Displaying items by tag: Sideshow Theatre

Tilikum, by Kristiana Rae Colon, is based on the real-life tale of four killer whales – technically orca whales - held captive at an aquatic park in Florida. It is drawn from a 2016 incident at SeaWorld Orlando, in which an orca whale named Tilikum killed its trainer, Dawn Brancheau.

Recounted from the point of view of the captive whales themselves, the story is told powerfully and largely effectively under Lili-Anne Brown’s direction. The play opens with the capture of Tilikum in the Bering Sea. He is a highly intelligent animal living a glorious life, siring many offspring and pursuing the latest object of his desire, Kinsalla Bal, whom he met in the Puget Sound.

The part of Tilikum is played with an exuberant ferocity by Gregory Geffrard. We watch as he is unfurled from a net and released into the tank he will share with three female whales. In his performance, Geffrard uses a stylized movement that mimics the swimming motions of the whale, while he also conveys an animal behavior. 

The villain is the park's proprietor, The Owner (Matt Fletcher), who has brought Tilikum to the aquarium hoping he will father babies with the females. Instead Tilikum drifts into despondency - unhappy in the too-warm water and claustrophobic quarters of the tank. While Tilikum is played by actor Geffrard, the females are portrayed as animated drawings projected on large screens across the stage, in a lovely dramatic scenic design by William Bole.

The females form something of a Greek chorus to the lamentations of Tilikum over his captivity, in drumming replies.
“How can you all sleep in here?” he asks the females. “The water is not deep enough to sleep.” 

In the script, Colon also posits that the females and Tilikum speak a different whale dialect and must take time to learn to communicate. Just as in the original case, the females attack Tilikum (his presence was believed to have has upset their established whale pod social order) and the aquarium owner must build him a separate tank – heightening his loneliness and disaffection. Geffrard conveys the animal intelligence of his character, and we sympathize with his plight. 

For this production at the Victory Gardens Theatre, Colon has developed a novel linguistic technique to convey the whales’ thoughts – a mix of amplified whale echoes and cries, drumming, supra-titles and spoken word. We know whales have elaborate language patterns. Colon is also suggesting how they think, feel, and the way they see the world. It is a wonderful, creative vision of what might be on the mind of another species. 

For all the good in this work of art, there are some sticking points in the script. The Owner is a somewhat one-dimensional baddie. A scene in which he sexually harasses and verbally abuses Tilikum’s sympathetic trainer Dawn (wonderfully played by Sigrid Sutter) is overburdened with a pile of evil doing. While The Owner’s terrible qualities are all believable and of a piece with his nefarious nature, it is too much to cram into one scene.

It might add to the show if audience was given a clue of the real-life background of Tilikum, a factual aspect which makes the story all the more powerful. (We instead hear an acknowledgement of the indigenous peoples displaced as Chicago was created - a worthy concern, not explicitly relevant to this show.)

Tilikum makes us feel the suffering of the whales, and identify with the injustice of using them as performing animals, by offering a glimpse of what must be running through their minds. While progress has been made (including with efforts such as the child-inspired Free Willy movement), as of February 2018 there were still a total of 60 orcas held in captivity (27 wild-captured plus 33 captive-born) in at least 14 marine parks in 8 different countries. 

Tilikum is an inspired and impassioned explanation of why this is wrong. It is highly recommended, and runs through July 29 at the Victory Gardens Theatre in Chicago.

Known for staging eccentric new works, Sideshow Theatre’s production of Walt McGough’s “Chalk” is no exception. McGough serves as the literary manager for Sideshow Theatre and his play is receiving its world premiere in collaboration with Boston’s Fresh Ink Productions.

Peculiar is perhaps the best adjective to describe “Chalk.” Clocking in at just one hour, “Chalk” tells the tale of a woman (Kathleen Akerley) living in a post-apocalyptic world with her daughter (Nina O’Keefe). When her daughter returns with supplies, she notices her behavior is unusual. The story quickly devolves into an episode of “Twilight Zone.” While McGough’s script does an interesting thing in that it tries to humanize a typical horror/sci-fi story, the premise itself is weak. In such a short play, he never grounds the characters in any context. Maybe it doesn’t matter, but the lack of meat doesn’t satisfy the audience. In the end, despite McGough’s efforts, the play is a bit plot-heavy.

Director Meghan A. Smith has paired two really talented actresses together for “Chalk.” Nina O’Keefe is hilarious and her physicality is fun to watch. She brings a much needed intensity to the part. Kathleen Akerley gives a rich performance, often adding what’s not on the page with gesture and body language. She has a sense of the script, and it’s easy to trust her certainty in the dialog.

"Chalk" doesn’t overstay its welcome.  It does what a play should - tells an interesting story with a beginning, middle, and the conclusion is satisfying as plays should be. The deeper moments are good, but overshadowed.

Through June 28^th at Victory Gardens Theatre. 2433 N Lincoln Ave. 773-871-3000