work is supported by our Fresh Eyes Project playwrights workshop and the Chicago Fringe Artist Networking Night, both of which we produce annually. We are housed in St. Peter's Episcopal Church and our unique performance space allows us to continually reinevent the audience/artist relationship. Red Tape's plays invite our audiences to reimagine their world. We believe that theatre serves a vital purpose in our community: to arrest and create empathy.

Stub Hub

2010-08-04T09:53:00.002-05:00

Throughout the years while performing for Les Enfants Terribles, many things have changed. People have left, changed sexes, lost and gained lumps, and even grew back a pair of legs. But for me, the one thing that has never and will never change is my physical position in the group. I am the one always looming in the background, my head popping up over this potatoey mass of lumps and beige. Upon creating my buffoon, we drifted towards things that we were uncomfortable with. Naturally, as being actors, we all like to be the center of attention, and I was no exception. So to counter that, I moved towards the back of the group, and anchored myself there, to stay. I have been called “the anchor” of group, and I definitely see why. My character, called “The Father”, treats these other buffoons as if they were his children. When the group is stuck and doesn’t know what to do, everyone looks at me just like if I WAS their dad, and they my kids.

The other noticeable thing about my buffoon is the stub arm. Losing an arm stemmed out of my lack of coordination and self-awareness of being so uncoordinated. It turned into a sort of therapy for me, because after being in this body and not being able to use of one of your arms, even for a short amount of time, has made me appreciate my body so much more. The stub is also a vessel of sorts, used to communicate with higher powers. I receive messages from “God”, and speak those messages to the group. It’s interesting that this channeling brings a second meaning to my character name. Want to see Les Enfants Terribles in all it’s potatoey, beige glory? Put on your tux, grab your sweetie, and come see Prom Night! to find out!

Christopher Paul Mueller
Les Enfants Terribles
Believe in Nothing, Mock Everything
July 16-August 14 at Red Tape Theatre

Opening Night Artwork

2010-07-19T05:27:00.004-05:00

Happy Opening to Les Enfants Terribles and the entire cast and crew of Prom Night!

Paul G. Miller

Managing Director

Red Tape Theatre Company

A Lady Never Tells

2010-07-14T14:38:00.002-05:00

I think it is important to realize that at one point in time, I used to be a man.

When I first started with Les Enfants, I was just as much a man as the rest of them. Of course, back then, we also had an actual woman in the group. After she left, it seemed almost necessary to have a woman because it opened up so much more to us both thematically and plot wise. When the idea was proposed that one of us should switch and be a woman, I was hesitant. Not only would I be changing my character that I had developed and worked on, but I’d be…well, changing my sex. Both of these issues I quickly resolved within myself and jumped on the opportunity (to have boobs.) It has been one of the more interesting characters that I have ever had to work on because the work is so emotionally open. And being a lady with five other buffoons is emotional work. However, I would not have it any other way. I have truly fallen in love with the character and the work that it has allowed me to do.

In my opinion, one of the most difficult aspects of this work is definitely building a strong ensemble. This is by far the most ensemble heavy work that I have ever done. You have to move together, look together, laugh together, spit together, think together, and feel together. It is essentially taking six guys in nude leotards and molding them into one giant clump of buffoon. The ensemble work is no doubt hard, but it truly completes the work.

Les Enfants is nothing without the support of a great audience. So please, grab a date, get something to wear, and come to prom with us.

Casey Kells

Les Enfants Terribles

Believe in Nothing, Mock Everything

July 16-August 14 at Red Tape Theatre

False Phallus

2010-06-29T08:03:00.004-05:00

I'm the one with the big. . .thing.

Easy to identify, difficult to ignore and one of the oldest comedic prosthetics. But none of this came into the decision behind my buffoon's most prominent "lump." When the ensemble first began to work in this style of clowning, we were asked to draw where we initially thought our "lumps" would go. They are areas that resonate with sensitivity and insecurity, which the world scrutinizes. For one reason or another, I was personally drawn to symmetry, feeling that each place of vulnerability had a double on the other side. My lumps are the calves, genitals, hips, shoulders and ears. Though the false exaggeration of these areas physically offers protection, they are highlighted emotionally.

The emotional openness of this type of performance is easily the most difficult aspect. If we're doing it right, it's about completely dropping our defenses and letting everything in. It's a type of psychological state that is litterally unhealthy to live in day-to-day, as some semblance of emotional protection is simply necessary in the real world. But for the clown (or buffoon), we get the opportunity to create our own world where we can be absolutely vulnerable. While exhausting, the work is so rewarding and ultimately much more interesting to the audience to be invited into this world. Never before has the ensemble experienced the emotional stress that a full run of a show demands but I think I can speak for the group when I say we are all looking forward to it as a challenge.

The most integral part of this project is you. It will not exist without the support of new and veteran audience members alike. So get on rown paper tickets, choose a date, pick out your outfit and we'll see you at the show.

Scott Ray Merchant
Les Enfants Terribles
Believe in Nothing, Mock Everything
July 14-August 14 at Red Tape Theatre

Behind the Bouffant

2010-06-15T15:44:00.002-05:00

The modern clown is an ever growing influence on the Chicago theatre scene. Its influences affect actors, directors, and the final artistic product. And why shouldn’t it? The clown loves the audience and has an insatiable appetite for play that is infectious with spectators of all ages. The clowning tradition that Les Enfants Terribles follows takes a different approach. The buffoon disgusts the audience and its world of play emerges from an insatiable appetite to mock.

The buffoon is best recognized by his lumps and deformities that make him a parodied version of a human being. He is ostracized for his appearance and is fed with bitterness and relentlessness. These deformities may not to be admired, but they are the buffoon’s license to tell the truth - or at least his version of the truth. An ensemble of bouffant believe that they live in an ideal society. Their inner workings and relationships are to be highly respected. Coming from their model world, buffoons have observed our behaviors, they have seen our way of life, and they are noticing some glaring flaws. They recognize the absurdity of our belief in love, social norms, and a number of other pressing subjects that we refuse to diagnose objectively.

The buffoon acts as an agent of change by very simply presenting our world to us. Our behaviors are performed with comic antics that might be considered below skill, or wit, or competence of any kind. The jokes are those of a low jester, but the buffoon is to be admired for his cleverness and innate intelligence. Audiences slowly begin to approve of the buffoon and eventually learn to respect him and even begin to accept his appalling actions and appearance.

The bouffant tradition is centuries old and yet still resonates with audiences today. Its past is storied, its future is bright, and that is why we have chosen to be active members in paving the bouffant’s future. Won’t you join us?

Alex Kyger

Les Enfants Terribles
Believe in Nothing, Mock Everything

July 14-August 14 at Red Tape Theatre

Red Tapes Welcomes Four New Ensemble Members!

2010-06-14T22:18:00.007-05:00

We're thrilled to announce Red Tape's newest ensemble members!

Carrie Drapac joined Red Tape Theatre after her involvement in their 2010 production of The Love of the Nightingale. She holds a B.F.A in Theatre from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, having focused on musical theatre in the CAP21 program and film acting at Stonestreet Studios. She has had the pleasure of working on a wide variety of projects ranging from devised theatre to feature length horror films. Carrie's favorite projects include a musical adaptation of the novel Hotel Sarajevo, silent short films about the Iraq War (Red, White and Blue) and metamorphosis (Tropism), and 1940's musical fluff Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Carrie is a personal trainer and co-founder/owner of Comfy Fitness. Currently, Carrie and her business partner are producing a kids' fitness television pilot.

Amanda Reader's first production with Red Tape Theatre was The Love of the Nightingale, in the spring of 2010, after which, she joined the ensemble. In Chicago, she was seen onstage in The Blessed Child, as part of Halcyon Theatre's Alcyone Festival and Sex Marks the Spot at the Theatre Building. She also performed in North Carolina Shakespeare Festival's productions of King Lear and Much Ado About Nothing (Ursula), and will be in Michigan Shakespeare Festival's Comedy of Errors (Luciana) and Romeo & Juliet (Juliet) during the summer of 2010. She has studied with Profiles Theatre, and also stage managed their production of The Mercy Seat. Amanda holds a BFA in Acting Performance from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Meghan Reardon is a performer from Topeka, KS and is extremely proud to call herself a Red Tape Company member. She graduated in 2008 with a BA in Theatre and Dance from Knox College, where she received the Colton Prize for Performance and The Karger Award in Theatre Arts. In Chicago, she has performed in The Love of the Nightingale with Red Tape, Dumbspeak in the (a)Symmetry Cycle, SubUrbia with the Nine Chicago, Spectacle Lunatique with Redmoon (where she also served as a performance intern), The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie with Signal Ensemble, The Conduct of Life with Tooth and Nail Ensemble, A Hampstead Hooligan in King Arthur's Court with Chicago Dell'arte, Dracula and as part of the Objects in Motion festival at The Building Stage, and Frugal Love with The Moving Dock. She has studied at the Gaiety School of Acting in Dublin, Ireland and has studied with the SITI Company and The Actor's Gymnasium. She holds a particular place in her heart for movement and ensemble-based performance. Meghan was the recipient of a 2009 CAAP Individual Artist Grant.

Kathleen Romond performed in Red Tape's 2010 production of The Love of The Nightingale. Other Chicago credits include; Blind Date and Talking Pictures as a part of The Horton Foote Festival at The Goodman Theatre. Regional Credits include; The Cherry Orchard and The Government Inspector at Milwaukee Repertory Theater. Kathleen was born and raised in Kentucky. She graduated from Interlochen Arts Academy High School in Michigan before hopping across the pond to Glasgow, Scotland where she received her BFA in Acting from The Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. This winter Kathleen will be understudying Honey in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? at Steppenwolf Theatre.

Ensemble Summer Projects

2010-06-03T05:57:00.003-05:00

As Red Tape finalizes our 2010-2011 season our ensemble members are working on summer projects.

Nick Combs performs in Sketchbook with Collaboraction. June 10-27.

Red Tape trustee Eric Evenskaas performs improv with The Hamiltons at the Oracle Theatre. Thru June 18.

Errol McLendon performs in Point Break Live! at New Rock Theatre. Thru June 26.

Robert Oakes performs in After the Fall with Eclipse Theatre. July 7 to Aug 22.

More news to come!

Meet the Cast: Whitney Kraus

2010-05-26T13:08:00.002-05:00

Where are you from?

Indianapolis, IN

What do you do when you're not performing?

Working at the Museum of Science and Industry, playing guitar/piano

What is your favorite moment in The Love of the Nightingale?

Procne's ultimate moment of standing up to Tereus. There's such power in it, especially in Kate's choices for the scene. It's heart rending, but it's the moment we sit waiting for the entire show. It's cathartic.

Any standout rehearsal moments?

The entire process has been awesome. This is a very different experience from many shows I've done in the past, and the real thought and passion that have gone into this production is inspiring. I'm exceedingly grateful to have the opportunity to play "fly on the wall" at rehearsals and really learn from such a talented group.

Final performances of The Love of the Nightingale are May 27-29.

Get your tickets through our website.

The Story of Pandion: Meet John Rushing

2010-05-25T16:48:00.001-05:00

Where are you from?

Corsicana, TX

What do you do when you're not performing?

Take care of my son, Jackson.

What is your favorite moment in The Love of the Nightingale?

Love when I dance with Niobe.

