Hammers, nail, and puppy dog tails!

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!

Red Tape Rockstar: Amanda Reader

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 Tapes Welcomes Four New Ensemble Members!

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.

The Story of Phaedra: Meet Amanda Reader

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.