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!