What's a fun fact about your character?

My character was a former ballroom dancer...kidding...he was a sailor and Olympic champ in the javilon.

Any standout rehearsal moments?

Favorite rehearsal moment, so far, was dancing in negative space.

Final performances of The Love of the Nightingale are May 27-29.

Get your tickets through our website.

The Story of Phaedra: Meet Amanda Reader

2010-05-25T13:26:00.003-05:00

Where are you from?

Oswego, IL

What do you do when you're not performing?

I work at Trader Joe's. The one on Clybourn. Come visit, I'll show you where the olive oil is and let you try the sea salt brownies. Also, I recently acquired a mandolin...and I've been practicing. I know four chords, so... Look. Out. World.

What is your favorite moment in The Love of the Nightingale?

I don't want to spoil anything, but there is this tongue bit that i'm sure will end up being my favorite. On the other hand, there is the Bacchae festival. Which is, you might say, 'fun' as well.

Any standout rehearsal moments?

1. John's impeccably timed DROID phone call.

2. Carrie's impression of John's Bacchae dance.

3. Basically everything that comes out of James Palmer's mouth during notes. None of which I can type here.

4. Don Markus.

What's a fun fact about your character?

Phaedra simply refuses to let Love get the better of her.....wait.....right? Well, maybe not.

Final performances of The Love of the Nightingale are May 27-29.

Get your tickets through our website.

Myths on Stage: Unwanted Truths

2010-05-20T08:52:00.002-05:00

"What is a myth? The oblique image of an unwanted truth, reverberating through time. And yet, the first, the Greek meaning of myth, is simply what is delivered by word of mouth, a myth is speech, public speech."
~ Timberlake Wertenbaker, The Love of the Nightingale

Red Tape Theatre held our Myths on Stage panel on May 16, 2010. Chicago artists who'd recently directed, dramaturged or adapted fresh adaptations of Greek myths shared their experience.

Gender politics were a common theme. Marti Lyons, dramaturge for The Love of the Nightingale, asked the audience to consider why some stories stay in our culture while others fade. Sociologists have suggested that destructive women like Medea, Electra and Phaedra are given more stage time today than victims of injustice like Iphigenia or Philomele. Timberlake Wertenbaker's script for Nightingale brings the sexual politics of the Philomele myth to the forefront as she and the women’s chorus repeatedly reject the men’s attempts to turn them into objects.

In a contrasting case Tim Speicher, Artistic Director of The State Theatre, combined the well remembered story of the martyr Antigone with the lesser known story of the fallen warrior Ajax. The stories were linked with the theme of burying the dead and what one does with the bodies of the disgraced. Dramaturge Sarah Sapperstein played the role of the Chorus in AjaxAntigone (pictured) as a single entity. In a time when Greek women were silent the Chorus was given the power to debate and challenge the political figures on stage.

The motive for retelling the myth was different for each panelist. For Thomas Murray's production of Living Quarters: After Hippolytus the myth was a gateway into a personal story of recovery from grief. For Cory Tamler the story of Iphigenia offered a lens onto a "What If" scenario" for contemporary US politics. For Tim Speicher there were universal truths to explore: "When audiences see characters who try to accomplish something they attach to them."

"But we cannot rephrase it for you. If we could, why would we trouble to show you the myth?"
~ Timberlake Wertenbaker, The Love of the Nightingale

The Love of the Nightingale is Jeff Recommended and runs through May 29.
Get your tickets through our website!

The Story of Niobe: Meet Lona Livingston

2010-05-19T11:19:00.003-05:00

What do you do when you're not performing?
Recently I've been reading scripts for Red Tape's next production. I'm a very proud Red Tape ensemble member.

What was a standout moment from rehearsal?
The 'aha!' moment in a scene. For an actor, when purpose and comprehension unite - whether it's for character development or simply a line reading - it's very exciting. It can be a long process at times.

What is your favorite part of The Love of the Nightingale?
Entering the theatre before performances and seeing some very young actors prepare for the production. Their focus and commitment, even if they have very small speaking roles, is obvious.

The Love of the Nightingale is Jeff Recommended and runs through May 29.
Get your tickets through our website.

Press for "The Love of the Nightingale"

2010-05-19T10:51:00.003-05:00

Read what the critic's are saying about The Love of the Nightingale.

"...a whirling dervish of Greek mythology, atmospheric tension and a futuristic, fully immersive, hyperstylized theatricality...

"Director and lighting designer James Palmer and his first-rate design team (including William Anderson on sets and Ricky Lurie on costumes) have conjured up a strange steam-punk universe of mannequins and dystopian violence."

"The heart and soul of the piece belong to Romond and Reardon...
It's a helluva performance."

-Nina Metz, Special to the Chicago Tribune

Palmer's production is stunning, with images and scenes of immense power and thrilling theatricality.

Full credit should go to the cast, an eye-popping 23, who commit fully to a challenging script and complex staging.

-Zev Valancy, CenterStage

"James Palmer's stylish production traps us in the midst of the action, with scenic designer William Anderson creating a smartly enclosed environment"

"...lead trio Meghan Reardon, Kate Romond and Vic May bring remarkable honesty and nuance..."

-Kris Vire, TimeOutChicago

"Red Tape's Love of the Nightingale was refreshing, bizarre, and remarkably resonant."

"Palmer and his enormous cast explode the story into life, ripping it from its ancient Greek context and filling it with anachronism and theatricality."

"The dream team of designers Palmer amassed has concocted a marvelous world."

"Romond's tortured Procne is excellent... we're entranced by her struggle."

"If Red Tape keeps churning out work like this, they'll become a tiger of the storefront scene."

-Barry Eitel, Chicago Theatre Blog

"a solid contender for 2010's most promising addition to Chicago's off-Loop theater community."

- Mary Shen Barnridge, Windy City Times

The Love of the Nightingale is Jeff Recommended and runs through May 29.
Get your tickets through our website!

Myths on Stage: Time and Place

2010-05-19T06:19:00.005-05:00

Red Tape Theatre held our "Myths on Stage" panel on May 16, 2010. Chicago artists who'd recently directed, dramaturged or adapted fresh adaptations of Greek myths shared their stories.

Jeremy Menekseoglu, Artistic Director of Dream Theatre, was relieved by the lack of "columns and togas" in the featured productions. Dream's Electra (running through June 6), the centerpiece of their Agon Trilogy, aims to break audience barriers the instant the door opens. A death-day party kicks off for the late king Agamemnon, with the king's head as a centerpeace. Jeremy added that audiences come to Greek tragedy's "knowing how it will end." Dream's adaptations find the surprises before the endings and examine the characters psychology through a modern lens.

Time and Place was universal for The State Theatre's mash-up of AjaxAntigone. They were very specific for Cory Tamler's Effie which set Iphigenia in a post-apocolyptic U.S.A. and for Thomas Murray's production of Bryan Friel's Living Quarters: after Hippolytus set in modern Ireland.

The State Theatre's dramaturge, Sarah Sapperstein, stated that Greek myths offer us countless ways to retell them for our own use and relevance. Tamler's Effie shifted the focus of Iphigenia from the father to the daughter. Friel's Living Quarters uses the Hippolytus myth as an entry point, focusing on the families attempts to heal in the aftermath. The same story can be told through a new perspective, whether to focus on politics, gender, family or passion.

Electra runs at Dream Theatre through June 6.

Red Tape's The Love of the Nightingale is Jeff Recommended.

We run through May 29.

Get your tickets through our website.

The Story of Tereus: Meet Vic May

2010-05-14T09:08:00.001-05:00

What do you do when you're not performing?

I am a recent graduate from massage therapy school and am presently waiting tables while I await my license approval. So come on in to Chicago's Pizza on Montrose for lunch some time. I'll be the guy in all black taking your drink orders and bringing you insanely over-portioned servings of Italian food.

What was a standout moment from rehearsal?

The first time all the components came together on stage; lights, music, set and performances the place was electric. It really made all the hard work worthwhile. That, and Kate not being able to look me in the eye on stage without cracking up.

What is your favorite part of The Love of the Nightingale?

Working with such an amazing ensemble. These people bring it every night regardless of audience or fatigue. They take a challenging script and bring out the poetry and nuance that makes this a great show.

The Love of the Nightingale is Jeff Recommended!

We run May 3-29.

Get your tickets through our website.

Myths on Stage: Meet Panelist Marti Lyons

2010-05-12T08:58:00.002-05:00

Myths on Stage
Sunday, May 16
following the 3:00pm matinee of The Love of the Nightingale.

Paul G. Miller hosts a panel of Chicago artists who discuss the process of adapting Greek myths to the modern stage.

Panelists include:

Jeremy Menekseoglu - Artistic Director, Dream Theatre Company.

Thomas Murray - Director, Strangeloop Theatre.

Sarah Sapperstein - Dramaturge.

Tim Speicher - Artistic Director, the State Theatre.

Cory Tamler - Playwright.

and:

Marti Lyons – Dramaturge, The Love of the Nightingale.

Marti is currently serving as Literary Apprentice at Steppenwolf Theatre and just finished directing Prayers as part of the Ripped festival for American Blues Theater and Piven Theatre. Recently, Marti assistant directed directed Underground for Rhino Fest at the Prop Thtr, assistant directed The Pillowman with Kimberly Senior, dramaturged City Lights Receding at Red Tape as part of the Fresh Eyes Project, directed a staged reading of Lima Beans for Teatro Luna and directed The Conduct of Life with Tooth and Nail Ensemble. This past year Marti assistant directed Oedipus with Sean Graney and also spent time assisting in the casting office at Chicago Shakespeare Theater. Next, Marti will direct Laura Eason's contribution to The Silver Project at American Theatre Company, attend the Lincoln Center Director's Lab and direct a reading of A Lover's Dismantling for Urban Theater Company as part of the Latino Theater Festival at The Goodman. Marti is a graduate of Illinois Wesleyan University.

The Love of the Nightingale is Jeff Recommended!

We run May 3-29.

Get your tickets through our website.

Les Enfants Terribles returns!

2010-05-11T13:52:00.002-05:00

Les Enfants Terribles

return to Red Tape

Monday May 24 at 8:00pm

An audience favorite at CFANN 2010, Les Enfants Terrible's mission is to create improvisation, song, and the constant development of new games to challenge and entertain audiences. As an ensemble of buffoons, Les Enfants Terribles draws from equal parts clown, commedia, and flash performance. Through this unique worold of play all six members cling to one another as one mind and body which forces each buffoon to juggle complicity with themselves, fellow ensemble members, and audiences.

Seats are limited and selling quickly.

Get your TICKETS now!

The Story of the Captain: Meet Nick Combs

2010-05-10T06:23:00.003-05:00

What do you do when you're not performing?

I enjoy T.V. A near perfect night would be sitting at home watching Forensic Files on Court TV with my two cats and lovely girl friend along with a large pizza.

What was a standout moment from rehearsal?

Our first rehearsal. The energy in that room was so powerful. It really set the tone of this piece. Where the company is now compared to where it was a year ago is unbelievable! I am so proud to be a company member!

What is your favorite part of The Love of the Nightingale?

The power the ensemble has to take the audience each night on this amazing, complex journey and not let them go until we are ready.

The Love of the Nightingale is Jeff Recommended!

We run May 3-29.

Get your tickets through our website!

