Brewed starts its final weekend tomorrow, and we are the most excited. To celebrate, we're going to share some more bon mots from the lovely people who've helped bring the play to life. Next up: Erin Myers, who plays Paulette, and Casey Bentley, our fearless props designer.
Erin Myers (center) stirs a Casey Bentley cauldron, while Charlotte Mae Ellison (right) reaches for a Casey Bentley jar and Stevie Chaddock Lambert (left) sits in a Casey Bentley wheelchair.
What’s your name, and what on EARTH are you doing here? Erin Myers. I dunno, acting and stuff.
How did you find yourself to being a part of Brewed? Got invited to audition and knew I liked Anna's and Scott's work, was really excited at auditions to discover how super-playable the material was - how kinetic and active, and how fun everyone there was to work with. What about this play (if anything) excites you? Lots of stuff - the fights, the turn-on-a-dime, love/hate relationships, but it's becoming really thrilling as we keep running it to have so many 4, 5, 6 and 7 person scenes in which everyone has something huge at stake - it makes for a lot of threads of tension running across the room - really dynamic scenes.
What about this play (if anything) scares you? I love Paulette - I was thrilled when I was cast in that part because she's my favorite, but she's not an obviously like-able person - she's hard on herself, and on everyone around her and she's really angry, you know? But she loves her family so much and I hope that comes through, too. I hope her dilemma makes sense to people in the audience as much as it does to me. If your character was a professional wrestler or fighter, what would her signature move be? A haymaker with a windup like Popeye - like, one, two , three, BAM! In five words or less, why should people come see Brewed? It's hilarious and terrifying. -- And here's Casey! What’s your name, and what on EARTH are you doing here? I'm Casey Bentley and I am designing and building some props.
How did you find yourself to being a part of Brewed?
I'm an artistic associate with Tympanic and a friend of The Ruckus'. Last summer the companies hosted a fight workshop to get geared up for the show this season. I was asked if I could put together a rehearsal cauldron for the event and when someone asks you to make a cauldron, you don't say no.
What about this play (if anything) excites you?
The people. We have some truly talented folks on this production and I'm happy to be working with every one of them.
What about this play (if anything) was challenging?
Stevie wouldn't let me cut her legs off. i guess she's not that Method.
What's your favorite design moment/element of the show?
The violence looks great. I had to remind myself that it's choreographed the other night.
In five words or less, why should people come see Brewed?
These are no cat fights.
Join us for Brewed, Thursday-Sunday, and catch the sisters before they disappear for good.
We've got five more performances of BREWED, and thought it might be about time you meet some of the fine people who've been bringing it to life. First up: Tympanic's Susan Myburgh, who plays machinery maven Roxette, and our own Stevie Chaddock Lambert, who plays lover-of-rules-and-being-picked-up Babette.
Susan Myburgh as Roxette and Elise Mayfield as Lee
What’s your name, and what on EARTH are you doing here?
Hi-o! In real life my name is Susan, but you all can call me Roxette and I'm here to stir things up and start some trouble.
How did you find yourself to being a part of Brewed?
I think I'll blame Allison Shoemaker for this one. I recall a conversation that went something like this...
Allison: OMGOMGOMGOMG! Susan, you have to read this awesome play about sister and fighting and everything. It's so good.
Me: Okay. I'll check it out
Allison: No really! Red it. Read. It. Now. (Allison shoves script in my face)
Me: Okay, okay. I'll read it!
Cut to. Me falling in love with this script and counting the days, minutes and seconds until the auditions rolled around. Allison was so right.
What about this play (if anything) excites you?
I am beyond excited to share the stage with these six women. In many rehearsals I've found myself distracted by each of their immense amounts of talent. They are all badasses in their own right and bring their badassery to the layered and complex characters that Scott has crafted. If you come to see this show for any reason, it's for them. Really. They are balls to the wall good. I'm so proud to call them my sisters.
What about this play (if anything) scares you?
Everything.
If your character was a professional wrestler or fighter, what would her signature move be?
Roxette is a mechanically minded and always trying to fix things up. So, without a doubt, my signature move would be the "Nut and Bolt."
In five words or less, why should people come see Brewed?
[REDACTED FOR SPOILERS AND STUFF]
Stevie Chaddock Lambert as Babette, Erin Myers as Paulette, and Dana Black as Juliette
What's your name, and what on EARTH are you doing here?
