Doctor Crippen Touch Tour Video!

Last year Strange Tree had the pleasure of working with Steppenwolf Theatre Company to provide a touch tour of The Three Faces of Doctor Crippen for blind and visually impaired patrons. You can see some of the highlights of that event in the video above. It's a truly inspiring program and we're thrilled to be hosting our 2nd touch tour for Goodbye Cruel World on July 15th at Theater Wit complete with audio description. Three cheers for exciting, accessible storefront theater! 

This program is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency.

The Strange Tree Group Presents: GOODBYE CRUEL WORLD!

 
 Cast Members: Joe Sterns, Stuart Ritter, Jenifer Starewich, Scott Cupper, Elizabeth Bagby, & Brian Grey.

Hello comrades, and welcome back to the blog. It's been 8 long years since the company started on a small back porch on Southport Avenue. This summer marks the 2nd time in the history of our little troupe to perform something that wasn't written by our artistic director and resident playwright, Emily Schwartz. (The first being Shakespeare's King Phycus which was nominated for Best New Work at the 2011 Jeff Awards and took home the prize for Best Ensemble!) We're thrilled to be able to bring GOODBYE CRUEL WORLD (freely adapted by co-artistic director of the Obie award winning Vampire Cowboys, Robert Ross Parker from a literal translation of Erdman's Samoubiitsa by Marina Raydun and directed by stg company member, Bob Kruse) to the City of Chicago.

GOODBYE CRUEL WORLD tells the story of Semyon Semyonovich, an unemployed, impoverished young man who discovers the joy of life only when he decides to kill himself. And then basically folks from the town show up begging Semyon not to just die...but to die on their behalf. It's ridiculous. It's bombastic. It's going to have a set that we actually hang from the sky instead of place on the stage and a live band. It's going to f#$!% kick some serious can all over the stage at Theater Wit from June 13th through July 22nd.

The play the Cruel World is based upon (THE SUICIDE) is famous for being the greatest Russian play that never was, Stalin banned the thing before its first public performance and playwright Nikolai Erdman was arrested and exiled to Siberia. Subsequent attempts to present the work in the USSR all failed. Moscow finally allowed a showing 50 years later but by then Erdman had died, having never written another play. Adaptations of this show have been seen all around the world, but Parker's version has only played once before (2010 in NYC with Roundtable Ensemble). The show was a critical and commercial success and when Producing Artistic Director, Delia Basemen came back with the news that she'd seen something that would be perfect for the company, we listened.

You can check out this link for a slideshow of promotional pictures with our cast.
You can get some tickets by following this link right here. 

And you can see the original poster art below designed by super fabulous artistic associate Phineas X. Jones. He's good. He's really, really good.

STG

Jeff Nominations for Strange Tree's The Spirit Play!

Hello, friends. We're so excited to announce that 2011's The Spirit Play has been nominated for two non-equity Joseph Jefferson awards. Hearty congratulations to Brett Schneider for Magic Design and Michael Huey for Original Incidental Music. These elements were such a special part of our fall show and we're thrilled that our beloved artistic associates have been recognized by the Jeff Committee! Who had pepper's ghost before Tupac? We did. And well, Charles Dickens but let's not get into it. You can see the complete list of nominations here.

Photographs from The Spirit Play!

That dashing Chicago photographer, Tyler Core, took some beautiful press photographs for our run of The Spirit Play at the DCA. Enjoy a sampling below!






 

Check out more of Tyler's work here or check out more photos of the spirit play on our flickr page here. And don't forget to grab your tickets for the short (but magical) run of The Spirit Play here!

The Spirit Play is Jeff Recommended!

Whabam! The Spirit Play is Jeff Recommended. How exciting! Click the image to go on a magical journey to the Jeff Awards website and view the entire list of recommended shows in Chicago.

The Spirit Play Poster by Phineas X. Jones

Behold its majesty! Phineas, is up to his eyeballs in being a creative juggernaut yet again. These hand screened babies will be for sale at the DCA during the run of the show...and guess what? They glow in the dark. That's right.

Help to support the company and get a piece of original signed and numbered art. Do you recognize that little medium? It's our very own Kate Nawrocki. (She plays a similar part in the full production.) So, what are you waiting for? Get some tickets and come see this crazy thing!
http://www.strangetree.org/spiritplay/

The Spirit Play! Strange Tree teams up with the DCA Theater for Fall 2011.

Aaaand we're back! Surprise friends. We hope this summer has treated you kindly. STG is back on the scene with The Spirit Play coming to the DCA storefront this fall. What started as a month-long incubator workshop last fall is going to be a full-fledged Halloween production opening October 7th in downtown Chicago. Click the link for more information and to buy tickets in advance. It's going to be delightfully devilish.

Strange Tree Group Wins 3 Non-Equity Jeff Awards!