Myths on Stage: Meet Panelist Tim Speicher

2010-05-08T06:46:00.004-05:00

Myths on Stage

Sunday, May 16

following the 3:00pm matinee of The Love of the Nightingale.

Paul G. Miller hosts a panel of Chicago artists who discuss the process of adapting Greek myths to the modern stage.

Panelists include:

Marti Lyons - Dramaturge, The Love of the Nightingale at Red Tape

Jeremy Menekseoglu - Artistic Director, Dream Theatre Company.

Thomas Murray - Director, Strangeloop Theatre.

Sarah Sapperstein - Dramaturge.

Cory Tamler - Playwright.

and:

Tim Speicher - Artistic Director, The State Theatre. Tim holds a B.A. in Theatre and Drama from Indiana University. He has directed A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Island (Indiana University) Immigrant Stories (Chicago Children's Theatre at Jane Addams Hull House), Moby Dick... Rehearsed and AjaxAntigone (The State Theatre), was Company Manager and appeared as Alonso in The African Tempest Project (Hexagon Theatre, Kwazula Natal, South Africa) and Assistant Directed The Red Kite Project (Chicago Children's Theatre). He has written Southern Hopitality, Crowbar, Thirty-Eight, Heat in the Kitchen and now AjaxAntigone. Tim had internships with Indiana Repertory Theatre and Goodman Theatre, a fellowship with American Theatre Company, and is currently employed as the Marketing Associtate for Chicago Children's Theatre.

The Love of the Nightingale is Jeff Recommended!

We run May 3-29.
Get your tickets through our website.

Myths on Stage: Meet Panelist Sarah Sapperstein

2010-05-07T10:32:00.003-05:00

Myths on Stage
Sunday, May 16,

following the 3:00pm matinee of The Love of the Nightingale.

Paul G. Miller hosts a panel of Chicago directors and playwrights who discuss the process of adapting Greek myths to the modern stage.

Panelists include:
Marti Lyons - Dramaturge, The Love of the Nightingale at Red Tape

Jeremy Menekseoglu - Artistic Director, Dream Theatre Company

Thomas Murray - Director, Strangeloop Theatre

Tim Speicher – Artistic Director, State Theatre

Cory Tamler - Playwright

and:

Sarah Sapperstein, Dramaturge. Sarah holds a dual degree in musical theatre and Classicaland Near Eastern language, literature, and archaeology from the Univ.of Redlands, in southern California. Her academic focuses includecosmogony, archaeological representations of literary figures, comparative text analysis and translation bias, and contemporary retellings of Classical drama and epic. Since 2005, Sarah has been apart of over 30 theatre and musical theatre projects and premieresthroughout Chicagoland, and performed in Univ. of Detroit's productionof The Bacchae on their 2009 summer tour of Greece. In hernon-existent free time, Sarah enjoys road trips, culinary adventure,and healthcare advocacy.

Sarah will be discussing her work with AjaxAntigone at The State Theatre.

The Love of the Nightingale is Jeff Recommended!

It runs May 3-29.

Get your tickets through our website.

The Story of Aphrodite: Meet Whitney Green

2010-05-06T12:54:00.002-05:00

Where are you from?
Detroit, Michigan

What do you do when you're not performing?
Intern/assistant teacher with Emerald City Theatre School, and bartending at Uberstein.

What is your favorite moment in The Love of the Nightingale?
I have so many favorite moments of the show its hard to pick. One I especially love is the in the beginning when the soldiers enter and fight. The atmosphere on stage is so energized and exciting, our cast of twenty feels like a hundred. I know the audience feeds on the energy and anticipate the powerful things to come.

Any standout rehearsal moments?
I really enjoy the artistic visions of everyone working on the show, and watching how they collaborate and bring their ideas together. I'm very excited to continue work and be part of the final product.

What's a fun fact about your character?
In Greek mythology, Aphrodite is the goddess of love, but her love for Hippolytus was not returned, so she used her power to destroy him. Although it is a small part in the play within the play, it serves as a reminder of the disastrous effects of trying to force love and covet a person's affection. Just like Phaedra (in the play within) andTereus with Philomele.

The Love of the Nightingale is Jeff Recommended!
We run May 3-29.
Get your tickets through our website.

Myths on Stage: Meet Panelist Cory Tamler

2010-05-06T07:56:00.006-05:00

Myths on Stage
Sunday, May 16

following the 3:00pm matinee of The Love of the Nightingale.

Paul G. Miller hosts a panel of Chicago directors and playwrights who discuss the process of adapting Greek myths to the modern stage.

Panelists include:
Marti Lyons - Dramaturge, The Love of the Nightingale at Red Tape

Jeremy Menekseoglu - Artistic Director, Dream Theatre Company

Thomas Murray - Director, Strangeloop Theatre

Sarah Sapperstein - Dramaturge

Tim Speicher – Artistic Director, State Theatre

and:
Cory Tamler. Cory Tamler has been Chicago-based since November 2009, where her playwriting projects include Eighty-Four in Collaboraction's Sketchbook X (coming in June!), Effie (a new ensemble-created adaptation of Iphigenia) with The Neapolitans, and the 2010 Fresh Eyes Project with Red Tape Theatre. She hails from Pittsburgh, where her produced work includes The Funeral, a one-act based on Euripides' The Trojan Women, with the Pittsburgh New Works Festival. Cory will be spending the summer in Maine working as the resident playwright on a collaboration between Open Waters Theatre Arts and three local farms, and will then head to Berlin for a year on a Fulbright scholarship to study the text/performance relationship in German theatre.

Effie, a retelling of Euripides' Iphigenia, runs April 22-May 9. What if peace could be guaranteed by the sacrifice of one human life? What if the life were yours?

Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays @ 7:30pm, Sundays @ 3:00pm at the EP Theater.

The Love of the Nightingale is Jeff Recommended!
It runs May 3-29.
Get your tickets through our website.

The Story of a Soldier: Meet Shane Brady

2010-05-05T09:23:00.002-05:00

Where are you from?

I'm from Palm Harbor, Florida. It's about 30 minutes or so southwest of Tampa. I grew up along the beach and I miss my dogs and the water more than anything!

What do you do when you're not performing?

I work at Grand Lux downtown, that's my day job. However in my spare time I love playing guitar or writing.

What is your favorite moment in The Love of the Nightingale?

*** Highlight for spoiler *** When they pull the tongue out!!!! *** End spoiler ***

Any standout rehearsal moments?

My favorite rehearsal moment has been punching Don in his face night after night.

What's a fun fact about your character?

Since he's a soldier, I have decided that he loves to listen to Eminem.

The Love of the Nightingale is Jeff Recommended!

Performances run May 3-29.

Get your tickets through our website.

Myths on Stage: Meet Panelist Thomas Murray

2010-05-05T09:02:00.004-05:00

Myths on Stage
Sunday, May 16,

following the 3:00pm matinee of The Love of the Nightingale.

Paul G. Miller hosts a panel of Chicago directors and playwrights who discuss the process of adapting Greek myths to the modern stage.

Panelists include:
Marti Lyons - Dramaturge, The Love of the Nightingale at Red Tape

Jeremy Menekseoglu - Artistic Director, Dream Theatre Company

Cory Tamler – Playwright

Sarah Sapperstein - Dramaturge

Tim Speicher – Artistic Director, State Theatre

and:
Thomas Murray. Thomas is a Chicago-based director and literary adaptor.
His directing has been featured at Strangeloop Theatre (Living Quarters, Welcome to the Moon, The El Stories), City Lit Theatre (The Wall-Reader), and the Minnetrista Cultural Center (Shedtown). He has assisted on productions with Next, Seanachai,The Gift, A Red Orchid, Noble Fool, and Steppenwolf.

Thomas has delivered research on the Emerging Scholars Panel at the Mid-America Theatre Conference and was selected by Chris Jones of the Chicago Tribune to represent the Great Lakes region in the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival Critics’ Competition.
Original adaptations have included The El Stories, The Wall-Reader (finalist, Art of Adaptation Festival), Carpathia, and Cruel and Barbarous Treatment. His essays on theatre have been published by Steppenwolf Backstage magazine, Ball State Daily News, and the Kennedy Center-American College Theatre Festival.

Thomas will be discussing his work wiht Living Quarters after Hippolytus. First produced by Dublin's Abbey Theatre in 1977, Living Quarters recasts the mythology of Theseus, Hippolytus, and Phaedra into an isolated Donegal homestead. Commandant Frank Butler returns home to Ireland as a hero after saving nine United Nations peacekeepers from enemy fire during a siege in the Middle East. But the revelation of secrets kept while Frank was away threatens to divide the Butler house forever.

The Love of the Nightingale runs May 3-29.

Get your tickets through our website.

Myths on Stage: Meet Panelist Jeremy Menekseoglu

2010-05-04T09:03:00.005-05:00

Myths on Stage
Sunday, May 16

following the 3:00pm matinee of The Love of the Nightingale.

Paul G. Miller hosts a panel of Chicago directors and playwrights who discuss the process of adapting Greek myths to the modern stage.

Panelists include:
Marti Lyons - Dramaturge, The Love of the Nightingale at Red Tape

Thomas Murray – Director, Strangeloop Theatre

Cory Tamler – Playwright

Sarah Sapperstein - Dramaturge

Tim Speicher – Artistic Director, State Theatre

and:
Jeremy Menekseoglu. Jeremy is the Artistic Director of Dream Theatre Company and the playwright of eight Modern Greek plays: AGAMEMNON, ELECTRA, ORESTES, MEDEA, ANTIGONE, ISMENE, THE CLOUDS and LYSYSTRATA. Dream Theatre Company is currently in the midst of his AGON TRILOGY which covers Agamemnon, Electra and Orestes. It has already been called "a small, stunning portrait of power dynamics in a relationship that by turns echoes those between Edward Albee's George and Martha, Orson Welles's Charles and Susan Kane, and Sophocles's Antigone and Creon. Oh, and Jean Cocteau's Belle and Bete, too. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED" --Tony Adler, Chicago Reader. And “As a first installment, Agamemnon is a harbinger of good things to come. It will certainly be exciting to watch as Menekseoglu steers the Dream ensemble through the next two plays of his Agon Trilogy.” -Ian Epstein, Chicago Theatre Blog.

The Love of the Nightingale runs May 3-29.

Get your tickets through our website.

Opening Night Artwork

2010-05-03T07:06:00.003-05:00

Happy opening to the cast and crew of The Love of the Nightingale!

Paul G. Miller

Managing Director

Red Tape Theatre Company

The Story of Philomele: Meet Meghan Reardon

2010-04-28T10:43:00.002-05:00

Where are you from?

Topeka, KS

What do you do when you're not performing?

I do administrative work for a handful of groups, High Concept Laboratories, Voice of the City and Premiere Theatre and Performance, for whom I also serve as grant writer. They are all awesome organizations and I’m more than happy to talk to anyone about any of them. If you’re very lucky or have way too much free time, you can also catch me a few days a week playing the role of Cashier at Banana Republic in Old Orchard Mall. Play your cards right and I will lovingly wrap your items in tissue paper while tempting you with offers of Banana Credit Cards.

What is your favorite moment in The Love of the Nightingale?

I love Procne and Philomele’s relationship—I’ve got two sisters, an older one in NY and a younger one in KS, and the more moments we discover and create onstage between the two sisters, the more it makes me miss my real-life sisters and brings back memories of growing up with them.

