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Theatre Mon Mar 22 2010
Magical Exploding Boy with Next Theatre's Dark Night Series
Evanston's Next Theatre inaugurated its Dark Night Series earlier this season with an excellent evening of experimental puppetry from Theatre Zarko. The series, which focuses on non-traditional forms of performance, will reignite this weekend when it presents Neo-Futurists ensemble member Dean Evans' comic mime show, Magical Exploding Boy.
A completely wordless one-man show, Magical Exploding Boy presents several darkly comic vignettes using the mime and clown techniques he learned under the tutelage of legends Marcel Marceau and Stephen Niedzialkowsky.
"I'm truly thrilled to introduce Dean and his fantastic work to Next's audiences," said Artistic Director Jason Southerland. "Our first Dark Night offering by Theatre Zarko this season opened whole new doors to our audience as well as introducing new audiences to our work. It's proven to be a fruitful collaboration for all and we believe that Magical Exploding Boy will continue that exciting trend."
Magical Exploding Boy opens this Friday, March 26 and runs through Saturday, April 3 at Next Theatre Company in the Noyes Cultural Center (927 Noyes Street) in Evanston. All performances start at 8pm, except for this Sunday's performance which begins at 2pm. Tickets are $25 for all Saturday performances and $20 for Friday and Sunday performances. Next Theatre subscribers receive a $5 discount. Tickets are available at the Next Theatre Box Office, (847) 475-1875 x2 and at www.nexttheatre.org.
There really isn't much of an outlet for this kind of performance here in Chicago, so Next's Dark Night Series is an important artistic endeavor to support. And having seen Evans do his thing in the Neo-Futurists' bonkers production of O'Neill's Strange Interlude last year, I can vouch for his magnetic stage presence and sharp comic sensibility.
No words, maybe. But plenty of laughs.
