A festival of heavily expressionist one-acts that toe the line between intriguingly fragmented/incomplete (“An Alternate Set of Procedures, ” “Unnamed Time Play”), quasi-melodramatic (“Randomed Soul, ” “Stunt”) and so ambiguous as to border on incoherence (“Fuckjoy,” “Demons and Monsters”). Every play is highly charged emotionally, with at least one intense screaming scene in each; but because most have characters arguing about unknown past events or confusing present relationships, it’s sometimes hard to feel engaged. The year-long Cut to the Quick festival has been heavy on monologue overall, and “after/math” is no exception; what makes this group more challenging for an audience is that, given the thematic emphasis on characters’ memory and distinctive evasiveness in the writing, the shows are often less immediately compelling than their fervent pitch seems to necessitate. Still, the overall experience is evocative, if a bit too hysterical; curation by the side project’s Adam Webster exhibits a strong sense of how short theatrical pieces can speak to one another, with echoes between the performances that make the overall experience cogent than the individual plays. (Monica Westin)
At the side project theatre, 1439 W. Jarvis, (773)973-2150. Through May 17.
A festival of heavily expressionist one-acts that toe the line between intriguingly fragmented/incomplete (“An Alternate Set of Procedures, ” “Unnamed Time Play”), quasi-melodramatic (“Randomed Soul, ” “Stunt”) and so ambiguous as to border on incoherence (“Fuckjoy,” “Demons and Monsters”). Every play is highly charged emotionally, with at least one intense screaming scene in each; but because most have characters arguing about unknown past events or confusing present relationships, it’s sometimes hard to feel engaged. The year-long Cut to the Quick festival has been heavy on monologue overall, and “after/math” is no exception; what makes this group more challenging for an audience is that, given the thematic emphasis on characters’ memory and distinctive evasiveness in the writing, the shows are often less immediately compelling than their fervent pitch seems to necessitate. Still, the overall experience is evocative, if a bit too hysterical; curation by the side project’s Adam Webster exhibits a strong sense of how short theatrical pieces can speak to one another, with echoes between the performances that make the overall experience cogent than the individual plays. (Monica Westin)
