Announcing LOOPSHOP!

Well folks Strangeloop Theatre is at it again! August 23 and 24 at 8:00 Strangeloop Theatre will be presenting our latest evening of new works. And this time 'round we have a pretty cool name. Come to Stage Left Theatre (3408 N. Sheffield Avenue) for Loopshop, an evening that is sure to blow you away. Loopshop will feature four pieces never before seen onstage. Stay tuned for more details and for ticket information. If you attended our last evening of new works at ATC you know that this will not be an event to miss!

Strangeloop Happenings!

Well it has been a big week for Strangeloop Theatre! Over the weekend Brad Gunter and Ticha Guillaud (two of our illustrious board members) tied the knot! All of Strangeloop is happy to see them so happy as they move forward with their lives together. Way to go you two!

Also on a business note, Strangeloop Theatre is busy choosing it's space for our next full production. Keep your eyes peeled as there will be big announcements in the future!

Also with the beginning of the month looming on the horizon the board will commence with the arduous task of selecting the pieces for Strangeloop's upcoming New Works Workshop. As always we will announce the pieces and the performance here so be sure to stay tuned.

I'm sure that folks have noticed that the posts have not been as regular as in previous months. However, as the production schedule begins to pick up so will this blog!

To an Artistic Future!

May 21, 2009 marked the turning of a new page for Strangeloop Theatre. On that fateful Thursday night, roughly a week ago, Strangeloop Theatre discussed the future of the company at our aptly named Artistic Futures Meeting. Many things were discussed including a detailed talk through of the events of Strangeloop's first year, and what has effected the attendees most during that year. Most notably, however, were two bold steps Strangeloop Theatre has taken in its development.

Strangeloop Theatre has decided to appoint the Strangeloop Theatre Board as both administrative and artistic head of the company. This was a structure that had essentially already been in place, but was made official at the meeting. The Board felt that, with the added authority given by the other Strangeloop artists, it could now move forward in bolder and more decisive directions for the good of the company. The members of the Board (Ticha Guillaud, Bradley Gunter, Nathan Hart, Martin Monahan, Thomas Murray, Jill Rafa, Danni Smith, and Dustin Spence) stressed, however, that they would maintain an open structure in allowing any interested artists to participate to the full extent of their commitment to the company, and that, once merited, inclusion in the board was open to all.

The other major decision was made regarding Strangeloop's artistic statement. The previous, intentionally vague, statement has been retired, and a new statement has taken its place.

Strangeloop Theatre examines the theatricality in life and art, and explores the relationship between the story and the telling.

As with the board structure this artistic statement will allow Strangeloop Theatre to have a guiding principle in moving forward with productions and other artistic endeavors. With all of these decisions Strangeloop Theatre will boldly go where no chicken or egg has gone before!

An ending and a beginning

We are about ready to wrap up Strangeloop Theatre's first full production The Millionaire Farmer. As mentioned in a previous post this production has been over a year in the making and it is now in it's final week. The experience of having 47 people all crammed into the Boho theatre (30 audience+15 cast+1 stage manager+1 house manager) has been a riveting and sweaty experience for all involved. In the month of May Strangeloop will be having a postmortem meeting and an artistic directions meeting to go over the experience of the last few months and the last year. We will assess the direction in which the company would like to go. Keep your eyes peeled oh faithful readers and see where we're headed and where we've been. This blog will be updated on at least a weekly basis to let you know the goings on of the company as things unfold at this exciting stage of Strangeloop's artistic life!

The Strangeloop: a theatrical experience!

"A strange loop arises when, by moving up or down through a hierarchical system, one finds oneself back where one started. Strange loops may involve self-reference and paradox. A tangled hierarchy is a hierarchical system in which a strange loop appears."
-Wikipedia

A tangled hierarchy is an appropriate way to describe Strangeloop Theatre. Strangeloop Theatre has established itself as an artistic entity with a lack of clear hierarchical structure. There is no artistic director as in most theatre companies. We have instead opted for a conciliar model with an administrative board of eight people (an unthinkable size for most young theatre companies!), and artistic decisions are made by the company as a whole. Our name, Strangeloop Theatre, was decided upon as the result of a very large and very long meeting with the artistic members of the company (plus lots of drinking).

The acting members of the administrative board are Letitia Guillaud, Bradley Gunter, Nathan Hart, Martin Monahan, Thomas Murray, Jillian Rafa, Danni Smith, Dustin Spence. The administrative board meets once a month to discuss the intense business of running a theatre company.

Another point worth mentioning, a strange loop by its very nature is self-referential. By happenstance all of Strangeloop Theatre's artistic endeavors have included an element of the meta-theatrical. Our meta-theatrics, a play making reference to itself and calling attention to the instrument of theatre during the act of putting on a play, are often utilized in the person of a narrator. Come see The Millionaire Farmer for our most thorough use of a narrator yet! Meta-theatre can also be attained through the use of a very stylized theatre (Welcome to the Moon and other plays by John Patrick Shanley) or the direct address of the audience (New Works Workshop specifically "L Stories").

Strangeloop Theatre, true to its tangled hierarchy, has not yet made this a conscious choice in our theatrical endeavors. To see if the trend continues you will just have to stay tuned!

Welcome to Gina and Erin!

This picture pretty much says it all! Millionaire Farmer is definitely up on its feet and running. The audiences this week have been steady and quite appreciative. I'd like to give a shout out to the artistic team from Halcyon Theatre who filled up a good chunk of the audience last night! Seriously folks if you have not seen their work check it out.

Tonight we are adding some more fun and frivolity to the mix. Gina Nicewonger and Erin Rigik will be treading the boards as the understudies for Shannon Bracken and Jill Rafa. We should have some exciting new energy to the show this evening. If you are reading this, and thinking of joining the audience tonight you will be in for a special treat!

Ferdinand Raimund's The Millionaire Farmer

WORLD PREMIERE!!

THE MILLIONAIRE FARMER by Ferndinand Raimund

Translated, Adapted, and Directed by Bradley J. Gunter

April 16th-May 10th at BoHo Theatre

7016 N. Glenwood Avenue, Chicago IL 60626

Thursdays-Saturdays at 8pm

Sundays at 2pm

Featuring: Shannon Bracken, Seth Brown, Lyle Friederichs, Letitia Guillaud, Christine Harrison, Nathan Hart, Whitney Kraus, Linus Lee, Darrin Luginski, Martin Monahan, Jillian Rafa, Jeff Rukes, Danni Smith, Dustin Spence, and Michael Wagman

Cursed at birth, the fairy maiden Anna is banished to earth to be raised by a farmer. Only by marrying her true love – a poor fisher – by her eighteenth birthday can the curse be broken and Anna be reunited with her mother. But her adoptive father has come into a mysterious fortune and now refuses the match. With the deadline approaching, Anna discovers that she has the help of magical friends, and that there are wicked forces manipulating her father. Can Anna find Contentment and break the curse, or will she succumb to the awesome power of Greed and Hate?

With a magical story encompassing the worlds of farmers and fairies, humans and allegorical figures, The Millionaire Farmer examines the theatricality in life and art and explores the relationship between the story and the telling. Utilizing music, improvisational comedy and multimedia presentation, Strangeloop offers a contemporary perspective on this timeless morality play, while maintaining the heart and humor that have made this fantasy a well-loved classic with European audiences for the past two centuries.