I am Stevie Chaddock Lambert, and I'm playing the role of Babette in Brewed.
How did you find yourself to being a part of Brewed?
Well, in the summer of 2011 (I believe), I saw a staged reading of Brewed at Strawdog. I was completely enthralled with it. I laughed and cried and gasped and couldn't stop talking about it for months. I thought, "This show is really something special, and I need to be a part of it." Then The Ruckus (my company) started seriously discussing the possibility of producing it with Tympanic and things started to fall into place. I auditioned for it last summer and was BEYOND thrilled when I got cast.
What about this play (if anything) excites you?
Everything. When it comes down to it, Brewed is about relationships. How these six sisters interact with each other. How they exist with each other. How they love each other. Isn't that really the basis of all great stories?
What about this play (if anything) scares you?
Babette. She is this wonderfully complex character that Scott created, and there is so much going on inside her head. I just want to bring her to life with honesty.
If your character was a professional wrestler or fighter, what would her signature move be?
Oh, now you know I can't tell you that! I can't give away all Babette's secrets. You'll just have to come see the show to find out...
In five words or less, why should people come see Brewed?
DEVOTED TO THE WORK OF CHICAGO
PLAYWRIGHT SCOTT T. BARSOTTI
***NEW COMPANY, ENSEMBLE MEMBERS, AND
ARTISTS-IN-RESIDENCE ALSO ANNOUNCED***
(Chicago, IL) The
Ruckus Theater is proud to announce its fourth season in Chicago, following a
successful year of performances at The Side Project Theatre in Chicago’s Rogers
Park neighborhood. Artistic Director
Allison Shoemaker and Associate Artistic Director Joshua Davis released today a
season of four new plays, and workshops, including two productions penned by
Chicago playwright Scott T. Barsotti. First, Anna C. Bahow (Sinnerman
Ensemble’s Sweet Confinement; the side project’s The Rocks) directs the
world premiere of Brewed. This previously announced co-production between The Ruckus
and Tympanic Theatre performs at the Teatro Luna mainstage (March 1- 31, 2013).
The second of Barsotti’s works to be produced by The Ruckus is Facing Angela, directed by Kyra Lewandowski (Tympanic Theatre’s Verse
Chorus Verse; New Leaf Theatre’s Curse of the Starving Class).
Originally produced by Roundelay Theatre Company in 2003, Facing Angela was Barsotti’s first full-length play, and will be
re-imagined and revised by the playwright with the aid of Lewandowski and the
cast. Facing Angela will be presented
in June 2013. Barsotti will also serve as an artist-in-residence for the
season.
Additionally,
The Ruckus presents two devised works-in-progress. In the autumn, Ruckus
Artistic Director Allison Shoemaker directs the workshop of Elise Mayfield is Samuel Clemens,
Samuel Clemens is Mark Twain,
which is devised by the ensemble and written by Ruckus Ensemble Members Aaron
Dean and Matt Test as part of the DCASE Theatre Incubator Series (August 27,
2012). In April 2013, The Ruckus workshops Chicago playwright Brooke Allen’s as-of-yet untitled piece
devised with the company, also directed by Shoemaker. Further details regarding
The Ruckus: Season 4, including casting and ticket information, will be
announced in the coming weeks. Please visit www.ruckustheater.org for more
information.
“Scott
is a remarkable writer, and we’ve all been fans for awhile now–so this season
is thrilling, to say the least,” said Artistic Director Allison Shoemaker.
“We’re able to collaborate with a playwright we admire, produce work that’s
unusual, vibrant and frightening, and provide a number of dynamic roles for
female performers in one fell swoop. The chance to create new work as an
ensemble with Brooke Allen and our own Aaron Dean and Matt Test is no less
exciting, so we’ve got a pretty remarkable year ahead.”
