Garters – Pride & Romantasy

I must have been 10 or 11 when I first picked up Tamora Pierce’s The Song of the Lioness Series. It is a story of a young girl who wants to be a knight, and who’s twin brother wants to be a scholar. Neither role is socially acceptable, so they trade, each masquerading as the opposite sex. It became a favorite of mine, I read it over and over again. Over the series, the main character continues to grapple with gender roles and social expectations, as I myself did throughout my adolescence and young adulthood. In the press release for “GARTERS: A QUEER IMMERSIVE ROMANTASY PLAY” Tamora Pierce and Jacqueline Carey are both referenced as influences, and a love of the tropes of the Fantasy Genre resonates throughout the show. If you’ve ever dreamed of life as a bard, or in a caravan of tinkers and traders, or defeating a dragon, this show will feel in some ways like your dreams come to life.

Unlike those novels and many others from the 90s and early 2000s, the subtext has now become text. Writer Natalie Zutter uses familiar tropes and characters to explore gender identity, sexuality and power, and the intersection of social expectations and an individual’s need for self-expression.

Nearly every speaking role in this production reveals a perspective on the role of gender expectations in society and power in relationships. Heir to the throne, Varic (Jerome Michael Jones) spends most of his time on stage reconciling himself with his role as a powerful man, and how to use that power respectfully and responsibly. Lady Dagomar (Lauren Miller) Varic’s aunt and a royal advisor, uses sexuality, her own and that of her den of spies, to gain power. Sir Yvain (Kira Nutter) struggles to accept her childhood friend and lover, Hedy’s (Jenny Hoppes) choices when it comes to sexual expression, and Hedy struggles to understand Yvain’s need to adhere to their own gender identity, regardless of the consequences.

While all of this is going on, a classic fantasy quest for a magical object moves the plot: When Prince Varic’s father, the king, is injured on a hunt, Varic balks at assuming the throne. In an attempt to help, Yvain rushes off to find a magical jewel to help him. The jewel is said to be buried with a legendary heroine: Lady Clotilda, the first and only Woman-Knight. Yvain is joined by Hedy, who disappeared seven years earlier, after the meet in a brothel. As the two search for the jewel, they come across characters on the way, many of whom display a much more enlightened view on gender roles than usually expected in a stereotypical fantasy world. There are several rousing fight scenes, and a few sing-alongs: much like an afternoon at a Renaissance Fair, the ensemble often interacts with the audience.

The space is very small, the actors spent most of their time mere feet from the audience. This made for an intimate and challenging experience: without at least a little remove from the audience, remaining behind the fourth wall is a feat of concentration. At times, several actors seemed underprepared, as if they weren’t quite off-script. There was a struggle to encompass both the stylized, fantasy setting and the up close and personal space. Perhaps it was a character choice, but several of the actors were sometimes difficult to hear. Even a few feet from the audience, a low voice or hunched posture can make it difficult to follow the action. Any performance on a stage, regardless of how inward it might be, must always allow for outward expression.

Many of the best moments come from conversations between main characters, Sir Yvain, a non-binary Knight (Kira Nutter) and Hedy (Jenny Hoppes), a sex worker and former knight-in-training. Hoppes’ character was cast out from Knight Training for being a woman years before the action begins. Nutter’s character made it through training, and revealed themselves as a female knight, only to realize later that that identity no longer felt right. As Hedy and Yvain re-acquaint, Hedy struggles to understand her childhood friend and lover’s identity. Their conversations are frank and honest, and couched in a desire to understand and be understood, allowing the audience to engage with the ideas they present in a loving context.

Another stand out was the fight scenes. Sam Campos created intensity and action thoughtfully and used the available space very well. The cast also threw themselves into the action with abandon.

Ultimately, a fantasy setting felt perfect for exploring these themes. Fantasy worlds have often been places of refuge for kids who felt alone or misunderstood, and watching subtext become text was a refreshing and joyful experience. Theater and Fantasy are places where one can explore identity and ideas, and also a reminder that regardless of the trappings, we are all human beings, seeking to be seen and understood by those we love.

