Oobleck Election Play 2008: The Trojan Candidate

 
Theater Oobleck, now celebrating its 20th anniversary of producing theater without a director, presents the Oobleck Election Play 2008: The Trojan Candidate, leading up to the current US election. Join Vice President Cheney on his fantastic voyage into the funhouse of fragile candidate psyches, as he plucks carelessly at the fibers of intention and does his merry jig upon the secrecy of embedded memory. Come spelunking with the master ringmaster as he dares to mix metaphors and science to ask the pressing questions of this election, including 1) why do those planes keep circling Rudy Giuliani's head? 2) why is the Viet Cong renting office space in New Hampshire? and 3) who left this lovely wooden horse outside my neighborhood polling place?
 
Oobleck founding members Jeff Dorchen (The Slow and Painful Death of Sam Shepard, The Life and Times of Jewboy Cain) and Danny Thompson (Danny and His Things, The Complete Lost Works of Samuel Beckett...) team up to pen Oobleck's hail and farewell to those wonderful leaders who work tirelessly in turbulent times to give our anger, frustration and satire an object correlative. The show runs about 70 minutes with no intermission.
                       
WHERE:   

Neo-Futurarium, 5153 N. Ashland Ave., Chicago, IL 60640
Street parking; CTA Red Line (Berwyn); CTA bus (#22 Clark, # 92 Foster)

WHEN:

Opens Friday, October 3, 2008, 8 p.m.
Closes on Monday, November 3, 2008-Election Eve
Runs Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., and Sundays at 3 p.m. (no previews)
Added Monday show on November 3 at 8 p.m. (Election Eve)
                       
TICKETS:       

Call  773-347-1041 or www.TheaterOobleck.com
 $12 suggested donation; "more if you've got it; free if you're broke"
                       
CAST:            

KellyAnn Corcoran (as Hillary Clinton and others), Jeff Dorchen (as Dick Cheney and others), Michael Pogue (as Barack Obama and others), Diana Slickman (ensemble), and Danny Thompson (as John McCain and others).
 
STAFF: Martha Bayne (Lighting Design).
            
NEXT:           

Jeff Dorchen's Strauss at Midnight will be presented in June 2009 at the Storefront Theater. When a time-traveling tourist on a prehistoric safari accidentally kills a butterfly, the reality in Oscar Madison's apartment begins to unravel, and the Odd Couple poker table becomes the battleground for the destiny of human civilization. Dorchen's new play takes Oscar and Felix into Tom Stoppard territory in this examination of free will in a society where the super-privileged can redesign the fabric of time and space.  
 
HISTORY:      

Theater Oobleck is a Chicago-based company celebrating its 20th anniversary, and recently transferred their political hit The Strangerer to New York's Barrow Street Theatre after two successful runs in the Windy City. Over the past 20 years, Oobleck has launched 50 productions of new works, all created and developed by members of the ensemble, working in concert to create a collective vision without an overseeing director. Oobleck has received consistent critical acclaim locally, nationally (Theater Journal, American Theatre, New York Times, Village Voice), and internationally (The Guardian and The Times in London, Maska in Slovenia, and others). Oobleck has had three successful runs at The New York International Fringe Festival, with one production being named "Outstanding Comedy." The Actors Gang and the Zoo District in Los Angeles have produced revivals of Oobleck's plays.
 
Previous election shows have included The Passion of the Bush (2004), The Golden Election (2000),  The Campaign (1996), and Embrace The Serpent (1992).
 
FUNDERS: Oobleck is funded in part through generous grants from the Creative Capital Foundation, the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, The Alphawood Foundation, The Arts Work Fund, the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, Strange Cargo "Sharin' the Love" Foundation, The City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, and the Illinois Arts Council, an agency of the State of Illinois, and from the generous donations of our audiences.

To post a comment, you must register and login.