The BackStage Blog

Those of you who have spent much time around us these past few seasons probably know that we are driven by stories that raise interesting questions.  Our artists at BackStage use the family dynamic as a lens through which to examine elusive questions about our human selves and the lives we construct in the world around us.  At the center of each of our stories is a family, and at the center of the family is a question.  If I were to give a succinct personal summary about what I feel makes good (or even “important”) theatre, it would sound like this:  good theatre asks good questions.

The same can be said about good criticism.  Theatre criticism (and art criticism in general) is often at the heart of some pretty contestable arguments, sometimes for strong intellectual reasons and sometimes because the artists clearly had their feelings hurt.  But in the long view, I think the most effective criticism is the kind that doesn’t tell its reader how to experience a play or a performance or work of art, but one that makes the reader think about what they saw (or will see) and finds a way to relate that experience to the everyday lives of the reader.   Good theatre criticism might pre-load the reader with a question that gives that reader a certain tool or insight that makes participation in the event they attend a bit more active.  Good criticism relates the importance of high standards in the art we claim as our own, and gives us the tools to understand why art is essential in our lives.

Like good theatre, good criticism asks good questions.

This weekend, we opened Caryl Churchill’s A NUMBER at the Building Stage.  As part of its given circumstances, Churchill’s play centers on the story of a father who has cloned his first born son.  In his review for the Chicago Tribune (a largely favorable review, I’ll admit) Chris Jones commented on something that has been ringing in my ears ever since.

” . . . one is struck anew by how much more comfortable we’ve become over the past decade with the intrusion of technology in human reproduction. I’d argue that we’re also now less worried — perhaps foolishly — that labs will suddenly start churning out folks for other folks to buy at Wal-Mart.  Thus “A Number” does not so much feel like a cutting-edge drama as almost a period piece. Which does not mean it is without interest or potency.”

Here is a moment of criticism that makes me think, that makes me start to ask questions not only about the world of our play, but about the greater world we live in.  We never approached the play as an examination of bioethics or as a morality tale about cloning.  It is and always has been a study of the dynamics of parental decisions and responsibility under extraordinary given circumstances (human cloning.)  But Jones raises a good question about an important aspect of the play that we may have taken for granted.

So let’s use the questions raised by good drama and good criticism and talk about this.  Is Jones right?  Are we really becoming less fearful of the idea of biologically engineered human beings?  Are we starting to let go of the notion that human cloning is “playing God?”

And if so, what does that say about us and the future of our most intimate relationships?

BackStage Theatre Company opens A Number this coming Saturday at the Building Stage!  This week, we’ll be introducing you to some of the artists who have contributed to the production.

Next up, it’s our very own Tony Bozzuto.  Tony was last seen as Pip/Theo in last season’s acclaimed Three Days of Rain, as well as our Jeff nominated production of Memory.  Asked about how A Number speaks to him as an artist, he had this to say:

“Of course, I love Churchill as a writer, but I admire this one in particular.  I have had a complex relationship with my own father, so any story that explores that dynamic is of instant interest to me.  What’s great about A Number, is I get to attack that dynamic from three different perspectives.  Also, as crazy as Churchill’s story sounds, the core of it is something very real and tragic.  When it all comes down to it, she asks some very deep questions…What defines who we are? and Can we make up for past mistakes?” 

This is Tony’s second season as a full ensemble member, but our audiences have been seeing him on our stages for quite some time.  Before last season’s Three Days of Rain and Memory, Tony was seen in Orange Flower Water, and in received a Jeff Nomination for his acclaimed portrayal of Robert in On An Average Day. His forst production for BSTC was in Paula Vogel’s How I Learned to Drive.  For about seven years, Tony has been honored to work his way around the Chicago theatre scene with such talented companies as Lifeline Theatre, Next Theatre, Metropolis PAC among others.  Whether on stage, television or film, Tony credits much of his skills and successes to his studies at the incomparable Hilberry Theatre in Detroit, MI, where he received his MFA.

BackStage Theatre Company opens A NUMBER this coming Saturday at the Building Stage!  This week, we’ll be introducing you to some of the artists who have contributed to the production.