Somewhat Recommended

Reviewed by Alina C. Hevia

Presented at the Otherworld Theatre, 3914 N. Clark St. May 31-July 7, 2024, Fridays and Saturdays at 7pm, Sundays at 2pm. Tickets are $27 with a limited number of number of pay-what-you-can tickets available for each performance. GARTERS is thoughtfully crafted for mature audiences aged 18 and older; viewer discretion is advised.

Box Office: www.otherworldtheatre.org

Additional information about this and other area productions can be found by visiting www.theatreinchicago.com.

On The 20th Century is a riotous, musical extravaganza.

On May 14, the blank Theatre Company opened their production of ON THE 20^th CENTURY in the brand-new Bramble Arts Loft in Andersonville to a packed house.

Their venue was the intimate Berry, a black box with perfectly designed sound and lighting. On first glance, it seemed too small a space for a classic, larger than life American musical. The show debuted on Broadway in 1978, in the golden days of American Musical Theater. The book and lyrics are by the legendary Betty Comden and Adolph Green (On the Town, Singing in the Rain), and the music by Cy Coleman (Sweet Charity, Will Rogers Follies). It’s everything a musical should be: big, loud, silly and sharp. The Berry must be a magic clown car because somehow, a packed house and a boisterous cast of twelve all fit comfortably inside and had a rousing good time.

The staging was minimal – a large arch with red curtains graced one side of the room, and the audience lined along the other three sides. Props and costumes were carefully period creating a pared down yet distinct place and time. The only set changes were done with two chairs, some luggage, and a few handheld items like purses, posters, books, etc. Instead of fantastic, over the top sets, the cast filled the space with their song, their spirit and their obvious joy in their work.

The story is a classic Romantic Comedy, straight out of the birth of that genre: His Girl Friday meets I Love You Again meets at least half the movies starring Bing Crosby. Frankly, it’s a love letter to all of the above, and several of the classic tropes, like the warring couple who profess hate but secretly mean love, the eccentric millionaire and the bumbling sidekicks.

While there are no stand-out melodies, the songs are all well-crafted, funny and excellently sung. It is a modern Opera, with the requisite recitative, complicated quartets, counter melodies, bombastic duets and arias galore. The entire cast shares polished, operatically trained voices that really shined in this setting. A favorite recurring joke was a “holy chorus” that popped out of the wings and bathed us all in harmony, another was a recurring melody of random citizens pushing their plays on producer Jaffe.

The standout for this show however, aside from excellent, operatic voices and some truly hilarious physical comedy, was the choreography. Jen Cupani, Danny Kapinos, and Tony Pellegrino created a thing of beauty in what seemed an impossible space. Each scene was tightly choreographed, like a dance, but without much actual dancing; rooms changed, people came in and out, actors hid and surprised each other in a space roughly the size of a luxury walk-in closet. Somehow, it never felt crowded or impossible. The imaginations of the actors and the careful planning of the Creative Team transformed said closet into a moving train in the 1930s, and the precise movements around the space were overall a marvel of planning.

Karylin Veres especially shone as Lily Garland, an extremely difficult vocal role debuted by Madeline Kahn – who quit due to vocal exhaustion! Veres pulls it off perfectly, tossing out high C’s and trills like the pro she is – she even made it look easy – especially when singing seated, or lifted or draped. DeTogne as Jaffe also manages to sing a lovely operatic tenor solo while lying flat on his back: no easy feat. Rothbart and Arceo make a perfect comic duo and occasional straight men to DeTogne. Christopher Johnson, Rothbart and Arceo all met the challenge of playing straight men to the bombastic performances going on around them nicely; it’s easy to forget that without the straight man, we’re just watching a room full of nuts – those moments of disbelief and frustration they portray gives the audience something to relate to and laugh even harder when everything goes off the rails.

If gorgeous, trained singing, high physical comedy and sharp dialogue sound like a good time, you can’t go wrong with this production.

Highly Recommended

Reviewed by Alina C. Hevia

All photos credited to Kelsey Decker/Wannabe Studio

Presented at the Bramble Arts Loft at 5545 N. Clark St. Chicago, IL 60640 in Andersonville, and running Thursday – Sunday, as well as Monday, June 3, through June 9, 2024.

Tickets for ON THE 20th CENTURY are $15.00 – $35.00 and can be purchased online at www.blanktheatrecompany.com.

Additional information about this and other area productions can be found by visiting www.theatreinchicago.com.