Friends, we are thrilled to announce that Strange Tree picked up Awards for Best Ensemble (Shakespeare's King Phycus) Best New Work (The Three Faces of Doctor Crippen) and Best Director (The Three Faces of Doctor Crippen) at the Joseph Jefferson Awards. Such fond thanks to the Jeff Committee. We felt like the prettiest girl at the prom and we can't wait to get back to making more theater. Huge congratulations to the other winners and nominees!

Strange Tree receives FIVE Joseph Jefferson Nominations

Oh man, hey friends. We're really excited over today because the company has been honored to receive Five Joseph Jefferson nominations this year. Congratulations to playwrights Emily Schwartz & Tom Willmorth for their nomination in the category of Best New Work, Director Jimmy McDermott for his nod for The Three Faces of Doctor Crippen and both of the brilliant ensemble casts of King Phycus and Doctor Crippen. We're really happy with the news and very proud of all the work we've done in our 2010/11 season. It feels as though we've barely had a chance to breath but we can't wait to get started on our next round of productions, starting with next season's THE SPIRIT PLAY written by Emily Schwartz, Directed by Jimmy McDermott and featuring the friendly trees.

Read all about it here!

Doctor Crippen is The Best of the Season!

Well, at least according to the Chicago Tribune!

Chis Jones writes:

If your tastes run to edgier fare, you should open yourself up to “The Three Faces of Doctor Crippen,” the deliciously sardonic Victorian-style melodrama about the famous murderous doctor. Part of the Steppenwolf Theatre Company's Garage Rep, this is actually the work of the feverish creative minds at the Strange Tree Group. As with all three of the plays above, it's the work of a very promising new theatrical voice — in this case the exciting young Chicago writer Emily Schwartz. It's also a return to form for director Jimmy McDermott, whose early storefront work was hugely promising but who (to my mind) hasn't always been working on the right projects of late. He does here. And the result is thrilling.

We are also thrilled. Each night that we go to the theater we have to pinch ourselves. It's just, well, it's fun. We've built a family together and families have been built from our family. Just this spring we'll be welcoming four, count 'em, FOUR Strange Tree Saplings into the world. To build something from scratch with a group of kindly folks you've latched yourself to is something wonderful and we're so happy to share this home grown world premiere with the city of Chicago.

Trailer for The Three Faces of Doctor Crippen by Emily Schwartz

Our awesome artistic assocaite, Allan Roysdon, of http://www.crunchiefrog.com/ put together this wonderful little trailer for The Three Faces of Doctor Crippen. You may remember Allan as The Devil from Crucible the musible or that weird french theramin player from Hey! Mr. Spaceman! I know we do. Thanks to him for this wonderful work!

The Three Faces of Doctor Crippen is Strange Tree's Newest Hit!

The show, she is open and the reviews are out. Doctor Crippen is a SMASH HIT!

"This superbly visualized little show is the heir to the distinguished Chicago tradition of the sardonic tale of the lovable murderer....a rather splendid little gothic thriller" - Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune

"Of the trio works on display, it is “The Three Faces of Doctor Crippin,” the Strange Tree Group’s immensely clever, darkly funny, playfully musical, visually sophisticated English music hall-style crime-of-passion parody that gets top prize here." - Hedy Weiss, Chicago Sun Times

"If crime could become its own cartoon, it would be this wickedly charming homicidal romp." - Lawrence Bommer, Chicago Stage Style

"You’ll laugh and groan and you’ll wonder what will happen next in this expertly produced and well-acted comic tale of love, murder and mutilation" - Tom Williams, Chicagocritic.com

"Schwartz’s pleasantly off-kilter aesthetic remains as strong as ever" - Kris Vire, TimeOUT Chicago

Strange Tree Presents: Doctor Crippen Snowpocalypse!

Wow.

WOW.

Snowpocalypse 11 is (as of this blog post) the 3rd largest snowstorm in the recorded history of Chicago. We were supposed to be Teching Doctor Crippen last night...you know figuring out the body parts, racing the rolling clawfoot tub around the stage, trying on fake mustaches. Etc....but instead Steppenwolf closed its doors at 2pm and we were forced to take an evening off from rehearsal. What do we do? Well, we went out in the snow to help our neighbors and promote the show, of course!

Enjoy the madness,

Emily

The Faces of Doctor Crippen Poster Design

Artistic Associate and fellow devious black heart Phineas X. Jones has designed both the poster and postcard for our upcoming production of The Three Faces of Doctor Crippen at the Steppenwolf Garage Rep. To be frank about it, they totally kick ass. Phineas is a master of his craft. Look at how deftly he handles the skull topper?

Check out some more of his work at http://octophant.us/
You can buy directly from the web and own some amazing original art for your tree house.

The Three Faces of Doctor Crippen: In Rehearsal!

Hello friendly friends and blog followers.

We're spending the next month rehearsing The Three Faces of Doctor Crippen for the Steppenwolf GARAGE REP. It's going to be a guaranteed slam-bang, utterly ridiculous, curiously creepy, funny, scary, deep dark and beware-y kind of time. If you loved Mr. Spacky, The Mysterious Elephant and The Dastardly Ficus. This show is for you. (Kiss blown.)

