It had been announced a little while ago that Alchemist Theatre was going to be doing a high-concept '70s New York art scene thing for its 2015 season, but what about the remainder of 2014?
We already knew about Mary K. Ryan's Use No Place Soon that opens April 3rd and the production of Mamet's Oleanna being directed by Erin Eggers, but there are also a couple of other shows that have been recently announced:
September finds the Alchemist engaging in Destiny, Devilry & Dentistry. Sketch comedy group The Show's Doug Jarecky and Jason Powell stage six one acts at the Alchemist September 4th - 20th.
From the copy:
"A couple gets passive-aggressive at an airport security checkpoint.
FBI agents carpool to work.
A movie star needs his teeth looked at.
These and other intensely powerful scenarios are played out over the course of a single evening, in six short comedic plays by local authors Doug Jarecki and Jason Powell.
A night of emotional truths and impacted tooths."
These guys are funny. Powell has had material make it to the stage in a variety of different ways. And Jarecki is an excellent performer--even managed to recently make a Fleet Farm commercial seem kind of funny as I recall.
Anyway--Destiny, Devilry & Dentistry runs September 4th - 20th at the Alchemist.
And then in October, the Halloween show goes for psychological horror this year as the Alchemist's 7th Halloween Show will be Aaron Kopec's Suicide Sleep. From the description:
"After months of unemployment and with a relationship on the rocks,
Stay on top of the news of the day
Subscribe to our free, daily e-newsletter to get Milwaukee's latest local news, restaurants, music, arts and entertainment and events delivered right to your inbox every weekday, plus a bonus Week in Review email on Saturdays.
Rick is looking for a fresh start.
In an attempt to save money, he moves into a small room adjacent to a loud bar.
Soon Rick finds himself in a hazy state of insomnia-driven delusions, lost time and waking nightmares in which he partakes in deceitful and violent acts against his girlfriend Lynn and her estranged sister Sarah."
Kopec's horror had previously been much more overt. We'd had Dracula. We'd had the tale of America's first serial killer in Herman Mudgett. As I recall murder has been pretty prominent in the Halloween annual Alchemist Halloween shows. Here we have something that has the potential to be both more surreal and much more subtle than those previous forays into horror.
Suicide Sleep runs October 16th - 30th. For more information visit The Alchemist online.