Displaying items by tag: Felix Mayes

This Halloween season the Rough House Theater brings a very different haunted house experience to the Chopin Theatre. Written by Mark Maxwell and Clara Saxe, under the direction of Mike Oleon, The Silence in Harrow House is an updated version of last year’s production called The Walls of Harrow House, but with new puppets and new stories. 

The creators of the show take us on a self-guided tour of the house of a reclusive architect Milton Harrow, who has some bizarre experimental ideas of the world and what it should look like. His house is inhabited by hideously disfigured life-size mutants. They lurk in corners and tiny enclosures, slowly making their appearances; they make scary sounds and communicate messages to visitors (the audience), who are encouraged to wander around the space and interact with the creatures. All of the residents of the house, including the host, are portrayed by monstrous puppets animated by the actors (puppet design by Grace Needlman). Masked and dressed in all black, the puppeteers are nearly invisible, but for the sake of entertainment, it’s helpful to completely ignore them during the show.  

The show starts out pretty mellow, but the intensity does pick up half-way through, as the music gets creepier and creatures’ loud screams and banning get louder. Cool music and awesome sound effects (sound design by Corey Smith) intensify to unnerving levels at times, and prove a great tool that could’ve been utilized even more, as it has great potential to frighten the audience. I wouldn’t mind, really, it is a haunted house after all! But it is a fun show, and definitely worth checking out. With stunning puppet crafting by Vincent Adler, Anna Ogilvie and Severed Hand and masterful puppeteering by Felix Mayesand Lucia Mier, The Silence in Harrow House is being performed at Chopin Theatre through November 10th.  

At The Ready, a small theatre on Chicago’s Northside is currently hosting the classic parable play “Round Heads and Pointed Heads”. Penned by Bertolt Brecht in 1936, its current Chicago run is being brought to you by Red Tape Theatre - a fine theatre company I would urge one to become familiar with. The play is a sardonic anti-Nazi tale that takes place in in the made-up land of Yahoo where its leaders explore maintaining and strengthening their control by pitting “round heads” against “pointed heads” which replaces racial relations for their aggressive class relations.

Composed of 11 scenes in prose and poetry and 13 songs, the story unfolds in two acts that include an intermission. I found the play a bit long-winded but very well done. Multiple plot lines intertwine throughout and is sometimes quite a bit to digest in one sitting, but its overall message is quite poignant. Having said that, the play is very entertaining.

Several actors in this extremely well-acted production successfully take on more than one role, showcasing a wide variety of talent. Despite the fact that “Round Heads’ is not really a musical per se, there were a good handful of interesting songs that helped tell the story in a unique way.

Social issues like racism, revolution and prostitution made up some of the plot lines. Like I said, it was a lot to digest. As much as I enjoyed the play, the fact so many serious topics are brought to the table and are condensed into a couple hours, can overwhelm one’s attention span at times. However, the story ties together nicely.

Directed by Max Truax, the cast features Maryam Abdi, Ambrose Cappucio, Ben Chang, Casey Chapman, Nora King, Peter Laughlin, Diana Lee, Felix Mayes, Emily Nichelson, Brandon Rivera, Caleb Roitz, Kelsey Shipley, Stephanie Shum, and Ann Sonneville.

What I really like about productions like this set in intimate settings, is that the audience feels they become part of the scenes taking place. I guess having a powerful play so rich and meaningful presented up close and personal is not much of a surprise with a group like Red Tape Theatre. I felt some on the audience consisted of fellow thespians who were there to support the theatre community. Works for me. I like that idea.

Small theatre in Chicago has a lot to offer. There is much to see, and the price of admission is generally reasonable…in this case, free but they do appreciate donations. This production is well worth your time to see, and I look forward to checking out more Red Tape productions. These actors are not doing this to be rich, although it may be a stepping stone to greater things. So, go give them the lift they need…it all comes back to you.

Red Tape's “Round Heads and Pointed Heads” is being performed at At the Ready (4546 N Western Ave, Chicago) through April 21st. https://redtapetheatre.org/