Meet the Cast! - Nick Combs

"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!

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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