Any standout rehearsal moments?

Secretly, my favorite rehearsal moments are whenever James offers to buy coffee. Not so secretly, learning fight choreography from Claire and her assistant Zack was scary and exciting. I’m a petite lady, so being able to grapple around and get a few good swings in feels pretty darn good. I’m also an actor who just loves being completely physically engaged in an action and a moment, so it’s really gratifying on a number of levels.

What's a fun fact about your character?

I think Phil enjoys going to the theatre even more than I do, which is definitely saying something. I mean, this girl LOVES it, and is totally uninhibited in her reactions. I could get there, but it would probably take a few drinks.

The Love of the Nightingale runs May 3-29.

Tickets are available through our website.

Dramaturge's Corner: The Nightingale

2010-04-28T10:40:00.001-05:00

Dramaturge Marti Lyons gives an inside look at The Love of the Nightingale.

The nightingale is an important symbol for poets from a variety of ages, and has taken on a number of symbolic connotations. Homer evokes the nightingale in the Odyssey, suggesting the myth of Philomela and Procne. This myth is the focus of Sophocles’ tragedy, Tereus, of which only fragments remain. Ovid, too, in his Metamorphoses, includes the most popular version of this myth, imitated and altered by later poets, including Chrétien de Troyes, Geoffrey Chaucer, John Gower, and George Gascoigne. T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land also evokes the nightingale’s song (and the myth of Philomela and Procne). Because of the violence associated with the myth, the nightingale’s song was long interpreted as a lament.

The Love of the Nightingale runs May 3-29.
Tickets are available through our website.

The Story of Hero: Sarah Latin-Kasper

2010-04-21T12:49:00.001-05:00

Where are you from?

Milwaukee, WI (Bay View!)

What do you do when you're not performing?

Dance around my house,invent new pancake recipes, try to juggle as good as my boyfriend,watch a lot of Six Feet Under...and work, of course.

What is your favorite moment in The Love of the Nightingale?

As of right now...when John tries to get up on Niobe during the Bacchae festival.

Any standout rehearsal moments?

Our amazing "negative space" dance party.

What's a fun fact about your character?

In classical Greek Mythology Hero is the wife of Zeus

The Love of the Nightingale runs May 3-29.

Tickets are available through our website.

Dramaturge's Corner: Hero and Hera

2010-04-21T12:46:00.002-05:00

Dramaturge Marti Lyons gives an inside look at The Love of the Nightingale.

Hera was the wife and one of three sisters of Zeus in the Olympian pantheon of classical Greek Mythology. Her chief function was as the goddess of women and marriage. In Roman mythology, Juno was the equivalent mythical character. The cow, and later, the peacock were sacred to her. Hera's mother was Rhea and her father, Cronus.

Portrayed as majestic and solemn, often enthroned, and crowned with the polos (a high cylindrical crown worn by several of the Great Goddesses), Hera may bear a pomegranate in her hand, emblem of fertile blood and death and a substitute for the narcotic capsule of the opium poppy. A scholar of Greek mythology Walter Burkert writes in Greek Religion, "Nevertheless, there are memories of an earlier aniconic representation, as a pillar in Argos and as a plank in Samos."

Hera was known for her jealous and vengeful nature, most notably against Zeus's paramours and offspring, but also against mortals who crossed her, such as Pelias. Paris offended her by choosing Aphrodite as the most beautiful goddess, earning Hera's hatred.

The Love of the Nightingale runs May 3-29.

Tickets are available through our website.

The Story of Helen: Meet Amanda Newman

2010-04-16T14:34:00.003-05:00

Where are you from?

I grew up on the south side of Milwaukee and finished out my high school years in the suburbs. And yes, beer and cheese are two of my fave food groups.

What do you do when you're not performing?

I spend my time taking as many dance classes as possible. I also have my own part-time sewing/design business "A-Train Originals" and I really enjoy cooking. Lately, I've been into 'feng shui-ing' my apartment when I have time.

What is your favorite moment in The Love of the Nightingale?

My favorite line is when Tereus says "How could I know what love was? Who was there to teach me?" To me it concisely addresses the topics of love, responsbility and forgiveness that I see in the play.

Any standout rehearsal moments?

I really enjoyed the table work and devling into the script with the entire cast. I've been performing as a dancer and haven't been in a play for years so it was such a pleasure to get back into nitty gritty text analysis.

What's a fun fact about your character?

As Procne's elder, Helen can empathize with Procne and feels the duty to support her. But Helen loses her patience when Procne's Thracian snobbery and "I'm-the-Queen-so-I-can-do-whatever-I-want" attidute results in rude interruptions of the important work of silent dancing. "Me, me, me, me, me"... seriously Procne, get a grip.

The Love of the Nightingale runs May 3-29.

Get your tickets through our website.

Dramaturge's Corner: Helen, The Face that Launched a Thousand Ships

2010-04-16T14:31:00.002-05:00

Dramaturge Marti Lyons gives an inside look at The Love of the Nightingale.

In Greek mythology, Helen, known as Helen of Troy (and earlier Helen of Sparta), was the daughter of Zeus and Leda (or Nemesis), daughter of King Tyndareus and sister of Castor, Polydeuces and Clytemnestra. Her abduction by Paris brought about the Trojan War. Helen was described by Dr. Faustus in Christopher Marlowe's eponymous play as having "the face that launched a thousand ships."

The Love of the Nightingale runs May 3-29.
Get your tickets through our website.

Meet Edwin Unger

2010-04-08T15:14:00.003-05:00

Where are you from?

Port Saint Lucie, Florida. It's a bit north of Palm Beach, to give you a frame of reference.

What do you do when you're not performing?

Audition! Even when I AM performing, I go to every audition that I can squeeze in. During casting for Nightingale, I auditioned 17 times in a two week period.

What is your favorite moment in The Love of the Nightingale?

It has to be the second moment with Philomele and the Captain. They share a tender moment, and everything seems resolved, positive, as if the story could have a happy ending. Then Tereus appears (I won't tell you what happens next). Making the reader/audience believe in a happy ending only to snatch it from them at the last moment seems to define several parts of this play, and no moment more than this one.

Any standout rehearsal moments?

At the time of this writing, I've only been to a couple rehearsals that weren't table work. However, it's the table work that I've really loved. It's such a great feeling to be surrounded by scholars who want to squeeze every drop of meaning from this play. Though Nightingale isn't very long, every aspect of it runs so deeply that it's good to know there are 30+ cast and crew members experiencing it with me.

What's a fun fact about your character?

Look up the "Ship of Theseus Paradox."

The Love of the Nightingale runs May 3-29.
Get your tickets through our website.

The Story of Itys: Meet Carrie Drapac

2010-04-08T15:12:00.002-05:00

Where are you from?

I hail from just outside of Gary, Indiana but made my way to Chicago via New York. So, I often feel like a New Yorker with Midwestern sensibilities.

What do you do when you're not performing?

When not performing, my days (and nights) are mostly consumed by building, running, and working for my small in-home personal training business, Comfy Fitness.

What is your favorite moment in The Love of the Nightingale?

Oh geeze...one moment, really?! Actually, I think what captivates me more so than any moment in Nightingale is the text. I'm am completely astounded each time I hear different speeches and realize that by the end of the show, single words have now taken on layers of meaning.

Any standout rehearsal moments?

I LOVED seeing the choreography for the first time last night in rehearsal. It offers the audience yet another way into the world of the play.

What's a fun fact about your character?

Hmmm, what don't we know about Itys? Well, he feeds a stray kitten that he has named Aepytus after his favorite Greek figure...but that all happens off-stage.

The Love of the Nightingale runs May 3-29.

Get your tickets through our website.

Dramaturge's Corner: Who is Echo?

2010-03-31T12:15:00.003-05:00

According to Greek mythology Zeus, the King of the Olympians, was known for his many love affairs. Sometimes the young and beautiful nymph Echo would distract and amuse his wife Hera with long and entertaining stories, while Zeus took advantage of the moment to ravish the other mountain nymphs. When Hera discovered the trickery she punished the talkative Echo by taking away her voice, except in foolish repetition of another's shouted words. Thus, all Echo could do was repeat the voice of another.

Ovid's version of the tale states that a girl who had also fallen in love with Narcissus made a prayer to the gods, asking that Narcissus suffer from an unrequited lust just as he had done to others. The prayer was answered by the goddess Nemesis - (she who ruins the proud), makes him fall in love with his own reflection so he stares at himself in the river (as he thinks it is a beautiful person underwater) until he turns pale and eventually dies.

Alternatively, Echo was a nymph who was a great singer and dancer and scorned the love of any man. This angered Pan, a lecherous god, and he instructed his followers to kill her. Echo was torn to pieces and spread all over the Earth. The goddess of the earth, Gaia, received the pieces of Echo, whose voice remains repeating the last words of others. In some versions, Echo and Pan had two children: Iambe and Iynx

Don't miss Timberlake Wertenbaker's Echo in The Love of the Nightingale running May 3-29.

Tickets are available through our website!

The Story of Echo: Meet Krista Juderjahn

2010-03-31T08:35:00.002-05:00

Where are you from?

I am from Cleveland, Ohio.

What do you do when you're not performing?

When I am not performing I like to see movies, go out to dinner and go shopping. I also love to cook.

What is your favorite moment in the play?

My favorite moment in Nightingale is after the festival when Procne stands up to Tereus and calls him out on his actions. It is so empowering.

What's your favorite moment so far in rehearsal?

The standout rehearsal moment for me thus far would have to be the rehearsal where most of the cast was involved in some movement exercises to use in scene 18. It was a blast being able to dance with other members of the cast. I find that it is a great way to get to know people. You can learn a lot about someone just from dancing with them.

Tell us a fun fact about your character Echo.

A fun fact about my character is that she lacks the ability to create words of her own. She can only really repeat other words that she has heard. However, she does have a trouble maker side about her.

The Love of the Nightingale runs May 3-29.

Get your tickets through our website.

Announcing the Cast and Crew of Nightingale!

2010-03-17T10:12:00.004-05:00

The Love of the Nightingale

Opens May 3rd

Directed by James Palmer, Artistic Director

Featuring ensemble members Nick Combs, Lona Livingston, Vic May, Robert Oakes and Myah Shein

With Shane Brady, Cassandra Clingon, Amanda Compton, Carrie Drapac, Danielle Fischer, Whitney Green, Krista Juderjahn, Sarah Latin-Kasper, Whitney Kraus, Don Markus, Amanda Newman, Amanda Reader, Meghan Reardon, Kate Romond, John Rushing and Edwin Unger

Production Team:

Ensemble members, Kyle Land (Assistant Director), Becky Mock (Production Manager), Paige Sawin (Casting Director), Myah Shein (Choreographer)

With William Anderson (set design), Alex Braatz (Technical Director), Emily Guthrie (Properties), Ricky Lurie (Costume Design), Marti, Lyons (Dramaturge), Miles Polaski (Sound Design), Claire Yearman (Fight Choreographer)

Tickets available now!

Check back for weekly updates, cast interviews and more!