Scott T. Barsotti is a playwright and
performer originally from Pittsburgh, PA. Scott’s original plays include Kill
Me, The Revenants, Jet Black Chevrolet, Brewed, McMeekin Finds Out, and
Your
Teacher is Out Today and have been performed at many theatres
nationwide. His adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s The
Body Snatcher recently opened at Brisbane Arts Theatre in Queensland,
Australia; also in 2012, The Revenants will be produced
by Happy Medium Theatre in Boston, as well as New World Arts in
Goshen, IN. His work has been seen at the New York International
Fringe Festival, the Rhinoceros Theater Festival, and Collaboraction’s
Sketchbook, and has been produced and/or developed by WildClaw Theatre, Curious
Theatre Branch, Chicago Dramatists, The Route 66 Theatre Company,
Pittsburgh Playwrights, Roundelay Theatre Company, Theatre Seven of Chicago,
American Theatre Company, Tympanic Theatre Company, The Ruckus, and The
Visceral Company among others. He is currently adapting Geoffrey Hayes's
children's book The Mystery of the Pirate Ghost for Lifeline Theatre's 2012-13
KidSeries season. As an actor, Scott has appeared with WildClaw
Theatre, Lifeline Theatre, Curious Theatre Branch, The Mammals, WNEP Theater,
Collaboraction, Pavement Group, and Victory Gardens, and he has designed
movement for WildClaw and Strawdog Theatre. Scott is a Resident
Playwright at Chicago Dramatists. For more information about Scot T.
Barsotti, please visit his website at: http://scottbarsotti.wordpress.com.
Barsotti’s past works have been critically lauded in several
publications, including New City, Chicago Theater Beat, Chicago Reader, and the
Chicago Tribune. Chris Jones from the Chicago Tribune has called Barsotti “a
very promising young playwright.” Additionally, Brian Kirst from Sheridan Road
Magazine says, “Revolutionarily new… Barsotti proves himself to be a major
playwright in the making…” Of his upcoming work with The Ruckus, Barsotti says,
“Having a play produced is a thrill, having two
produced by the same group of artists in one season is an honor. I'm so
excited to be spending the year amongst the talent and ambition of The Ruckus,
and I can't wait to share my work with their audience and creative family.”
The Ruckus welcomes Lizzy
Powers and Derek Van Barham as
its newest company members in Chicago. Powers takes on the role of Company
Manager, and Barham serves as Literary Manager. New Ruckus Ensemble Members
include Daniel Caffrey (Tympanic
Theatre Company) and Kevin Lambert
(Ka-Tet Theatre). In addition to Barsotti, Artists-in-Residence for the 2012-13
season include Brooke Allen, Catherine Bullard, Scottie Caldwell, Julie Cowden,
Casey Cunningham, and Jennifer Roehm. Bios available at ruckustheater.org.
2012/2013 SEASON 4
Elise Mayfield is Samuel Clemens, Samuel Clemens is Mark
Twain | directed by Allison Shoemaker
August 27, 2012 at the DCASE Studio Theater
Somewhere
along the Mississippi River, a girl is dropped into a world sated in the
nostalgia and humidity of Mark Twain’s novels. Along the journey to find her
way back, she encounters many strange things- familiar faces from elsewhere, a
river that’s a conduit for time travel, and a strange book of verse detailing
many parallel universes, each containing its own Hannibal, MO. Help playwrights
Aaron Dean and Matt Test, director Allison Shoemaker, and the ensemble discover
when they are and who they could be in this workshop performance, a part of the
DCASE Theater Incubator Series. An audience talkback will follow the
performance.
Brewed by Scott T. Barsotti | directed by Anna Bahow
March 1- 31, 2013 at Teatro Luna
In the world of Brewed, the task is stirring a
pot…all day, every day. The six sisters don’t share the task as they once did.
With Nannette busy racing stock cars and Roxette off doing her own thing, the
others are left to shoulder the burden. But Paulette is fed up; Collette is
clueless; and Babette, crippled in more ways than one, is volatile. Juliette
does her best to maintain order and civility…for now. But why must they do
this? When one of the sisters calls everyone together, old venom bubbles up and
grievance flares, setting into motion an impossible moral struggle. Join The Ruckus and
Tympanic Theatre as they explore this new work about gatherings, sacrifice, and
the dark art of obligation.
Untitled by Brooke Allen | directed by Allison Shoemaker
April, 2013 at The Side Project Theatre
It’s
all fun and games, as the saying goes, until someone loses an eye. The
combination of liquor, loosened inhibitions, and silly hats usually makes for a
good time. But pair it with the no-man's land that is the switch to Daylight
Savings Time, and even an everyday revelry can bare its teeth. Brooke Allen
puts a scalpel to the mayhem in this workshop, devised with The Ruckus. An
audience talkback will follow the performances.
