The Wild by Walkabout Theatre
Steppenwolf Theatre presents Garage Rep 2014
The Wild by Walkabout Theatre
Directed by Thom Pasculli
Created by the ensemble
Thrilling movement awaits
Variety of styles, energetic, physicality with wild customs, weird sounds, techno music, chanting and singing fuel the Walkabout Theater’s 60 minute performance art piece. This thrilling and extremely innovative work is referred to As “laboratory theater’ by the creators meaning a work designed by the performers featuring their rigorous training practices that includes wrestling, acrobatics, dance, rhythmic movement. The physical risks are sexy, muscular and provocative.
From the opening that finds the ensemble walking about in extremely expressive animal and/or object oriented costumes to the beat of chants and techno sounds, we know we are in form a journey into imaginative theatre. From the press note, I gather The Wild is about Dionysus – The Story of the Bacchae with text borrowed form Euripides, Charles L. Mee, C.K. Williams, Chekhov, Tracy Letts and Wikipedia- or so I’m told. The chanting and reciting was in context with all the movement and atmosphere created on stage.
The surprisingly risky movements are the champions here as the cast – Nigel Brown, McCambridge Down-Whipple, Al Evangelista, Cooper Forsman, Katie Mazzini, Dana Murphy and Paul Scudder bravely leave it all on the stage as they perform a most challenging bit of theatrically provocative staged storytelling. This is a worthy experience as Walkabout Theatre’s creatives push the envelope of creativity that is thrillingly sensual.
Recommended
Tom Williams