This is a fascinating and disturbing piece:

http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/pr ... d=22415861

Anyone ever see anything there? dolphin?

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Freedom is our Strength.

I used to live around the corner from there. Saw some previews. I do recall that Profiles was considered the more legitimate theater on the block (the other being the National Pastime.) There were a lot of theater people in that neighborhood. They are a whole 'nother breed.

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I don't remember half the time if I'm hiding or I'm lost

I only had time to read about a quarter of the story. On the one hand, sure this is bordering on assault. On the other, isn't his what the actor SHOULD be doing.

Now if were me, you might beat my ass on stage and we can call it art but I might beat your ass in the alley afterwards and we could call it motivational acting.

It's like that psychological experience where people inflict more pain on a test subject when they are told to do it by the test giver. The guy is hiding behind the role to do something he wants to do and will continue to do it until stopped. Would he try that shit in the name of art, if say, his leading lady was Jessica Lange.

by the way, this entire story was played out in Birdman

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

The article comes at it from the perspective that Darrell Cox is a fucking lunatic, and maybe he is, but the article glossed over what seems to be the core philosophy of the theater as encapsulated by its motto, "Whatever the truth requires". Where are the limits when it comes to giving a genuine performance? Are there any? Would you beat a man senseless on stage in order to express the truth of the material?

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Freedom is our Strength.

I think I've detailed this story before here: when I was younger I somehow got some free tickets to some experimental theater. The play was entirely in Russian (fuck the Russians) and the audience had to listen to dialogue through translation devices. I cannot even remember what the story was but was predictably soulless given it was created in Communist era Russia regarding young adults. There was one scene where a full on sexual assault occurred. It was nauseating and had to be the most depressing theater experience I have ever had. I left because it was a horrible play. I don't know how I would answer about weather the devotion to the role should be considered great acting.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

On the other hand I went to a play at the Court Theater that I believe was called The Ephegenea Project. It was a Greek tragedy. They had a very long scene where the very hot lead actress was naked in Hades. I admired that work.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

I don't think I have ever thought less of a play because the violence wasn't real or even believable. It is a representation of an act, not the act. Reproducing an act ISN"T the goal of the story teller. A scribe can do that. The story teller is trying to assign meeting to the action.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

What the hell??? I think the guy wrote a response, but I didn't read that.

I actually saw "Hellcab" there. It's a tiny theatre--maybe 80 people.

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That's how I feel about it as well, but it seems Profiles made its name based on shocking realism.

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Freedom is our Strength.

There is some theater where the goal is to be provocative. I don't think a story like Killer Joe was meant to be that kind of theater.

Did Tracy Letts give a quote in this story? I assume if he told the guy to back off, he would have backed off as Letts is in the position of superiority.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

by the way, in the realm of no press is bad press, I would be more likely to see a play at this theater because of this piece

Let's see this guy who pushes the edge!

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

No quote from Letts. It seems like all the actresses were afraid of reprisal if they said anything. The worst part was this guy started banging one of his co-stars while she was in high school.

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Freedom is our Strength.

but for many others, they were mature actresses not looking for a break in the industry. There has to be some personal responsibility. Things don't just happen TO you. We've all had shitty bosses.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Yes and no. You know it's a tight knit community and no one wants to get a reputation for being difficult to work with. This is a theater that had gotten a lot of accolades. Most of the women were younger and relatively inexperienced. Some seemed not to even know if this type of behavior was standard.

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Freedom is our Strength.

Ain't that sexual harassment (position of power)?

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I finished this piece last night. The writer admits, or rather accuses, the industry of having a systemic problem at the end of the story. However, the first several pages focus on a single person. That seems like a textbook smear job to me. The writer interviewed many within the industry. She should have been able to produce many examples at many theaters.

It ends up sounding like a bitching session because she was so narrowly focused, like a theatrical industry Devil Wears Prada. If she wrote to change an industry, I think she did a disservice.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Carol Marin discussed this article with a guest on Chicago Tonight this evening. She didn't really say anything all that informative, just acknowledged the issue and the groups that are trying to prevent it from happening.

Before that they had a Muslim man and a gay man (who worked at Pulse in Orlando) on to discuss the massacre. The Muslim guy was over-the-top -- to the point that is started to seem insincere -- about how this is bringing together the two communities, etc. The gay man had such a pronounced lisp that I'm surprised they didn't have someone else on besides him because it seemed to reinforce a negative stereotype.

Going to close now.

I blame JORR

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