Facing Angela written by Scott T. Barsotti | directed by Kyra Lewandoski
June- July, 2013
Angela has lost her
face. Acquiring a new face alters more than skin and tissue, cutting into
Angela's relationship with her husband, Wes, and mutating her sense of
self. As Angela re-constructs, re-invents, and re-defines her identity,
Wes ceases to recognize the woman he loves, and doubts whether he really knows
himself either. This re-imagining of Barsotti's 2003 play, explored over
the course of the season with the cast and company, will delve deep into how we
recognize ourselves and those we go to bed with, and the collateral damage of
transformative change.
About The Ruckus Theater
Founded
by an industrious group of Michigan ex-pats, The Ruckus is composed of actors,
directors, playwrights, musicians, casting directors, publicity managers, grant
writers, baristas, grad students, poets, computer fixers, appointment-makers
and census-takers who aim to create a new kind of company—a casteless theater
that blends the lines between playwright and actor, audience and company
member. The Ruckus Theater is led by Artistic Director Allison Shoemaker,
Associate Artistic Director Joshua Davis and a company and ensemble of twenty.
We’re here to create, to examine, to invent, to
explode—to create a ruckus. The Ruckus develops new work and the artists who
create that work. Our ensemble breaks down the walls of traditional methods to
nurture new plays and challenge exceptional artists. We believe in creating our
process for every project from the ground up. We commit to the growth of our
ensemble, the artists we collaborate with, and the plays we develop. We aim to
deepen the cultural bedrock of our community by giving megaphones to new voices
and by making theater affordable. By fostering conversations that rip through
the curtain, we aim to lead both artist and audience down an unexpected path
with art that doesn’t play by the rules.
Like most folks in theater who went to college, I had to read a little Anton Chekhov. And I liked it, better than a lot of my classmates I am supposing. Didn't love it. But I liked it. I figured I got him outta the way and wouldn't really have to bother with him again really. I was pretty sure my novice understanding of the guy's work would be sufficient to get me where I wanted to be, and for the most part I was and am still correct.
But as we have been going over this stuff something im particular has touched me in a personal way, and that would be the author's apparent relationship with nature. Now, most know that he was a physician so he must have been a man of science...now, that's real science, emperical science, not lobby science or commitee science or let's sell this fuckin' pill science so I can buy my mistress a lexus science like most physicicans now. He seemed to have a sort of spiritual understanding and appreciation for those things that we can see and feel and test and question, a very admirable comingling of the physical and the metaphysical that in today's divisive atmosphere, where you must choose a team, is very refreshing, and terribly moving.
Read the way the old boy talks about trees, their benefits to humans, humanity, and the humanities and you'll see what I mean.
It has inspired to me start a project. I think I am going to do a simple botanical survey of the street I live on.
I have a fondness for maples. I love their big broad leaves and strong urbane trunks. Maples are fun to climb and perfect to sit under and they make the prettiest songs when the wind blows through them.I was in Evanston recently and noticed how plentiful they are and then noticed that they start to thin out further south and are replaced by oaks and ginkos and...catalpas I think... and some other thin leaf trees I can't identify.
I figure what I will do is get a good book about deciduous trees, learn to spot them, then set down a space, then count how many of each type of tree is on my street in Uptown and then who knows, go from there.
And then. Well then I will know.
And it will bring me a little closer to those trees. And that's all I really want I guess. Just to get a little closer to them.
NOTE FROM THE RUCKUS: Common Hatred is running Fri.-Sun. evenings at 8pm at The Side Project Theatre through July 22nd. To reserve tickets, please visit Brown Paper Tickets.
I
think I should write about the devising process itself.
I didn't feel all that great about
it.
And by that, I mean I didn't think I
contributed much to the process itself. It was hard work - very
psychologically demanding. Most of the time I didn't want to do it
because I couldn't see any results coming from all of our efforts.
But after I read the first draft ofAct One, I felt
much better about the whole process. I thinkCalamitystruck just the right balance of humor
and yearning that meansChekhovto me. I just have to keep
reminding myself that I had anything to do with that at all.
Devising is difficult work, but I
believe the results will speak for themselves.
