Sketchbook 2011 - Evolution Collaboraction Theatre

6/2-6/25 Thu/Fri 8p; Sat 7p & 9p; Sun 8p.  11th annual SKETCHBOOK Festival pools together the collective talents of hundreds of multi-disciplinary artists for an electrifying and diverse evening of world premieres, video installations, live music and visual art.

 

Tix $25/15 (students/industry). 

No performances Sun 6/5 and 6/26.  Added performances Monday 6/6 and 6/20.


06/02/2011 - 06/25/2011

Thu-Fri 8p; Sat 7p and 9p; Sun 8p. No shows Sundays 6/5 and 6/2


Quality of new short plays is, well, somewhat sketchy - Nina Metz, Chicago Tribune 6/7/11 - " A ship and a lighthouse have a nighttime assignation that starts off sweetly but ends rather badly (hilariously so) in Meredith Miller's "I Wish You Love," her entry in this year's Sketchbook, the annual festival of short plays curated each year by Collaboraction.

Now in its 11th year, Sketchbook has been one of the more reliable places in town to see the kind of experimental but entirely winsome ultrashort theater pieces such as Miller's, which plays  out wordlessly over a video backdrop of open water and the sounds of Bing Crosby singing of romantic  heartbreak in "The Moon Got in My Eyes." Miller (who plays the ship) has a face like Betty Boop,  which just solidifies the retro sensibility of this cracked-out little play. It is a major standout  and also one of the shortest pieces in the fest, which unfortunately this year is weighed down by too
 many plays that feel considerably longer than the proscribed 8-minute limit".

 

 

6/2-6/25.  11th annual SKETCHBOOK Festival pools together the collective talents of hundreds of multi-disciplinary artists for an electrifying and diverse evening of world premieres, video installations, live music and visual art.

 

PLAYS

“Evolution”
Written by Kris Diaz, Directed by Eddie Torres Pulitzer Prize finalist Kris Diaz throws down--Chad Deity style--with Charles Isherwood, theatre critic at the New York Times about the evolution of theatre itself in this provocative new piece written for SKETCHBOOK directed by Artistic Director of Teatro Vista and director of Chad Deity, Eddie Torres.


“I and my iPhone”
Written by Mat Smart, Directed by Steve Wilson
A group of teenagers stage an intervention for their friend who is absolutely addicted...to her iPhone. A sweet parable about how we connect, based on Herman Melville's “I and my Chimney” and written for the Red Orchid Youth Ensemble by the playwright of “Samuel J and K.”

“Only Paradise”
Written by Kristin Idaszak, Directed by Bea Bosco
During a layover at O'Hare, a young man encounters a saxophone-touting stranger who reminds him that the only paradise is a paradise lost, making him wonder if he really knows where he's going after all. By Collaboraction's Associate Artistic Director.

“Dead Letters”
Written by Danielle Littrell, Directed by Nathan Green
A mailman delivers a eulogy for letters as he delivers the last one ever written in this reverie about paper, love and permanence.

“The Franchise”
Written by Andy Grigg, Directed by John Wilson The feature film Blazing Heart garnered success and stardom for its two leads. So they made a sequel, and a third, and an eleventh...by the author of “The Untimely Death of Adolph Hitler” directed by Collaboraction Company member John Wilson.

“Doppleganged”
Written by Chelsea Marcantel, Directed by Sarah Moeller
The writer of SKETCHBOOK 9's “Beatrice and Beau” returns with a darkly enticing tale about an innocent little girl with a very evil doppleganger. What recourse does she have against this person making mischief--and eventually mass chaos--in her name? Directed by Collaboraction Producing Director Sarah Moeller.

“The Parasite”
Written by Lauren Yee, Directed by Sandra Marquez Directed by Chicago favorite Sandra Marquez, from the playwright behind Ching Chong Chinaman comes this bittersweet romance about Trudy and--a botfly, who teaches her that love hurts, and that sometimes lovers take more than they give.

“Termination of Species”
Written by Ken Urban, Directed by Scott Illingworth When Henry finds an old VHS in his basement, little does he suspect that it contains a message from Steve, an extraterrestrial who's very sorry, but he has to end the world tonight.

“Confluence”
Written by Jack Miggins, Directed by Keira Fromm A man born with a very peculiar birth defect on his thigh spends his life avoiding human contact in case it kills him, until he meets Joy. “Confluence” explores the pain and rewards we open ourselves up to when we let someone else touch us.

 

DEVISED PIECES

 
“Manual Cinema”
Devised by Drew Dir, Julia Miller and Sarah Fornace
Collaborating with the band Oh+Ah, “Manual Cinema” is creating a shadow puppet show about death and regeneration using their signature paper cut-outs for a simple but breathtaking effect co-devised by Sketchbook veteran playwright Drew Dir.

“Backbone”
Devised by Marc Frost
Two physical theatre performers capture the history of the evolution of the spine in seven minutes, from the ocean to the office.

“Suspect Politic”

Devised by Meida McNeal
The Ladies Ring Shout uses spoken word, movement and music in this piece that questions both the external and self-created myths, roadblocks and pressures that women of color experience.

“I Wish You Love”
Devised by Meredith Miller
Drawing on the highly stylized and gendered imagery of the 1920s and 1930s, Meredith Miller dissects popular jazz standards to create intimate, atmospheric vignettes in this intersection of cabaret and puppetry.

“Vestigiality”
Devised by Joseph Ravens
Ravens explores the parts of ourselves that have de-evolved in a visually lush movement piece informed by the grotesque and beautiful imagery of Japanese Butoh.

“It Came from the Third Dimension”

Devised by Zoe Schwartz and Dav Yendler
A group of scientists receive a package from the future containing...3D video. This satirical 1950s commercial takes audience members on a tour of a world so real they'll wonder if they've been living in the second dimension this whole time.

“The Ritual of the Final Exit as presented by the Tribes of the 13 Colonies”
Devised by Rinska Prestinary and Joe Janes
Collaboraction company member Rinska Prestinary creates a brand new funeral ritual to celebrate, mourn and experience death, as well as its counterpart: life.

Author
Plays: Kris Diaz, Mat Smart, Kristin Idaszak, Danielle Littrell, Andy Grigg, Chelsea Marcantel, Lauren Yee, Ken Urban, Jack Mig

Director
Plays: Eddie Torres, Steve Wilson, Bea Bosco, Nathan Green, Sarah Moeller, Sandra Marquez, Scott Illingworth, Keira Fromm.

Tags: Festival, American, 2011