Auditions: Fresh Eyes Project

2009-12-11T21:52:00.002-06:00

Sunday, December 20th 6pm-10pm

Red Tape Theatre is seeking actors to be a part of their “Fresh Eyes Project” which is an exciting playwright-centric workshop process designed to nurture the creation of new plays. Our directors in conversation with actor's and dramaturgs, facilitate a structured and focused investigation of the playwrights work, tailoring the workshop to the artist's process. The Fresh Eyes Project is an exciting fresh take on the workshop model functioning as an incubator for new Chicago playwrights.

Rehearsals are held the month of January and culminate in a celebration of the work, which takes place as part of Red Tape’s annual Chicago Fringe Artists Networking Night (CFANN), which is on February 6th.

Please submit a headshot and resume and what time your prefer to audition on the 20th to Paige Sawin, Cast Director at redtapetheatre@gmail.com.

Closing Night Artwork!

2009-10-31T12:05:00.004-05:00

Au Revoir Mouse in a Jar!

Paul G. Miller

Red Tape Theatre Company

Playing with Plays – The Discussion

2009-10-14T08:40:00.004-05:00

Red Tape Theatre’s panel, Playing with Plays, was presented on Sunday, October 11, alongside the world premiere of Mouse in a Jar. The play was developed in our Fresh Eyes Festival and our guests represented a diverse group of companies devoted to new work.

Panelists included:

Stephanie M. Acosta, Founding Artistic Director of the Anatomy Collective
Daniel Caffrey, Artistic Director of Tympanic Theatre Company
Daria Davis, Red Tape Company Member and director of Mouse in a Jar.
Jason W. Gerace, Artistic Associate of American Theater Company
M.E.H. Lewis, Playwright and Ensemble member of Stage Left and Infamous Commonwealth
Martyna Majok, Playwright of Mouse in a Jar.
Richard Perez, Associate Artistic Director of Chicago Dramatists
Dav Yendler, Artistic Coordinator for About Face Theatre

Mission Statements were a recurring theme in the discussion. About Face Theatre’s xyz festival and Tympanic Theatre’s Bastards of Young selected scripts focused on queer issues and science fiction respectively. American Theatre Company’s play initiatives focus revolve around the question “what does it mean to be an American.” Each company receives hundreds of submissions and depend upon their missions to select works for further development. Emerging playwrights were encouraged to target their submissions to companies with similar focus rather than bending their work to a conflicting mission or aesthetic. Companies seeking experimental and non-linear works have to engage in extensive outreach to like-minded playwrights. Mr. Perez commented that 30 years ago Chicago Dramatists felt the odd man out for focusing on new work, whereas now they part of an exciting local and national movement.

When asked about the process of securing a second production the panelists agreed that the focus on emerging work made this a challenge. They agreed with Ms. Davis’ statement that a play is not “done” when the first production closes and that a second production can allow a playwright to utilize what they learned from the first audience. Mr. Gerace stated that for this reason the second production is as important as the first.

Mouse in a Jar is Jeff Recommended and runs through October 31.
Purchase tickets through our website.

Paul G. Miller
Managing Director

Jeff Recommended!

2009-10-06T12:13:00.002-05:00

Mouse in a Jar opened last night after a gut-busting tech week and three sold out previews!

We are thrilled to announce that the production has been Jeff Recommended!

The Jeff Awards has been honoring outstanding theatre artists annually since it was established in 1968. With up to 50 members representing a wide variety of backgrounds in theatre, the Jeff Awards is committed to celebrating the vitality of Chicago area theatre by recognizing excellence through its recommendations, awards, and honors.

Come see Mouse in a Jar, Thursdays through Sundays till October 31. Tickets are available through our website and selling fast!

Playing with Plays - Meet our Oct 11 Panelists!

2009-10-05T07:58:00.003-05:00

Playing with Plays

Sunday, October 11, following the 3:00pm matinee of Mouse in a Jar.

Join Mouse in a Jar's playwright, Martyna Majok and Director Daria Davis in a discussion with local theatre artists on the topic of creating new and original work. Moderated by Red Tape's Paul Miller, this is an event for theatre practitioners and theatre enthusiasts alike.

Our panel includes:

Stephanie M. Acosta, Founding Artistic Director of the Anatomy Collective. With TAC Stephanie has directed the multi-disciplinary performances such as Many Things are Destroying Me, the Prometheus Myth, Orphan Works Series w/Chicago Underground Library & Monster/girl. Currently showing Gone created in partnership with the Chicago Parks District for Chicago Artists Month, running Oct. 2-17.

Daniel Caffrey is Artistic Director of the Tympanic Theatre Company, which he founded in 2007. He has worked as a writer, director, and occasional actor with companies including Chicago Dramatists, Dramatis Personae, Dream Theatre, Hobo Junction, iO, The Side Project and Victory Gardens. Upcoming projects include Bags Of Blood (WildClaw Theatre), Yukon Cornelius (ARFTCO), Folkfire (Tympanic), and writing and directing for Tell It & Speak It & Think It & Breathe It (The Ruckus).

Jason W. Gerace is Artistic Associate of American Theater Company. At ATC Jason has assistant directed Speech & Debate (Jeff nomination for Best Direction, PJ Paparelli) and the 2008 production of It’s a Wonderful Life under the direction of Damon Kiely; He has produced and directed the inaugural production of the Chicago Chronicle project directed the most recent remount of Oklahoma, produced and directed in this year’s Big Shoulders Festival, produced the first 10X10 Festival, and is curating the upcoming 25 Festival of new plays.

Internationally produced playwright M.E.H. Lewis is author of Fellow Travellers (Jeff award), Creole (5 BTA nominations), and Burying the Bones (Jeff nomination), an ensemble member at Stage Left and Infamous Commonwealth, resident at Chicago Dramatists, and member of the Dramatists Guild. She's currently workshopping Musica Mundana with InFusion and preparing for SLT's production of Here Where It's Safe.

Richard Perez is the Associate Artistic Director for Chicago Dramatists. He recently ended his seven year tenure as the Producing Artist Director of the Bloomington Playwrights Project in Indiana. In that time he oversaw the production of over thirty new mainstage plays, with at least sixteen of those being world premieres.

Dav Yendler is a director, illustrator, playwright, and graphic designer living in Chicago. Originally from Northern California, Dav moved to the city to explore the fascinating new theatre that only this city can make. As Artistic Coordinator for About Face Theatre, Dav works closely with Artistic Director Bonnie Metzgar to develop AFT’s most innovative work.

Mouse in a Jar runs October 5-31, 2009.
Tickets are available through our website.

Stage Violence - A Fine Line

2009-09-30T11:27:00.002-05:00

Have you ever seen a fight on stage and just not believed it? Have you ever seen someone fall on stage and worry that they may be really hurt. These are the two extremes directors and actors strive to avoid in presenting any sort of violence onstage. The audience must believe that the fight is real, but must never believe that anyone is truly hurt. To master this thin line of believability, the process begins with rehearsal.

In the initial rehearsals, a fight choreographer is utilized. Their job is to break the fight into beats. In these beats, the actors know exactly where they are at all times. Usually the appearance of violence is the job of the receiver. It is not the person who throws the punch who must “sell” it, but the person being punches who must provide the reality in their reaction. If a person grabs someone by the lapel and pins them to the wall, it is the person pinned who is supporting their own weight and who is giving the appearance of struggling and gasping for breath. Throughout the rehearsal process, these beats are rehearsed over and over and over until the involved actors can go through the beats without hesitation or trepidation.

It is important to note here that stage combat is not always a complex choreography. In Enemy of the People, there was a simple move made by Cliff to intercept Sandy when she becomes overexcited at Tammy’s discovery of the polluted spa. What appeared to be a simple matter of stepping in between the two ladies, had to be choreographed as intricately as a sword fight or a slugfest. If Cliff is too early in his interception of Sandy, the scene loses the intensity. If Cliff is too late, Sandy runs over Tammy.

Once the scene is choreographed and rehearsed to the point that the show is ready to open, there is a new process of preparation which happens every night before the start of the show. Fight call is a walk though of all the stage combat in the show just before the show starts. Usually this is done at a slower speed, building up to full speed with each repetition.

When you see physical staging in Mouse in a Jar or any other Red Tape show, you can be certain that the safety of the performers in the primary objective. Every move is well rehearsed to make you believe that the fight is real. Every move is well rehearsed so you can fear for the safety of the characters without fearing for the safety of the actors.

Errol McLendon
Company Member

Mouse in a Jar runs October 5-31, 2009
Tickets are available through our website.

Chiaroscuro Mouse

2009-09-28T12:46:00.001-05:00

“‘s not a game’s a plan not like you’d understand. Jerk.”

When I first heard Mouse in a Jar almost a year ago, what struck me was the playwright’s visceral application of language and image like “a scene told in chiaroscuro.” I felt plosives, guttural vowels and words repeated ‘til they were gibberish. And each of these utterances seemed to further my understanding of the complex relationships between the characters. In that initial encounter, I experienced much more through the implicit meaning rather than explicit meaning in the dialogue. I wasn’t surprised then to learn that the playwright, Martyna Majok, is also a poet.

In Mouse, images are fragmented by language and experienced in surprising ways. Soldiers are “boots” or “Men With Boots.” A daughter recalls life before she had a mouth or her eyes had met. “Boots kick out the lights,” she says. Martyna’s sophisticated use of metaphor is as moving as it is unexpected. And these image-fragments accumulate as Mouse bursts with connotative expression.

Her use of repetition strips away explicit meaning until there are only consonants and vowels and the tension between people. In the opening scene, the word ‘peel’ is used six times in six lines, saying more about what the characters are doing to each other, rather than the act of preparing food. The same is true of the word ‘jerk.’ Through brute repetition, words transcend their meanings and become little primal utterances of unmet emotional needs.

There is much to admire in the sheer vitality of Martyna’s language. It is language which demands to be expressed in more than words. I’m very excited to see, that after almost a year, Mouse is finally being realized in a full theatrical production with Red Tape Theatre.

Rob Oakes
Company Member

Mouse in a Jar runs October 5-31, 2009.
Tickets are available through our website.

In this Basement

2009-09-25T06:24:00.001-05:00

A lot of people ask why Mouse in a Jar is an important play to me, why I've been drawn to the text. I think I am more than willing to talk about how caught up I was by Martyna's language the moment I turned over page one, what a visceral punch her text packs, what a treat her rich and complex world of rhythm, image and sound are to me, I am less likely to mention that I see scraps of myself in her story.

Now it is important to note that this is not a play about domestic violence. If it was the story would follow a more conventional path dumping us off at the moral: hitting people is bad. Instead this story happens to be grounded in a darker family dynamic, but the narrative investigates how these people chose to negotiate their lives against the backdrop of dysfunction, not the dysfunction itself.

That being said, it's probably worth mentioning that I often come home from rehearsal with my stomach in knots because some of the work we do unearths shards of memory for me. A different time in my life where one false move only seemed to lead to another to another to another, until I found myself painted pretty desperately in to the corner not even sure what a way out would look like.

It's a gut reaction as the viewer to boil these women's problem's down to victimization, but we are doing the story a huge disservice if we allow that. The truth here is that people are frustratingly complicated and they want things that often seem to nullify or eclipse other desires.

What is love in this basement? There's nothing cheap or shallow about it. It's got the same complexity as any other love, perhaps the stakes are just higher, perhaps there's just so much more to lose here. But I would guess that's not the truth, we all want the same things when we love someone, consistency, reciprocation, perfection. Often we will turn a blind eye to the imperfections of our partners or the complaints of others just to hold onto the dream of our love. I think it's hard to admit how little perspective we can have in those situations, how much we will sweep under the carpet for a shot at connection. That's what's going on in this basement and sometimes those knots in my stomach as I bike home are in recognition of my own story and sometimes there about all of us.