A Note from The Ruckus:Common Hatred is
opening in just one week on Friday, June 22nd at 8pm at The Side Project
Theater (1439 W. Jarvis, Chicago, IL). We hope that you'll join us for opening
weekend! You can purchase tickets by visitingBrown Paper Ticketsor by callingElise Mayfield,
Marketing Manager, at 205.335.5381.
After ten months of thinking about this show, we’ve just
begun to talk about Common Hatred as a play in performance. Karie has said that the play will never be
“ready” for an audience, which is good since I still think of this show as a fun
game we play in her dining room. Her point is that the play will never feel
finished, we’ll just start letting people into the room to wade through with us.
That since of cohabitation is important, and it’s something we’re trying to be
mindful of even as our characters’ hearts get broken or hopes get fulfilled.
Our acting is about making sure we share those emotions with the characters and
audience members around us.
In many ways, we’re already doing this. We already take
care of each other in the rehearsal room, and we’ll try just about anything to
make our fellow cast-mates look good. It’s a healthy,
exciting dynamic – and thank goodness, since otherwise this six-month rehearsal
process would have flatly sucked. I think audiences will be able to see and
feed off of the cast’s love for each other. But here’s the thing: I feel pretty
selfish about my character. I helped create her, for crying out loud. I want to
take this journey with her. If she cries,
I kind of want to cry, too.
So the challenge will be much the same as any other show,
except harder: letting go. That’s always tough, but I argue that in theatre it’s
easier when the script is written when you start, or when the play has had
countless incarnations before you shake hands with your character. Letting go,
for this show, will really be a feat. It will be a statement of enormous trust,
as in, “Here, take my newborn while I renew my driver’s license at this
downtown DMV.”
As I write, none of us are off-book yet, and we’re still
cautiously hopping the inevitable gap between what we devised and the play’s written
reality. That’s okay. We have a whole three weeks. Three. Three of them. As for
many important things in life, I tell myself that fear is a companion rather
than a menace. It’s along for the ride, but it doesn’t signal impending doom.
And what we have here is special, and bigger than us, and we want to share it
with you.
The buzz is building around the Chicago theatre scene’s newest breakout star – the Shadow Puppet version of Martin Crown, leading man of The Ruckus Theater’s current production, LITTLE TRIGGERS.I sat down with Puppet Martin to find out what it is that makes him tick.
JR: Hi Puppet Martin!Thanks for being here today.I’m a huge fan.
PM: It’s no problem.I’m always here.They store me in the plastic bin in the corner.
JR: That’s so great. So what are your major inspirations?
PM: Gosh, where do I even begin?Cereal boxes, definitely. Thin sheets of cardboard in general… Oh, and those boxes that frozen pizzas come in? I guess you could say they’ve all made me who I am today.
JR: Wow, awesome. Let’s talk about your epic battle scene in the first act.It looks so intense!How did you prepare?
PM: I guess you could say I was born to do it.I mean, it’s the only thing I really know how to do. Look, my hand is permanently attached to this sharpened letter-opener.
JR: I see that!
PM: Thanks.It makes dating awkward, though.The last girl I went out with, she tried to hold my hand and got stabbed.
JR: Oh Gosh! Is she alright?
PM: Yeah, she’s fine.We’re still Facebook friends.
JR: Okay.So, um… what’s next for you?
PM: Oh, I’ll probably just take it easy and slowly disintegrate in storage somewhere.
JR: You heard it here first, folks… Puppet Martin, coming to a storage facility near you in summer 2012!I can’t wait for that trailer.Well, that about wraps things up for us today. Thanks for taking the time to talk with me, Martin!
PM: Hey, it was my pleasure. …can you please put me down now?
So, when Allison contacted my agent to ask if I was interested in Little Triggers, I was a little hesitant at first because I was working on a few other projects at the time. I will admit that we didn't have time to read the script before the read thru, but I thought, you know, where's the harm in that?
Well, I get to the read thru and my eyes almost fall out of my head because there I am, the Tooth Fairy, in black and white, all mixed up in 'The Incident', again. People, it's been almost twenty years, can we drop it? Please.
Anyway, I had already signed on and the last thing I needed was the bad publicity associated with a breach of contract. I need that like a hole in the head.
So, is it true? 'The Incident' between me and the Tooth Troll portrayed in 'Little Triggers'? I'm not going to say that it didn't happen, but...let's just say that I didn't NOT do those things that I portray in this show. Capiche?
