It was Day 1 of rehearsal for All-One! The Dr. Bronner's Play. In the basement of Ebinezer Lutheran Church, playwright Beth Hyland and the actors at The Passage Theatre discussed possible opening moments for their show: inviting an audience member to have their hands lathered and rinsed, adding soap to a kiddie pool center stage, and finally, starting a chain of sudsy, mutual hand-washing. Little did the actors know that one week later, as hand sanitizers and antibacterial soaps disappeared from grocery store shelves, theatres across Chicago would close their doors.
All-One! The Dr. Bronner's Play is a world premiere commission by Beth Hyland and the Ensemble, directed by Sammy Zeisel. It centers around the life of Dr. Emanuel Bronner-- a man most famous for his pure-castile liquid soap. The play had been set to open in April, but when it became clear that aggressive hand-washing alone would not be enough to fight COVID-19, theatre artists all around Chicago were faced with the dilemma: Cancel, postpone-- or continue virtually?All-One! The Dr. Bronner's Play features Jen Allman, Ned Baker, Carter Caldwell, Nico Kruger, Abby Pajakowski, Deanalís Resto, Will Sonheim, Joolz Stroop, Allyce Torres, and Park Williams.
"Good/Evil! Clean/Dirty! Madness/Genius! Apart/Together! Can all of these major dualities be contained in a soap you may have in your shower right now? And can that soap really have eighteen different uses? All-One! The Dr. Bronner's Play is an irreverent look at life's deepest darkness and brightest light through the too-wild-to-be-believed life of the world's most famous soap maker, Emanuel Bronner."
The creative and production team for All-one! The Dr. Bronner's Play includes: Jean E. Compton* (Stage Manager), Alexi Siegel (Production Manager), Kai Magee (Lighting Designer), David Dawson (Space Designer), Jessica Gowens (Costume Designer), Patrick Budde (Sound/Music director) Cory Hardin* (Artistic Producer), Grace Bolander* (Marketing Director), Evelyn Landow* (Video Editor), Laura Nelson* (Public Relations), Nic Park* (Casting Director), and Will Quam* (Literary Manager).
*Denotes The Passage Theatre company member
For additional information on The Passage Theatre, visit www.thepassagetheatre.com
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