Balloons, festive reminders of first day of school celebrations become bombs….
Strings, reminding of cat’s cradle games you once played to while away time become bomb trip wires…
And the meandering babbles of two children take shape as an account of carnage…
Us/Them in physical theater style takes us to the Beslan school massacre of 2004. We experience the ordeal of being hostages and the carnage that follows through the eyes of two children, a boy (Roman Van Houtven) and girl (Gytha Parmentier) .
The writer/director Carly Wijs in the program notes says that the inspiration for this work was from seeing how her son reported of a violent incident he had seen on TV in a super matter of fact and borderline aloof manner.
These two children, though they focus on different details, similarly are innocent reporters. For some, like this writer, their emotional disconnection from the carnage they witness may at first feel like a stretch. Many of us perhaps can’t get past Guernica visions or, perhaps for some of us of a certain age, remembering the periodic terrors of crouching below your school desk during practice drills to prepare for when the evil Russians might be bombing. Then again, our day-to-day experience doesn’t exactly provide a blueprint for how children might process one of the biggest terrorist incidents of the aughts.
Edinburgh Fringe in Chicago
Kudos to relatively monied Chicago Shakespeare for putting one winner of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival on its stage, where it likely gains a wider and more mainstream audience than in the various smaller venues of Chicago’s Annual Physical Theater Festival. In conversations with its co-director Alice De Cunha a few months ago, this writer had learned that the year-long preparations for that festival in fact includes venturing to the Edinburgh Fringe and saving budgets to bring at least one of its top acts to Chicago.
Chicago Shakespeare Theater Concludes BIG IN BELGIUM Series
Us/Them is also the wrap-up for Chicago Shakespeare’s Big in Belgium series and is a co-production with Brussels-based childrens’ theater Bronks and UK’s Richard Jordan Productions with Theatre Royal Plymouth in association with Summerhall , a Edinburgh Fringe venue and host.
The brilliance in this work, in this writer’s view, is centered most in the carefully considered staging details. How perfect that the cat’s cradle labyrinth the two actors seamlessly assemble has the effect of scaling them down to child size.
The dance prowess and acting abilities of the two actors goes a long way to making the story come alive. Expect to crave a dive into Google after the performance to remind yourself of the details of this history the childrens’ account left out. How interesting to find one of the longest Wikipedia pages ever that gives the blow by blow of this event and its sequels.
This is especially a top pick for lovers of physical theater and a great introduction for newcomers to this genre.
RECOMMENDED
Note: This is now added to the Picture this Post round up of BEST PLAYS IN CHICAGO, where it will remain until the end of the run. Click here to read — Top Picks for Theater in Chicago NOW – Chicago Plays PICTURE THIS POST Loves.
Cast GYTHA PARMENTIER, ROMAN VAN HOUTVEN
Writer & Director CARLY WIJS
Created with THOMAS VANTUYCOM
Designer STEF STESSEL
Lighting THOMAS CLAUSE
Sound PETER BRUGHMANS
Dramaturg MIEKE VERSYP
When:
Thru February 3
Where:
Upstairs at Chicago Shakespeare Theater
Navy Pier
800 E. Grand Avenue
Chicago
Tickets:
For $20 tickets thru January 28, click the ticket deal image on this page.
January 29+,visit the Chicago Shakespeare website for more information and tickets at the regular $49 price.
Photos: Matt Grace, FKPH and Murdo McLeod
Note: Picture This Post reviews are excerpted by Theatre in Chicago
About the Author: Amy Munice
Amy Munice is Editor-in-Chief and Co-Publisher of Picture This Post. She covers books, dance, film, theater, music, museums and travel. Prior to founding Picture This Post, Amy was a freelance writer and global PR specialist for decades—writing and ghostwriting thousands of articles and promotional communications on a wide range of technical and not-so-technical topics.
Amy hopes the magazine’s click-a-picture-to-read-a-vivid-account format will nourish those ever hunting for under-discovered cultural treasures. She especially loves writing articles about travel finds, showcasing works by cultural warriors of a progressive bent, and shining a light on bold, creative strokes by fledgling artists in all genres.