Daria Davis
Company Member and
Director of Mouse in a Jar

Mouse in a Jar runs October 5-31, 2009.
Tickets are available through our website.

Haunted Hijinx

2009-09-23T05:50:00.002-05:00

Halloween is right around the corner. It may be one of my favorite holidays these days. It wasn’t that way when I was a kid though. When I was 10 yeas old, I remember going to Amlings Haunted House with my mother, my father, my aunt and uncle. Back in the day, Amlings was THE place to go for garden fare in the northwest burbs and it had one of the best haunted houses in the Chicagoland area.

I don’t remember much about the haunted house with the exception of one room, a room with five doors. To get to the next room, I had to choose a door. I remember opening the fourth door only to have a person dressed as Frankenstein behind bars let out a loud groan, which scared the living hell out of me. My uncle howled with laughter. I eventually opened the right door and went to the next room of haunted hijinx, but I’ll never forget those doors.

Our lifetime presents us with a myriad of doors. Some are easy to open and walk through. Others, however, terrify us with real or imagined consequences that can debilitate us. For example, maybe we want to start our own gig, but is it worth leaving a comfortable job that pays well and has good benefits? Should we stay single because we don’t want to make ourselves vulnerable or settle in a relationship because our biological clock is ticking? An MBA sounds great, but what if I can’t pay off the loans? I’ll start writing that script, novel, play, etc. tomorrow. I’ll give up smoking, start working out, drink less, love more, try harder on January 1. Sound familiar?

While it can be hard enough to walk through scary doors ourselves, convincing someone else to walk through the door with us adds a whole new challenge.

How far would you go to win someone’s love? What steps would you take to protect someone you loved from danger? What would you do to save someone who didn’t want to be saved? Would you walk through the door when you had the chance?

Mouse in a Jar, a new play produced by Red Tape Theatre, poses these questions. It opens October 5th. I invite you to check it out so you can think about these questions and how you would answer them.

Robert A. Lynch
Company Member

Mouse in a Jar runs October 5-31, 2009.
Purchase tickets through our website.

Digging Deep

2009-09-18T08:18:00.001-05:00

Now that we are rounding the corner and tech looms on the horizon I'm enjoying these last few days of rehearsal with just the cast. Our rehearsal room may be a massive gym, but the feeling when we get down to work in there is intimate and warm. It is not necessarily unique that we've grown into a close knit group, that is what rehearsal does to people, but the process of cracking this new play has afforded us an opportunity to dig deep within the text and each other. As we fold our designers into the day to day of rehearsal, I'm eagerly anticipating expanding our conversations. I can't wait to see what we all get up to as the gym transforms into a tiny New Jersey basement.

Daria Davis
Company Member and
Director of Mouse in a Jar

Mouse in a Jar runs October 5-31, 2009.
Tickets are available through our website.

Meet Fip: Actor Ben Gettinger

2009-09-16T06:51:00.002-05:00

When reading Mouse in a Jar for the first time, what are some of the first images or words that resonated with you?
Dampness, mold, meat, blood, puss, scars, and stench.

Mouse is a new work, has that changed how you approach the script?
Yes. Everyone is intensely engaged, discovering how to bring this piece to life for the first time. It's not like doing an established play, where we ask ourselves what's our take on this piece? What else has not been touch upon? Other than the well known themes, what facets do I want to bring to light? In a new piece I am obliged to ask myself on a deep level and really search to find, what is this at it's core? It is just not as clear, because it has not been done before and there is a greater responsibility to find it.

What feels like the greatest challenge for you in this play?
The writing is highly stylized, the cadence so unique, and the suffering is layered so richly; A world is created which is unreal, dark, but surprisingly beautiful. Because my imagination runs rampantly I can easily be swept up by the world and start playing my character, Fip, very obscurely. Almost too obscure for anyone to relate to. The challenge is to exist in this abstract world, while playing the real emotional undertones that will connect with the audience and help ease them into this strikingly different environment.

How would you characterize the world of the play?
A festering, moldy sausage locked in a basement oozing its acrid grease over a handful of innocent human souls, corroding all sense of the word, purity.

Have you learned anything new so far in this process? (about you, about your character about the world)
Yes definitley. There are a lot of street kids that migrate into Chicago in the summer. I would always just look at them as dirty, wandering, begging hippies, who can't get over thier ideals enough to just get a job. However, now I am playing one of these punks in a play and after researching the lives of runaways I understand why they do wander aimlessly. They come from broken homes and have suffered immensely from all froms of abuse. I came from a practically perfect, loving american family. For me it is easy to adere to the starndard of living that my society would classify as normal. It's really sad because they just have not been conditioned to function in the adult world. By making the effort to investigate the lives of those that are extremely adverse to that of my own, I have discovered new areas of understanding and empathy in my being. I am much more likely to toss some money into their hats on the street.

Mouse in a Jar runs October 5-31, 2009
Tickets are available through our website.

Dance Puppets, Dance!

2009-09-14T21:27:00.004-05:00

I love puppets. From the fanciest creation at Jim Henson’s studio to the humblest sock. I’m thrilled that both shows in Red Tape’s season feature prominent roles for puppets, and they are used in ways one wouldn’t expect. The puppets in Mouse in a Jar and The Love of the Nightingale are meant to disturb, rather than amuse.

A quick search for the History of Puppets reveals tales of the Shadow puppet epics of Indoneisa, the years of training spent on Japanese bunruku, and the rod and string puppets used in Italian morality plays, the backstage antics behind the film Team America: World Police, and the latest Broadway outings by Julie Taymor.

Puppets as figures of fright go way back. The uncanny valley hypothesis of 1906 has studied the level of discomfort prompted by puppets, robots, CGI effects and other objects that look and behave similar to humans. The more human it looks, the less we trust it.

Paul G. Miller
Managing Director

Mouse in a Jar runs October 5-31, 2009.
Purchase tickets through our website.

Deep, Dark Woods

2009-09-11T04:39:00.002-05:00

We're in the thick of it now. With a week before tech we're coming to the end of our exploratory rehearsal time. As always with things like this, the time feels too short, I think I can speak for everybody when I say this group loves to explore and talk and experiment, and would be perfectly happy to do just that for the next three weeks!

But regardless we're jumping into our first real run through this week and I'm excited to see what kind of shape our hard work is taking. I've been returning again and again to a certain metaphor in rehearsal this week (ask any one in our cast about my metaphors. I tend to either hit the nail on the head with them, or produce some odd expressions) about the deep dark woods. I am probably returning to the idea because of the dramaturgical research our assistant director Caitlin has been generously providing about Mouse's strong ties to a fairy tale structure. I've found the image well suited to this play. Certain scenes seem to lend themselves to the different parts of the Forest, scene seven for example is the deepest darkest part, and scene three a clearing ringed in shadowy under growth. We've also been talking about how these characters pick a path through the woods and then find themselves willingly or unwillingly lead astray in the arc of a scene or in the play as a whole. Much the same things can be said of our rehearsal process it seems to me. And equipped with all the tools necessary to venture deeper, I am excited to strike out into new territory in the coming week and see where the path leads us!

Daria Davis

Company Member and

Director of Mouse in a Jar

Mouse in a Jar runs October 5-31, 2009

Purchase tickets through our website.

Meet Zosia: Actress Irene Kapustina

2009-09-09T06:49:00.003-05:00

Where I'm from:
Minsk, Belarus

Education or training:
Loyola University’s Theatre School, Act One Studios, Laura Kessler Agency

What I do when I'm not doing theatre:
Study, study, study and study

One fun fact I would like to share:
When I do not get enough of sleep, or when I am hungry, or cold, my Russian accent gets out of control.

Irene on Mouse in a Jar

When reading Mouse for the first time, what are some of the first images or words that resonated with you?
The basement. It reminded me of a doorway in an apartment building I once lived. I still remember the smell.

Mouse is a new work, has that changed how you approach the script?
The fact that Mouse in a Jar is a new script did not change the approach. The essence of the script, however, shaped that approach a lot.

What feels like the greatest challenge for you in this play?
Stay true to Martyna’s language. It is poetry in verse, with its own rhythm.

How would you characterize the world of the play?
The world of dreams, soaked with sweat and disappointment, coated with fear and love, drowned in misunderstanding, cruelty and indifference, washed in a ray of hope.

Have you learned anything new so far in this process? (about you, about your character about the world)
Mouse made me look at a lot of things in my past: choices I made, people I met, my immigration to the States and how much it changed me. I think that the circumstances of our lives are able to drastically change our own personalities uncontrollably, and pass unnoticed, until it is too late.

Mouse in a Jar runs October 5-31, 2009.

Tickets are available through our website.

Mouse in a Jar - The First Readthrough

2009-09-07T05:53:00.003-05:00

Walking in from the humidity on an abnormal Chicago Sunday morning, I found myself walking into a cozy one bedroom apartment occupied by the young, hip, semi-indie style of the Davis'. Welcomed by hugs and the comfy smell of fresh baked goods I knew I was in for a treat (no pun intended). Having been to thousands of read-throughs, from college fold out tables to basement floors to one of the greatest regional theatre's in the country, I found myself in a living room and I’ve never felt so comfortable. As Martyna Majok arrived (playwright/Yale Grad. student) the energy of the room was filled with high hopes, nervousness, and of course potential.

Gathered around in the living room the normal process began. We got a chance to listen to Miles Polaski’s chilling sound design. Martyna's face was filled with joy as we heard tracks from his computer. Striking bars from the violin were played from the sound track to There Will Be Blood. The best part was the excitement that this sound designer was giving off; he truly has a passion for his work and this piece. Next came a slideshow from company member Kyle Land, who said, "I’m not a lighting designer, I’m a shadow designer." His images had a modern feel of what Hitchcock would create if he was alive today. Next, Kat Powers, the props designer, who is in the early stages of the process, let us know that if we or anyone we know has stuff from the basement to get in contact with her. This image of shadows and darkness set the tone for Bill Anderson’s set design. This guy's model was something out of a book. The Red Tape space will be transformed into a basement, a dark, water dripping from the walls, horror film style kind of basement. Everyone was gathered around this model, there was a silence and the designer was just keeping his eyes on the model, sort of waiting to see if people liked it. Trust me people were in amazement. This model represents where Red Tape is going and how we will take an audience by the throat and won't let them go until we are done!

We then, of course, did a reading of the play. I don't want to give anything away other then this play is a must see. Strong women roles filled with incredible talent. Be ready for a ride. In my opinion, this play is the bastard child of Sam Shepard and Adam Rapp. Martyna is able to keep us slightly uncomfortable while being fully engaged and wanting more. The designers will keep you in this play without even noticing them. I cannot wait until this play opens.

Nicholas Combs

Company Member

Mouse in a Jar runs October 5-31, 2009.
Purchase tickets through our website.

