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Theatre Wed May 05 2010
Brikenbrak Debuts in Chicago with Samaritan Syndrome
When you enter Bucktown's Gorilla Tango Theatre on Tuesdays this month, you'll find it transformed into a women's ward asylum. An asylum of victimized, broken souls ridden with guilt and codependency.
In every room there is a patient waiting to be "saved" as male clients pay top dollar to be the ones to save them. But who's more damaged? The audience follows Mr. Suit, a young, nervous man looking for someone specific. And it's not going to be easy.
In one room you meet Saint, she's cursed; the next, Ada, she's lonely; next door to her, Grace, who just can't help hurting herself. They're all dependent on salvation-- a savior. But that's not all that's going on here. Mr. Suit finds it's not just the patients that are needy but the clients visiting-- that and the night nurse, but, she's just in need of a good drink.
Breaking ground in Chicago's theater community, Brikenbrak Theatre Project's psychological drama The Samaritan Syndrome, written by Jeremy Menekseoglu (artistic director of Dream Theatre Company by UIC) and directed by Paul Cosca, opened May 4 and will run through May 25. Brikenbrak's goal is to offer more than just a show but a dialog, engaging the audience--cast and crew (patients and clients) stay after the show for a Q&A on a subject matter Cosca and the cast feels everyone can relate to.
"The feeling of wanting to be saved and wanting to save others is, at one time or another, something we all do," Cosca said surrounded by his team. "We all date that person who we know is bad for us, but think, 'I can save them, if I just try.'"
And the theater offers just the right amount of in-your-face confrontation to witness all the atrocities associated with the twisted characters of the play.
Brikenbrak also seeks to make an impact on the new community it's calling home.
"I'd like to expand the show from not just this room, [but] it's in the community as well," he said.
A portion of donations made to expand on the theater company will go to Connections for Abused Women and their Children (CAWC), 34-year-old women's shelter and service center in Humboldt Park.
The Samaritan Syndrome will run on Tuesday nights in May (May 4, 11, 18, 25) at 8pm at Gorilla Tango Theatre, 1919 N. Milwaukee Ave., an intimate 60-seat theater setting.
