Monday, September 28, 2009

Show 25: Co-Prosperity Sphere, Chicago


Turnout: before we started: 25, who watched us: 4.
Cut of the door: $18
Injury report: The reputation of big cities and artist-types declined even further.

Show Description: What's more disheartening than watching a bunch of Bloomington Highschoolers walk away as we start introducing the show? Seeing a bunch of Chicago adults do the same. What's more distracting than performing one thin wall away from the venue's crowded noisy bar? Hearing a TV blasting what sounds like cartoons or music videos upstairs while we perform.

Hey Chicago! We drove hundreds of miles today to show you something, something I spent years writing and that we spent months rehearsing, do you think you could maybe put aside your prejudice against non-chicagoans, or against theatre, or whatever first impressions of us you got and maybe spend 15 minutes giving this a chance before you listlessly make your way upstairs? I guess not.

Ryan (instinct control) arranged some additional acts to play with us. Marissa Perel's intimate performance art evoked a tense slow dance with death, Ryan played his most erotic set ever, reclining on a red leather couch, and this other guy who can only be described as a whiner, played a techno-with-distorted-vocals-and-feedback set that can only be described as vapid hipster imitation noise.

Here's a picture of Ryan humping his reel-to-reel:
Did you see this show? If you did, comment on it, write a review, or ask us some questions. We'd like to hear it because we believe in artistic transparency.

3 comments:

  1. " it was fucking crap" has a chicago theatre goer I'm open to all theatre. But $18 buck is way to much for what your theatre is giving us in return. I've seen some crap in my time but...'crewmen' topped the list. I would say if i had to see the show again (which i would not) i would pay $1. Paying $18 bucks in hard times, it better be fucking amazing. (no matter how much the theatre company makes) This did not seem like something someone spent years writing and months rehearsing. Everything looked thrown to together at the last minute. I think 'crewmen' needs to go back to the drawing broad.

    Not that you fucking care!

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  2. Do you remember paying $18? Cuz we weren't asking for $18, we asked for a $5 voluntary donation. This has me wondering if you actually saw the show. You'd have to be the one out of four who stuck around for the whole thing that we didn't talk to. That guy didn't look this disappointed.

    If you are that guy, we're sorry you didn't like the show, and we definitely do care. This was a very difficult performance for us. I can understand how the minimal set and broken panicked dialog might have come across as thrown together under the circumstances. I hope you can understand how the room full of hipsters walking out right before we began to watch cartoons upstairs might have negatively impacted our performance.

    We'll be playing Chicago again under what i'm betting will be better circumstances at the Prop Thtr Oct 8th. That show is $8 or pay what you can, we'd love to have you back for $1.

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  3. sorry I did not explain: $18 - because I went with friends, who yes! sadly join the rest upstairs to watch TV and screwed me. I had to pay at the door for them. which was about $17 or 18 dollars. so feeling pissed at them I was hopping it would have been kick ass. I was looking forward to seeing the show having seen other shows your company have done. I guess on may levels I feel 'Paint the Town' is stronger. To me 'paint the town' sums up Insurgent if I had to pick a show.
    Don't give up on 'crewmen' I think there are parts that just need fixing to make it has amazing has 'paint the town' was, is and will be.

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