A Wild Ride

2009-09-04T11:38:00.002-05:00

I have been with Mouse in a Jar since last November. It has been an exciting wild ride to watch it change and grow into this wonderful piece. During rehearsals, I work with Daria while she works with the actors to understand more about the different themes running throughout the story. I find it fascinating how many people have a connection with the script. The other night I was discussing with Daria how we all are touched by different aspects of Mouse in a Jar; be it things from our own past, stories we know, the past of another, every single one of us has a different connection. I myself have a Polish background and was inspired to learn more about my history. As we all explore our connections we each help the story grow and take on more life. My favorite part about stage managing this show is how I get the opportunity to watch the set being built, the puppets crafted and the characters refined. What I can say is that this show will truly encompass your senses. As Mouse in a Jar’s stage manager, I am very excited to have the chance to work in this world. Martyna has written a play where not only are the characters a major presence but the surroundings as well can surprise you.

Cynthia Carney
Company Member and
Stage Manager of Mouse in a Jar.

Mouse in a Jar runs October 5-31, 2009.
Purchase tickets through our website.

A Nightmare Man

2009-09-02T07:34:00.003-05:00

One of the things that initially drew me to Mouse in a Jar was my overwhelming visceral reaction to Martyna's text. The character of HIM for example is one of the scariest things I’ve imagined since I was a child terrified to leave my bed in the middle of the night. Once or twice I've found myself walking through the blocking for some of Ma and HIM's scenes, tracking how we will try to execute his catastrophic entrances and exits, I am often overwhelmed by the image of this nightmare man.

Last Sunday I had the pleasure of watching our puppet designer Sarah Bendix lead a workshop with Kathleen Powers and Don Markus, our two actors playing Ma and HIM respectively. We had our first real chance to play with the imagery Martyna has so artfully woven through the text. And as the day progressed we all began to tap into the raw-er aspects of MOUSE that Martyna's words and images conjure. As we pressed on into Monday my assistant director Caitlin Parrish presented the first in a series of dramaturgical conversations investigating the idea of storytelling through the lens of original fairy tales. By the end of the rehearsal, suitably mired in the plays psychological roller coaster we transitioned in to some blocking. I don't think I was the only one maybe, possibly, a little scared of the dark.

Daria Davis
Company Member and
Director of Mouse in a Jar

Mouse in a Jar runs October 5-31, 2009
Purchase tickets through our website.

Talking the Talk

2009-08-31T12:55:00.003-05:00

When speaking in real life, we pause, we interrupt, we overlap, we start and stop. If we are to recreate life onstage, the same speech patterns should exist. But do they? Often language onstage is very polite and neat with each performer taking his turn, rarely fishing for words or ideas.

A playwright friend of mine once told me she spent every day listening to the way people talk on the bus and every night trying to capture that on paper. It is an age old challenge tackled by playwrights, directors and actors. How to talk like real people onstage.

Shakespeare sometimes included directions on how to speak his lines in the lines themselves. Hamlet gives the players the instruction to “Speak the speech, I pray you, as I pronounc'd it to you, trippingly on the tongue.” If only there were a Hamlet in every play to convey the playwright’s wishes.

Pinter makes a heroic attempt to help the actors speak the words as he hears them in his head by loading his scripts with pauses, silences, ellipses and dashes. Numerous essays and books have been written to explain what each of these designations imply, but which book or essay to follow becomes the dilemma.

Sometimes the reality slips in during the rehearsal process. There was a wonderful overlapping of lines in Red Tape’s Enemy of the People. Peter Stockman is arguing with his sister and states “You are contractually obligated to receive the approval of the commission before disclosing information to the public” to which Tammy replies “I have the right to speak the truth.” Even though this was not written as an overlapping line, it evolved into one during the rehearsal process. The overlapping built the tension and accentuated each character’s emotional investment in the argument. Rather than seeing two people expressing their opinions one after the other, you saw each person verbally swinging at the other simultaneously, creating one of the most electrifying exchanges in the show.

In Mouse in a Jar, Matyna Majok has created an inspired shorthand which gives the actors and director a clear roadmap of how she hears the voices. Below is her “Dialogistics”.

Brackets [ ] indicate words unspoken but intended.
Slashes / indicate overlap or quickly followed speech.
Double-columned dialogue is spoken simultaneously.
Non-traditional spacing and floating words are requests for poetics and extra syllables. Speed bumps, in essence. Please feel encouraged to experiment – they’re mostly suggestions.

With this innovative scripting, Matyna has made great strides in bridging the gap between the speech we hear in public and the speech we hear on stage.

Come hear the speech as Matyna intended it to be presented.

Errol McLendon
Company Member

Mouse in a Jar runs October 5-31, 2009.
Purchase tickets through our website.

Behind the scenes at "Mouse in a Jar"

2009-08-24T06:32:00.003-05:00

Rehearsals are underway for Mouse in a Jar. Director and ensemble member Daria Davis has started a journal about the rehearsal process. Click here to check it out!

Mouse in a Jar runs Oct 5-31, 2009.

Tickets are available through our website.

Red Tape Theatre Announces 2009-2010 Season!

2009-08-21T05:04:00.005-05:00

Red Tape Theatre Company is thrilled to announce our sixth season!

October 5-31, 2009 - Mouse in a Jar

A world premiere by Chicago playwright Martyna Majok.

Directed by ensemble member Daria Davis.

Daga tries to pry Ma away from her nightmarish home in a tiny basement apartment. But Ma's past keeps her chained to this world.

Mouse is a magical play featuring Irene Kapustine, Tamara Todres, Kathleen Powers, Benjamin Gettinger and Don Markus.

With designs by Myles Polaski, William Anderson, Sarah Bendix, Kat Powers and ensemble member Kyle Land.

Stage Managed by ensemble member Cynthia Carney.

Tickets on sale now! Click here.

January 2010 - Fresh Eyes Project

Fresh Eyes Project is an incubator for new and experimental work. It focuses on the needs of playwrights, providing them with a director, actors, dramaturgical support and rehearsal space. Excerpts of the final scripts will be performed at the annual Chicago Fringe Artists Networking Night.

Fresh Eyes is produced by ensemble member Daria Davis.

February 6, 2010 - Chicago Fringe Artists Networking Night (CFANN)

This one night only event brings together Chicago artists from all forms to network and share their talents. Live performances are showcased amongst visual art and installation pieces from classic to quirky. CFANN is for artists, by artists and not to be missed.

CFANN is produced by ensemble member Myah Shein.

May 3-29, 2010 - The Love of the Nightingale

Written by Timberlake Wertenbaker

directed by Artistic Director James Palmer

This modern retelling of the Philomele myth features a large ensemble cast and employs dance, puppetry, music, multi-media and expressionistic design.

Featuring ensemble members James Palmer (Director), Myah Shein (Choreographer), Robert L. Oakes (Male Chorus), Victor May (Tereus), Rob Lynch (King Pandion), Lona Livingston (Queen / Niobe) and Errol McLendon (Theseus / Captain).

Learn more at our website!

Red Tape Members Around Town!

2009-08-05T19:02:00.004-05:00

Red Tape Theatre will soon be announcing our 2009-2010 season! Meanwhile have a look at what our Company Members are doing around town!!!

Mackenzie Brown May is beginning rehearsals for the world premiere of The Hundred Dresses with Chicago Children's Theatre.
Performances are Sep 25- Nov 1, 2009

Nicholas Combs is in Boys Life with Hanger9 at Gorilla Tango Theatre.
Aug 7-29, 2009

Rob Lynch performs with the improv troupe Paul 'n the Family at iO
June 28-Aug 16, 2009. Sundays at 9pm

Victor May performs in Cyrano de Bergerac at Oak Park Festival Theatre
July 15-Aug 15, 2009.

Paul G. Miller plays the Skull in The Last Unicorn at Promethean Theatre.
Oct 16-Nov 14, 2009
and in Promethean's Free Incubator Showcase of new plays on Monday, Aug 31, 2009, 7:30pm at the DCA Theatre.

Read more about Red Tape on our website.

The Ibsen Award

2009-05-29T05:32:00.004-05:00

The International Ibsen Award for 2009 goes to French director Ariane Mnouchkine (pictured)

Their website says that "The International Ibsen Award honors an individual, organization or institution in the fields of arts and culture for exceptional achievements defined within the spirit of Ibsen`s work."

Any Ibsen scholars reading this? What would you predict the parameters of such an award would be?

Final performances of Enemy of the People are Fri-Sat, 7:30pm, May 29-30.
Tickets are available through our website.

Paul G. Miller
Season Dramaturge

Picking Sides

2009-05-28T10:43:00.001-05:00

The Doctor and the Mayor in Enemy of the People have very different solutions to their towns problems, and everyone in the play is forced to pick a side. How about you? Where did your sympathies turn during the course of the play?

Final performances of Enemy of the People are May 28, 29 and 30th. Tickets are available through our website.

Paul G. Miller
Season Dramaturge

Green Night of Theatre - The Discussion

2009-05-25T10:31:00.004-05:00

Red Tape Theatre’s Green Panel was presented on Sunday, May 24, alongside our adaptation of Enemy of the People. The play concerns the fallout from an environmental disaster, so we asked our guests to discuss green advocacy in our homes and community.

Stacy Meyers-Glen from Chicago Openlands suggested that the most important things an environmental advocate can do is volunteer and lobby. There’s lots of work to be done and not enough people to do it. Chicago Openlands protects the natural and open spaces in and around northeastern Illinois.

She announced that the Illinois Envronmental Protection Agency (IEPA) has proposed stronger water quality standards which would require the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) to disinfect treated sewage that flows into Chicago’s waterways. This would reduce pathogens, such as giardia and salmonella, that can infect people and wildlife. She encouraged supporters to write to:

John Therriault, Assistant Clerk
Illinois Pollution Control Board
100 W. Randolph Street, Ste 11-500
Chicago, IL 60601

More information on the proposals can be found at the Friends of the Chicago River website.

Courtney Bennett, who plays Dr. Stockman, spoke of her work at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum. The museum hosts a Savannah prairie and the largest butterfly haven in the Midwest. The blue Rubbermaid bin she brought with her contained a sanitary, smell-free, compost bin containing red wiggler worms, brown paper, and fruit and vegetable food scraps that would ordinarily be preserved in a landfill. By balancing the food to worm ratio the bin provides compost for lawns and house plants.

Workshops on indoor and outdoor bins, green house cleaning, recycling 101 and other fascinating topics are taught at the museum and can be read about here. The nature museum is one of many organizations seeking volunteers to care for animals, clean up parks, and educate the community.

Their green careers are full of opportunities and surprises. Ms. Glen-Meyers recounted a public hearing asking for a river cleanup. One of the scientists asked to speak brought the judges a sample of the polluted river water. Some stuck their fingers in, and were given handwipes. “You’ll want to disinfect your hands.” They quickly complied. Ms. Bennett recounted a surprising conversion with an adult visitor at the haven who refused to believe that caterpillars and butterflies are the same creatures, despite footage suggesting the contrary. “He’d made up his mind.” Education will always be needed.

Final performances of Enemy of the People are Thu-Sat, May 28-30.
Tickets are available through our website.

Paul G. Miller
Season Dramaturge

Green Night of Theatre - May 24

2009-05-22T08:31:00.002-05:00

This Sunday, May 24, following the matinee of Enemy of the People, Red Tape will host our Green Night of Theatre

Ibsen’s play examines the fallout from an environmental disaster. Join our guests from Chicago Open Lands and the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum as they show us how to be greener in our homes and our community.

