As we left the theatre my companion said, “I’d give that an A- if I knew what the heck we just saw.” From the mouths of Friends!

THIS IS NOT A PIPE is a compilation of several genres packaged together into a 2-hour production. Each of these moieties are excellently performed, though I had trouble piecing it all together into a whole.

Ellyzabeth Adler^sh/h, Chicago Danztheatre’s Executive Artistic Director, with Assistant Director Hannah Blau^sh/h, choreographed and directed THIS IS NOT A PIPE; you can’t tell me “That Is Not Multi-Tasking!

The show begins with the all-female cast dressed in identical business suits and bowler hats – all but one, who floats about in a gauzy white 1920’s gown and enormous leghorn hat. Oh yeah, many of the actors don’t enter the stage on foot. The first half-dozen entrances are made slithering gracefully on the floor of the center aisle.

Oh, and by the way, nobody speaks. We’re nearly ten minutes into the show before one of the bowler hats says “Molly?”, followed by a lovely exhibition of … what?  Geometric dance? Gymnastic pirouettes? Balletic castelling? with various bowlers emitting infrequent yips of “Molly?” “Molly!”

The action is really launched when Dr. Freud (Jenise Sheppard^th/th) takes the stage in dapper [male] evening dress, wielding a cane (which, no doubt, Is Not A Cane) and reciting passages from the writings of her male doppleganger Sigmund. Sheppard has an awesome stage presence and held me transfixed. They play ‘Red Light/Green Light’ with the ensemble, pointing the cane and barking “Nein!”, at which the person selected freezes until the next dancer is “Nein!-ed”, while continuing their soliloquy of Freudian maxims, unsurprisingly dominated by the word ‘penis’.

The final quarter hour of the action I found beautiful to watch but just as difficult to reconcile with the other sections. Adler defines her mission as taking “the works of Sigmund Freud, Rene Magritte and the birth of modern psychology… apart to question identity, sexuality, womanhood and dream interpretation, while bringing some of Magritte’s images to life’. This is quite a diverse and arduous task, and I didn’t quite see it realized, though the production certainly achieves a dream-like quality throughout.

I already said this, but it deserves saying again: every segment is superbly performed. Costumes are brilliantly designed, particularly as several quick changes occur onstage. Stripping is more than just taking off your clothes! but they pull it off, Sheppard and all twelve dancers: Angel Page Smigielski^th/th, Courtney Reid Harris^sh/h, Emma Parssi^sh/h, Julie Peterson^sh/h, Keila Hamed-Ramos^sh/h, Kristen Secrist^sh/h, Laura Sturm^sh/h, Lila Rubin^sh/h, Mary Iris Loncto^sh/h, Mia Hilt^sh/h, Morgan Van Dyne^th/th, and Wannapa P-Eubanks^sh/h.

Joshua Paul Weckesser^h/h and Joe Griffin^h/h do very well with light and sound design, especially given the technical constraints of the venue. Adler designs the set, with EC Brown^sh/h responsible for the original 2006 bird backdrop, Naomi Flores^sh/h for Rose Construction, and Matthew Gregory Hollis^h/h doing Photography. The remainder of the crew includes Managing Director Carly Davis^sh/h, Community Engagement Director Naomi Flores, and Gabrielle Foreman^sh/h as Stage Manager and Assistant Production Crew.

Kudos to all for a unique and very absorbing evening!

Through November 19^th, in the Auditorium at Ebenezer Lutheran Church, 1650 W. Foster Ave.