Each week as I sort through the invitations to theater and concert events taking place in Chicago, it’s rare that I find a title as intriguing and inviting as this one - "The Brink or Nobody's Ever Kissed Me like That". 

Walkabout Theater Company described this show in their press release as "experimental cabaret" set in "a cafe at the edge of the world." And that would be a very accurate description.  

“The Brink” contains a variety of beautiful, recognizable songs, like “Sunshine, Lollipops, and Rainbows,” "Beyond the Sea” and "You Don't Own me," along with some classic Jazz and Motown standards. Colorful, erotic and avant-garde, each number is performed with a uniqueness that makes this play a true original. What the company does with some of the songs is quite amazing and sometimes a little scary to watch. Many of the songs are slowed down or sped up mid-number, as one of the ensemble members appears to control the delivery of each song with an old radio tuner. 

“The Brink’s” talented cast includes Nigel Brown, McCambridge Dowd-Whipple, Cooper Forsman, Dana Murphy, Katie Mazzini, Thom Pasculli, Alex Rodriguez. The three women in the cast have accomplished singing voices, yet each of these standards is sung with the most interesting variety of twists and turns. For example, "You Don't Own Me" is sung by a female ensemble member who begins by standing in a tin water tub while another male member of the troupe pours water over her head from a tin garden watering can until her long, shiny black hair is wet and her beautifully applied makeup and mascara are running down her face like black tears.  She then dance/ crawls her way over to a piano and sings the rest of the song in halting bits to an invisible suitor warning him not to try and change her with the following lyrics, but then tells him to kiss her over and over again. 

You don't own me
I'm not just one of your many toys
You don't own me
Don't say I can't go with other boys
Don't tell me what to do
And don't tell me what to say
Please, when I go out with you
Don't put me on display
You don't own me
Don't try to change me in any way

The full effect of this number is stunning and sexy, yet sad and lonely all at the same time. 

The play is fair to both sexes when it comes to describing how hearts are easily toyed with and broken, yet there is a decidedly feminist and therefore humanist bent to the whole piece which I enjoyed immensely. With original text by Nigel Brown, quotes from renowned feminists Gertrude Stein and Ann Carson are scattered about like prose poetry and fall off the lips of the ensemble like rose petals off a dying rose instead of being shouted at the audience rally style.

At one point a female cast member says something to the effect of: All men lie, they cannot stop telling lies. I must leave this place as I am becoming bitter and hard from the thought that the basis of a woman's entire life is only about enduring humiliation. I will run and skip to find a new place to escape this one.

This is a feminist statement that really rings true with many women and got a lot of sympathetic nods of recognition from women and men in the audience.

I really enjoyed studying the delicately made and cut costumes and makeup in this show. Each costume is fitted to each ensemble member to perfection and is made of a variety of beautifully colored silks and linen, which grace the whole show with a decidedly French couture or, at times, Italian couture feeling. The brilliant costumes by Myron Elliott-Cisneros undoubtedly enhance the many, many beautiful images created by the cast in each scene or vignette. 

I highly recommend this bewitching and enchanting ensemble production for anyone seeking a night of thought provoking romantic idealism, dance and song in a surrealistic atmosphere that will allow you to explore new places in your own minds memories of love you have lost or found with new insight. 

The production is coming off previews in Cricoteka Centre in Krakow, Poland, and continue its journey to India for the 8th International Theatre Olympics in Mumbai and New Delhi following its three-week Chicago run. 

"The Brink or Nobody’s Ever Kissed Me Like That" is being performed at Links Hall through March 31st. More information on this amazing show can be found at http://walkabouttheater.org.