Courtney Bennett, Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum

The Chicago Academy of Sciences and its Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum inspire people to learn about and care for nature and the environment. The Academy improves quality of life in Chicago and the region by delivering superior environmental and science education programs to students and teachers, by offering Museum exhibitions and conducting public programs that foster green living, and by restoring local ecosystems and advancing scientific knowledge through collections and research.

Stacy Meyers-Glen, Policy Coordinator, Chicago Openlands

Founded in 1963, Openlands protects the natural and open spaces of northeastern Illinois and the surrounding region to ensure cleaner air and water, protect natural habitats and wildlife, and help balance and enrich our lives.

Enemy of the People runs May 4-30.
Tickets are available through our website.

Paul G. Miller
Season Dramaturge

Tribune covers "unusable" nature preserve

2009-05-20T06:30:00.004-05:00

Enemy of the People concerns the fallout from an environmental disaster. We recently highlighted the parallels to the incidents in Crestwood County. This morning I came across a story in Maywood.

'Dangerous' conditions at preserve
by Gerry Smith, Chicago Tribune
May 20, 2009

And after visiting Miller Meadow last fall to look into allegations of
open dumping, an Illinois Environmental Protection Agency inspector determined
that there were no violations, said state EPA spokeswoman Maggie Carson.

But Cox said the debris on the site is widespread and "physically
dangerous" for people who want to use the area for recreation.

"Purely from a public-use point of view, it makes the site unusable," Cox
said.

And Dye said she worries about the threat to wildlife at Miller Meadow
after seeing how erosion on the restoration site has carried debris and
biosolids toward the river banks.

"I'm not an expert, but if you dump a bunch of construction debris and soil
near a river and it starts to erode into the river, I think that's a problem,"
Dye said

Our Green Night of Theatre is Sunday, May 24 after the 2:00 pm performance of Enemy of the People. Panelists from Chicago Openlands and the Notebaert Nature Museum will discuss how to be green in our homes and community.

Tickets are available through our website.

Paul G. Miller

Season Dramaturge

Robert Oakes on Adapting Ibsen

2009-05-18T06:17:00.003-05:00

We asked Red Tape Ensemble Member Robert L. Oakes to discuss his reasons for adapting Henrik Ibsen's Enemy of the People.

There are a several reasons I chose to adapt this play. First, was the sense that the play had not aged well. In spite of being dramatically compelling, it seemed to lack the psychological weight of some of Ibsen's other scripts.

Second, was a desire to re-imagine the play in a contemporary setting. How would the themes and ideas of script be realized in a contemporary context? And how could those themes and ideas be presented in a way that was compelling and dramatic for a contemporary audience.

Third, was the desire to re-imagine Dr. Stockmann as an Ibsenian woman. I some respects, I think Dr. Stockmann is the woman character Ibsen would write if he were alive today: feminine, intellectually powerful, emotionally independent and deeply conflicted.

Lastly, there was one particular aspect in the original script which I felt needed to be developed and that was the relationship between the two siblings. What does it mean to this story if those two characters actually love each other?

Robert L. Oakes

Enemy of the People runs May 4-30,
Tickets are available through our website.

Welcome Our New Company Member!

2009-05-15T07:46:00.003-05:00

It is with great joy that we announce Red Tape's newest company member Kyle Land.

Kyle hails from Kansas City and comes to Chicago via Emporia State University, where he served as Technical Director for four years before arriving here last August. He is a freelance designer, director, carpenter/welder, TD, and stage manager. He has worked with several theatres in the Chicago area: including Adventure Stage, Metropolis, Noble Fool, Next, New World Rep.

Kyle's lighting design can currently be seen in our production of Enemy of the People.

Norway's Economy Makes Headlines

2009-05-14T06:16:00.002-05:00

Company member Mark Jacob Chaitin brought this piece of news to our attention:

Thriving Norway Offers a Lesson in Frugality
By LANDON THOMAS Jr.
New York Times
May 13, 2009

The global financial crisis has brought low the economies of just about every country on earth. But not Norway. With a quirky contrariness as deeply etched in the national character as the fjords carved into its rugged landscape, Norway has thrived by going its own way. When others splurged, it saved. When others sought to limit the role of government, Norway strengthened its cradle-to-grave welfare state.

And in the midst of the worst global downturn since the Depression, Norway’s economy grew last year by just under 3 percent. The government enjoys a budget surplus of 11 percent and its ledger is entirely free of debt. By comparison, the United States is expected to chalk up a fiscal deficit this year equal to 12.9 percent of its gross domestic product and push its total debt to $11 trillion, or 65 percent of the size of its economy....

Instead of spending its riches lavishly, it passed legislation ensuring that oil revenue went straight into its sovereign wealth fund, state money that is used to make investments around the world. Now its sovereign wealth fund is close to being the largest in the world....

Eirik Wekre, an economist who writes thrillers in his spare time, describes Norwegians’ feelings about debt this way: “We cannot spend this money now; it would be stealing from future generations.” Mr. Wekre, who paid for his house and car with cash, attributes this broad consensus to the country’s iconoclasm. “The strongest man is he who stands alone in the world,” he said, quoting Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen.

Enemy of the People runs May 4-30, 2009
Tickets are available through our website!

Ibsen's Women - The Discussion

2009-05-12T09:06:00.003-05:00

Red Tape Theatre's panel, Ibsen's Women, was presented on Sunday, May 10, alongside our
gender-swapped adaptation of Enemy of the People.

Prof. Jacob Juntunen (UIC Dept of Theatre), began with Nora from A Doll's House, who abandons her husband and children. The revolutionary aspect of this may be lost in a time of 50% divorce rates but Nora's action was unthinkable at the time and caused fierce debate among the audiences.

Mr. Robert Scogin (Artistic Director, Shaw Chicago) compared Ghosts to a Greek Tragedy, citing Mrs. Alving as a modern Clytemnestra who kills her husband with her moralizing only to be punished by her children. Mrs. Alving's resignation to stay with her husband despite their incompatibility has also branded her as "Nora grown up."

Prof. Julie Ward (Loyola Dept of Philosophy) commented that this made Hedda Gabler into "Nora on steroids." Unhappy with her timid husband, but unwilling to submit to her immoral admirers she sabotages their lives then ends the life of life of herself and her unborn child with her fathers pistol.

Mr. Scogin argued that in Ibsen's time evil springs from boredom as society leaves his women with nothing to do. Prof. Ward countered with the heavy responsibilities Nora takes by running the finances of her household. Mr. Scogin agreed, but added that society left Nora no legal way to do so, forcing her into forgery. Ibsen's plays critique aspects of a society that does not allow one to make a moral choice.

When asked if these women are still relevant, Prof. Juntunen answered that the plays present
women who actively reject their socially prescribed roles. The plays still has the power to make husbands and wives very afraid.

Enemy of the People runs May 4-30, 2009
Our next panel, Green Night of Theatre, will be Sunday, May 24.
Tickets are available through our website!

Paul G. Miller
Season Dramaturge

Ibsen's Marriage

2009-05-10T12:26:00.002-05:00

The Stockman’s marriage in Enemy of the People has its share of troubles but they are one of the healthiest couples in Henrik Ibsen’s canon. At today’s panel, Ibsen’s women, we will discuss the fraught relationships in A Dolls House, Ghosts and Hedda Gabler. Critics have enjoyed contrasting these plays to Ibsen’s own marriage.

Henrik Ibsen married Suzanna Thoreson in 1858, at age 30. His one time friend Martin Scheneekloth saw the marriage as a tragedy. In his letters about Ibsen he wrote:

“To find that one does not really love the woman one has married, that one’s requirements for a happy co-existence are so opposed to one’s wife’s that no reconciliation is possible, must be a desperate situation for a man, and that is Ibsen’s. He is a domineering character, egocentric and unbending, with a passionate masculinity and a curious admixture of personal cowardice, compulsively idealistic yet totally indifferent to expressing these ideals in his daily life… She is unwomanly, tactless, but a stable, hard character, a mixture of intelligence and stupidity, not deficient in feeling but lacking humility and feminine love. They can not find peace through love, so they wage war on each other, ruthlessly coldly, and yet she loves him, if only through their son, their poor son, whose fate is the saddest that could befall any child, to see divided what should be reconciled in him.

Whose is the fault if not the man? He took her from her father’s house, led her out into the strange world, and instead of devoting his life to finding some form of reconciliation he gives all his mind and passion to a demonic pursuit of literary fame. It is disturbing to hear him describe his plans to send his wife and child home so that he may work in peace abroad. He lacks the courage to pursue his career without abandoning his domestic responsibilities, to face up to the consequences of his ambition, to work incessantly to give her life fulfillment, to suffer and strive to educate his son. Thus he, who so loudly and brilliantly condemns the cravenness of our age, who in mighty poems proclaims the strength of human will, is himself a craven vacillating weakling. "

However their son Sigurd painted a very different picture. He saw his mother as Ibsen’s greatest champion who forced him to write in the many time she was tempted to give it all up. “The world can thank my mother that it has one bad painter the fewer and got a great writer instead.”

Henrik stayed with Suzannah till his death in 1906. While she encouraged the publishing of his work, she did her best to burn all his letters to her declaring their correspondence private. The letters that have survived are very affectionate. Ibsen referred to her by pet names such as his “cat” or “eagle.”

In 1914, a few days before her death, she spoke to an interviewer. “When we were young, many so-called friends came to Ibsen, but I sent them away… I had many unkind words for it, but I didn’t care. He had to have peace for his work… Ibsen had no steel in his character- but I gave it to him.”

Most likely glimpses of the truth remain in all his late plays of the joys and the sorrows, while the rest remains a mystery.

Our panel on Ibsen's Women is today, May 10, after the 2pm matinee.

Enemy of the People runs May 4-30, 2009.
Ticket are available through our website.

Paul G. Miller
Season Dramaturge

A Scottish "Enemy" in 1980

2009-05-09T11:58:00.002-05:00

It’s the first Saturday after opening. Time to do the laundry, clean the dishes, and clean the apartment. I pop in a DVD for background noise. It’s a BBC adaptation of Enemy of the People buried in an Ibsen collection. I’ve put off watching it and it’s due back at the library soon. Turns out I’m in for a treat.

There’s Peter Stockman, speaking for a crowd in a large factory, about the board’s decision to bottle and sell the water from Scotland’s Baikie springs. As the crowd applauds, the mayors brother rolls his eyes. Then the mayor pushes a button and conveyor belt springs to life filled with bottles of poisoned spring water. As the line of bottles fills the camera the ABBA song “Money, Money, Money” starts to play on the soundtrack. I realize I’ve stumbled on a delightfully irreverent modern adaptation.

Broadcast in 1980 on the BBC, Maggie Allen’s adaptation sticks close to the structure of Ibsen’s original but steers towards comedy and rewrites the text in local dialect.

Dr. Stockman to the crowd: “Yeh kinnae be that stupid!”

Billing to Stockman: “Yer talkin’ like a bloody fascist!”

Horster to Petra: “Ach, ye kin buy spa water anywhere in the world, but
there’s very little truth on view.”

I was also pleased to see that Maggie Allen’s Stockman, like ours, considers moving to Canada. “The air is freshest and a chemist can get work!”

Red Tape Theatre’s Enemy of the People runs May 4-30, 2009
Tickets are available through our website.

Paul G. Miller

Season Dramaturge