Written by Emily Schwartz, Directed by Jimmy McDermott and featuring: Cory Aiello, Delia Baseman, Scott Cupper, Weston Davis, Carol Enoch, Jenifer Henry, Matt Holzfeind, Bob Kruse, Jennifer Marschand, Kate Nawrocki & Stuart Ritter.

That's right, the gang's all here. (Well, almost Liz Bagby is working behind the scenes on music and scenic design as she'll be acting in Signal Ensemble's upcoming show, and me (Emily) who is writing the play.)

Let's take some questions from the peanut gallery:
How is it going?
Awesomely.
Are you super stressed?
Yes. This is a big one for us! We've been beating the storefront path for six years and we're ready to spread our wings in 2011.
So there's a murder in this, correct?
A pretty horrific murder but there is also singing and acrobatic frippery.
And it's based on a true story?
Yes, it is. The story of Doctor H. H. Crippen who was accused of murdering his wife and running off with his typist (who was dressed as a boy) in 1910.
So it's funny?
Very much so. There are moments of the show where the comedy shines through. It's hard to have a team like ours and not try and pull all that you can from the hilarious absurdity of this poor man's situation, however there are also sections of the play that revolve around the love story or very sudden and extreme violence. So hopefully the show will touch on many different emotional levels. Keep in mind that this one is probably not for anyone under the age of 15 due to the graphic nature of the crime and the gory story we're telling. We don't want to be the cause of anyone's neurotic reoccurring nightmares.
How do you like working with Jimmy McDermott?
Jimmy just came off of directing the wildly successful Boojum! at the DCA storefront theater and has been very hands on with the entire team. It's a joy having him around and his humor and thoughtfulness concerning the text will really take this show to the next level. It's exciting to watch the piece come together and take in rehearsal in process.

The Strange Tree Group Celebrates! Best of the Year 2010!

Dear friends, my what a big year it has been. Taking a took a look back at all that the company has accomplished from January 1st 2010 until today...well it boggles the mind really. It's thanks to the hard work of each and every company member, associate and friend that we are where we are today. Day jobs and night jobs aside, we're creating something special together. We've lost some great comrades this year and we've made new and amazing friendships but in the end we're growing and becoming stronger and stranger each year. Working with amazing directors from around town at the lost love trunk show, Shakespeare's King Phycus at the Building Stage, The One about the Whale at Collaboraction's Sketchbook X, Hosting the 15th Plagiarists' Salon, Our month-long residency in the DCA incubator to workshop our fall 2011 production of The Spirit Play, The Air Raids and awesomeness of The War Plays at the Athenaeum and now, throughout December, workshopping our February 2011 production of The Three Faces of Doctor Crippen for The Steppenwolf Garage Rep...can you tell that we've not had a lot of time to sit still this year? We feel blessed to have your support and your attendance. Thank you for making 2010 possible for The Strange Tree Group!

Many thanks also to Newcity and WBEZ for their best of the year kudos for Shakespeare's King Phycus! Congratulations to artistic associate Ira Amyx and his team from the Lord Chamberlain's men as well as the cast and crew of Strange Trees who made that show such a wonderful artistic success.

Find Shakespeare's King Phycus listed in the top five of 2010 by both
WBEZ Chicago and NewCity!

Noah Ginex draws The War Plays

Our friend and artistic associate Noah Ginex is a talented cartoonist! We're lucky that occasionally he feels inspired by the productions we put on to do doodle cartoons of the cast and crew. Here's a caricature he did of The War Plays cast along with a little info about his process.


The original sketch was done in Photoshop:





The caricature below was "inked" in illustrator:

The War Plays presents Strange Tree's Allied Orchestra!

As the air raid hits what's left of the once glorious allied orchestra plays on. We've got fearless lead singer Kitty Berlin, Chet Laker on Drums, Ronnie Duke on Accordion, Dick Merriweather on the french horn and that ray of sunshine Lindy Lewis on the Cello. Cheers to them for sticking it out through thick and thin!



Only THREE more chances as of this post to see this wonderful production. Get tickets at www.strangetree.org today!

How worried is Chet Laker?

Backstage at The War Plays, the cast discusses how worried they are about the athenaeum theater (which we've transported to London for the purpose of this play) getting hit in an air raid. Come early for the pre-show and watch the backstage action happen before the start of the play. If you've never seen a strange tree performance you might be surprised at how detailed and involved our cast is both before and after the show.
Show up at 7:45 for music and mischief! Get theater outta that box! www.strangetree.org for tickets!

Ruby's 'To Do' List

We've a delightfully dedicated company of actors and production staff. For each show we like to create a world for our characters outside the play that they're in. Sometimes this might be diary entries, personal letters or a list of likes. For poor Ruby Walters...it was an errand list. This girl doesn't rest!

The cast has been so gracious as to share some of their character's personal correspondence. Many thanks to the Actors involved for bringing this wonderful production to life!

There's one weekend left to see this wonderful show.
Tickets can be purchased at www.strangetree.org
$5 off for our online friends with the code 'Blitz'