First up, our guest artist Patrick Blashill, who plays Salter.  Asked about how this play speaks to him as an artist, Patrick had this to say:

“This piece has so many layers to it, the challenge of the role is what initially intrigued me.  As a father, to be able to explore the darker side of parenting was both difficult and fun…being able to really experience the emotion of the play and then be able to go home and hug my children gave me strength and perspective that allowed me to really let loose.  The play is brilliant.  It is hard to read at first but once I found the rhythm, individual sections and beats took on new meaning and changed the meaning.  I’m still learning,  which says a lot about Caryl Churchill and her particular genius.  Working with Karen, Tony, and Jen has been a real treat…they all bring so much to the production and have helped me more than they’ll know.”

We are thrilled to have Patrick with us for our season opener.  Patrick has been an ensemble member with Lifeline Theatre since 1996 and has been performing at various Chicago theatre’s for the past 20 years. His favorite roles include the Father in Sarah Ruhl’s Eurydice, Old Bailey in Neverwhere, and Edgar Drake in The Piano Tuner (After Dark award for outstanding performance). Other favorite roles include Ferdinand the bull in The Story of Ferdinand, the Mighty Gorilla in The Snarkout Boys and the Avocado of Death (later remounted for Chicago Theatre on the Air with guest star Brent Spiner), Victor in Lizard Music, Hugh Thane in The Talisman Ring, Tom in Pistols for Two (Jeff citation nomination for Best Ensemble), and Bunter in Strong Poison (Jeff citation nomination for Best Ensemble). He is especially proud to have acted in all three books of Lifeline’s Lord of the Rings trilogy that spanned The Fellowship of the Ring (Bilbo Baggins-1997), The Two Towers (Frodo-2000), and The Return of the King (Frodo-2002). Patrick has worked with numerous other Chicago theatres (including an opportunity to play Mr. Knightley in Reverie Theatre’s adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma) including Victory Gardens, Organic Lab, Theatre on the Lake, Stage Left, and Shakespeare’s Motley Crew. Patrick is a graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.

Come see what Patrick’s artistry brings to A Number, opening this weekend at The Building Stage!

As the holidays approach, our 12th season officially gets underway!  Our first production, A Number, opens on January 7th at the Building Stage.  In anticipation of the opening of the BackStage Season, Development Director Celene Mielcarek sat down for a conversation with Artistic Director Matthew Reeder about what is in store for BackStage in the New Year and beyond.

As Artistic Director, what are you most looking forward to in BackStage’s 2011-2012 Season?

There’s an awful lot to be excited about this season.  We’ve two wonderful, challenging plays that we are incredibly excited about.  ”A Scent of Flowers,” is a wonderfully poetic drama that was written in 1965, but feels like it could have been written last week.  James Saunders, the playwright, is virtually unknown in the States, but Tom Stoppard claims that it was watching Saunder’s “Next Time I’ll Sing For You” that made him want to write plays.  We’ve done a lot of digging, and we can’t find a production history for “Scent of Flowers,” but we think that our production is one of the first professional productions of this remarkable play in the States.  And it fits our mission like a glove.  It feels like a real find.  It’s an ambitious piece.  I’ve been quietly sitting on this play for a few seasons, and I think we’re ready.

Also, I am very excited about “A Number.”  I think that Caryl Churchill is one of the most unique dramatic voices of our time and in “A Number,” she has penned a really haunting story that examines the complex bonds of fathers and sons within the confines of a naturalistic sci-fi chamber drama.  I know, it sounds bizarre!  But the strangest thing about the play is how un-strange it actually is.  The play is (like most of the stories we tell) deeply intimate and full of questions.  And it is being directed by my good friend and mentor Karen Kessler, who is a company member at Red Orchid.  Karen is the former Artistic Director of Famous Door Theatre company, where I served as an MFA intern many years ago.  She helped me launch my career here in Chicago, and I can’t wait to have her around this season.  It feel like a circle has completed itself somehow.  And she’s a really exciting director.

What was BackStage’s greatest impact last season?

Last season was pretty significant for us on a number of levels.  With Memory, we took a challenging, relatively untested play about a contentious subject and turned it into one of our most notable productions.  Mostly importantly, however, that experience gave us a several new opportunities to engage our growing family of patrons in a vital dialogue about the kinds of stories we choose to tell, and how those stories affect our lives.  Our Sunday talkback series gave us a weekly opportunity to connect to our patrons in a very direct, approachable way.  In the process, we have begun to get to know the people who have come to know our stories.  A lot of artists spend a majority of their creative lives shouting into the void.  It is a remarkable thing when that void begins to light up with familiar faces.

