Dog & Pony Theatre Co. Redefines Theater with World Premiere of As Told By The Vivian Girls
Choose-Your-Own-Adventure Performance Runs April 30-May 25 at Theater on the Lake
Release Date: 01/31/08
Named the Best Theater Troupe of the Year in August 2007 by Chicago Magazine, Dog & Pony Theatre Company closes its 2007-08 season with the world premiere of As Told By The Vivian Girls, a devised play by associate artistic director Devon de Mayo and Dog & Pony’s ensemble. The production is presented in conjunction with the Chicago Park District.
Performances run April 30-May 25 and utilize the entire facility of Theater on the Lake at Fullerton and Lake Shore Drive. Previews are Wednesday – Thursday, April 30 – May 1. Performances are Wednesdays - Sundays at 7 p.m.
Tickets are $20 general admission, $15 for students and seniors. All Wednesday and Thursday performances are pay what you can. For tickets call 773-360-7933. Additional information is here.
In this unprecedented, choose-your-own-adventure promenade staging, audience members wear masks and move throughout the performance space at will creating their own experience. The audience follows 15 characters on separate, overlapping journeys through celebrations, conflicts of faith and acts of war that culminate in a selection of two simultaneous endings.
This Chicago story draws inspiration from renowned outsider artist Henry Darger, a recluse who lived in Lincoln Park and shared his art with no one. His imagination overflowed in his prolific stories and drawings, The Realms of the Unreal, where little girls battled against child slavery. As Told by the Vivian Girls interprets Darger's 15,000-plus pages where innocence is destroyed, allegiances are betrayed, and war rages.
Dog and Pony’s production coincides with an exhibition featuring Henry Darger’s art work at Intuit: the Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art, 756 N. Milwaukee Ave., from Jan. 18-June 28, 2008. Co-hosted events include a Thursday, March 13 preview performance of As Told by the Vivian Girls staged in the gallery spaces of Intuit. Two scenes will be presented simultaneously in two separate galleries. The audience may wander from room to room watching the action of the scenes.
May 15 is the League of Chicago Theatres Theatre Thursday package that will include a viewing of the Darger exhibit at Intuit, a light dinner, a bus ride to Theater on the Lake and a performance of As Told by the Vivian Girls all for one ticket price to be determined.
Devon de Mayo* is a founder and associate artistic director of Dog & Pony and directs As Told by the Vivian Girls. She recently received a MFA in Theatre Directing from Middlesex University in London. She has also studied at the Russian Academy of Theatre Arts (GITIS) in Moscow and the Indonesian Institute for the Arts in Bali. Her directing credits include: Phantom Tollbooth (Northlight Theatre), Nights at the Circus (National High School Institute at Northwestern University), 52 (Canal Café Theatre, London), Ohio, Impromptu (Studio 7, London), The World Over (NHSI), The Spider (Indonesian Institute for the Arts), and Clouds (Dog & Pony). She has taught theater in a variety of settings including the National High School Institute at Northwestern University (NHSI) and at schools in London and Sydney. She currently serves as the Director of the Northlight Theatre Academy.
Dog & Pony Artistic Director Krissy Vanderwarker* and Heather Rafferty also serve as directors. Shannon O’Neill* fight choreographs, and Allison Kurtz choreographs the production.
The ensemble cast features Jamie Abelson, John Blick, Missi Davis, John Dixon, Matthew Fletcher, Blayne Greneir, Greg Hardigan, Marta Juaniza*, Sarra Kaufman, Teeny Lamothe, Nick Leininger, Elizabeth Levy, Laura Mahler, Michael Salinas and Josh Volkers. Keely Flynn and Sarah Winkler understudy.
Crew includes set design by Vanessa Conway; costumes by Erin Fast, Katie Lennard and Catherine Tantillo*; sound design by Steve Ptacek; lighting design by Matthew Gawryk* and Jacob Snodgrass; stage management by Farah Joyner and Elfira Karim; and production management by Beth Stegman.
Dog & Pony has presented seven full productions in three years. The company made its debut with Michael Frayn’s Clouds at the historic Chicago Cultural Center in May 2004. In January 2005, Dog & Pony presented the world premiere of Paul Oakley Stovall’s As Much As You Can and then brought the production to the New York International Fringe Festival in August 2005 for a successful run. In winter 2005, the company gained both popular and critical acclaim for its production of Sheila Callaghan’s Crumble (Lay Me Down, Justin Timberlake), which received an encore performance at Theater on the Lake. The company received critical acclaim last spring for its production of Mr. Marmalade by Noah Haidle.
Dog & Pony Theatre Company is committed to producing vital works by new and emerging playwrights whose use of language and convention are daring and highly imaginative. As an eclectic collective of artists with backgrounds in theater, political activism and religion, Dog & Pony is particularly drawn to work with social and cultural relevance.
Dog & Pony Theatre Company is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization and a proud member of the League of Chicago Theatres. For more information, call 773-360-7933 or visit www.dogandponychicago.org.
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* denotes Dog & Pony Artistic Associate
- Contact Phone: 312 742 7529