Chicago has a well-established reputation for cutting edge theatrical productions. The Second City comedy troupe (Belushi, Murray, Farley), Steppenwolf (Malkovich, Sinise, Mahoney), and the Blue Man Group all originated here. My personal favorite Chicago dramatician is David Mamet ("Glengarry Glenross", "American Buffalo"). Ralph Concepcion, who studied acting under Mamet and William Macy ("Fargo", "The Cooler") has written a fantastic piece called"Job Opportunity" that gets my highest recommendation.

Not to give away too much of the plot, it involves a couple friends who are low on funds. A guy in a bar offers them $500 to pick up and deliver a bag about 6 blocks away. But here's the kicker...

The entire play takes place in a 1985 Oldsmobile Delta 88!

That's right. You are seated in the back seat and driven through the side streets and alleyways of Wrigleyville, Uptown, and Andersonville while the actors make the pick-up and drop-off. This adds a unique fourth dimension for the audience. You are actuallyinside the show, in real time, the scenery is moving around you, and you have no idea which people on the street are in the play and aren't. It is hard to imagine a more atmospherically intimate and proximate theatrical experience.

Along the way, you get hallmark Mametian pointedly humorous dialogue, deconstructed psychoses, and lessons in street morality.

The show is not interactive. The actors will not address you until the show is over. They encourage you react as if you were watching something on a stage. A maximum of four people can fit in the back seat. Last night, it was just my wife and I. Tickets are $37 apiece. It lasts about an hour.

Afterwards, the actors talked to us on the street for 15 minutes. We discussed the challenges of doing a play like this. The guy who drives the car is pretty amazing. (Imagine acting and driving at the same time.) There is a good deal of improvisation that must occur as the nieghborhood people have no idea that this is a performance. In fact, they said they were pulled over by a cop on Friday for "acting suspicious" and were able to stay "in character" until the cop let them move on. The audience never knew it wasn't part of the script.

During our discussion, the actors pleaded with me to spread the word about the play. With the limited "seating" for their shows, they literally have no budget for promotion and often have unbooked time slots (they perform Fri-Sun at 6:30, 8:30, and 10:30 PM). That may start to change soon, as the Chicago NPR entertainment reporter recently recorded some of the play and will likely do a piece on it in the next couple weeks.

Ticket info:

Bailiwick Arts Center
1229 Belmont Ave.
773-883-1090
www.bailiwick.org

According to the cast, the play "will run as long as the car does".

Cheers,

Otis

Thanks Otis! Sounds really cool. Next time PURPLE and myself head to The Windy City we'll check into this.

I wish more people would do write ups on things like plays, museums, etc... When we travel we love to do things like this as part of the trip and having other forum members comments beforehand would really be helpful.

Thanks Otis! I will be passing this around to several at work. Sounds really entertaining!

Fascinating concept.

I do hope they have a excellent insurance policy, however...

Argh!

I was in Chicago this past weekend with my wife visiting some family and friends. Had I known, I would've loved to do this.

Oh well, next time!

Otis, I gotta say you guys live in a great city. The Art Institute was fantastic and Wrigley Field is pure magic (though Cubs lost 1-2 on Friday to Oakland).

WIML/Illinicellar: Glad you found this interesting. I hope you guys can check it out sometime. If so, please let me know how you liked it.

Rothko: I highly doubt they are insured. But that just makes it more edgy. Actually, the driver said he is really conscious of driving legally and safely during the performance. It helps that much of the action takes place on side streets with a small amount of traffic.

J-town: If you ever have any free time in Chicago, please don't hesitate to give me a shout. I'd love to knock a few glasses of wine back with you. I had an extra badge to VinExpo Americas at McCormick Place that you could have used on Sunday. Tasted through a ton of '01 Bordeaux and '02 Burgs today. Pretty awesome event. Maybe next time!

Cheers,

Otis

You got it Otis - I would love to hang with you and the CWM. This trip was so packed with family and friends - next time we'll take a week and take our time.

Cool concept! I once saw a play in London where the actors (but not the audience) were in a car. This takes it so much further, especially with some bystanders being actors.

Hopefully the price of gas won't keep going up, or they'll have to raise ticket prices...