BackStage is in a period of exciting change right now! What are some of the changes you are most excited about?

We have been in the process of rejuvenating our staff for quite some time now.  Just three years ago, we had a staff of just four.  There are now ten of us.  Over this past summer we have added a new Development Director, a new Associate Artistic Director and we a new Managing Director.  In the past few seasons, we have seen wonderful growth on the board level.  Three seasons ago, there were two people on the board.  Now we have a full and very active, enthusiastic board of seven who have brought more to this organization than I could possibly describe in the few minutes that I have here.

Organizational development may not be the sexiest thing to talk about, but the people really are the lifeblood of an organization.  Adding this many talented, driven people to the BSTC roster bodes pretty well for the future of the organization.  These folks will only continue to make us get better at what we do.  That’s pretty exciting to me.

What makes BackStage different from other storefront Chicago theatres?

Even though we are a small organization, we are already decidedly mission-driven.  Every decision we make, whether about programming or otherwise, is filtered through the lens of our organizational mission and our core values.  This is a clarifying process, but it doesn’t always make it easier.  The dedication to our mission gives us less room for easy decisions, and makes programming a season much more focused and particular.  It adds creative tension to the selection of a season but it has, I think, always ended up paying off in a pretty meaningful way.  Our mission is a pretty unique one, and we are learning how to navigate through the questions it asks of us.

Also, we are a direct product of the Chicago theatre scene, and very specifically the homegrown Storefront movement.  Much of what we do has been dictated by the realities of the “alternative spaces” we have produced in over the years.  These spaces vary in functionality and quality, but one common characteristic among them is their proximity to the audience.  For a long time, theatre companies like ours were looked upon as the little companies who were still waiting to grow up.  The local mythology of Steppenwolf has spawned a million like-minded start-up theatre companies who have long believed that the incredible combination of factors that lead to Steppenwolf’s unprecedented success can happen to them if they just stick it out long enough.  For a few decades now, Storefront theatres have been pointing at that famous Steppenwolf marquis and asking “how do we get there?”

At BackStage, we are asking ourselves a different set of questions.  Over the past few seasons, we have become increasingly enlivened by the possibilities that exist in the constraints of our intimate spaces.  In these small spaces, fueled by the questions that our mission compels us to ask, we have realized that we are already offering our audiences something vital and unique.  Staged in close proximity to the audience, our stories become something our audiences experience, rather than watch.  Combine that disarming closeness with our dedication to producing shows that require some imaginative and intellectual work on the part of our audiences, and a picture begins to emerge that really has nothing to do with becoming the next “big” thing.  Our central question then becomes less about how we might land our 500 seat theatre, and more about how to deepen our close engagement with our audiences as we grow.  These are somewhat uncharted waters, but they are very very exciting to us.

‘Tis the season to count blessings, and it should be no surprise that to all of us at BackStage, our biggest blessing is our loyal base of patrons and donors. As you’ve heard us say before, our work is for you but we cannot do it without you. We are thankful every day for your participation in our art and our lives.

Your support powers our growth. Last week, we concluded the inaugural presentation of our newest artistic initiative, the Listening Series. You made this series possible, and for that, we are thankful.

Listening to ensemble members Rebekah Ward-Hays, Michael Pacas, and Eric Paskey twist Harold Pinter’s tale was just the beginning. We are thrilled to bring our new Associate Artistic Director, Jen Poulin, on-board the team. This is far from the first time Jen has worked with BackStage, but her new role opens doors that weren’t possible before. You’ll be seeing BackStage take on new projects with invigorated energy in the coming season.

I loved seeing all the shining faces of our closest friends and family at the Listening Series, and I’m excited that this is just the beginning. We have big goals as always, and we know that we can count on you to help us expand our reach. We are growing both our audience and our capacity to share our stories, and we’re so excited by the early returns on this season’s Annual Fund campaign that drives our continued progress. Thank you for all that you do with us and for us.

–David Zoltan

Assistant Development Director