Last year, Youngblood Theatre used a costume shop
to stage the poetic, contemporary Spirits
to Enforce. The company follows last year’s critical success with an
equally poetic show being staged in a storage warehouse. Carson Kreitzer’s Freakshow—about a group of sideshow
freaks at the turn of the last century—is an interesting choice for an
off-center show.
The script presents Youngblood with a number of challenges, not the least of which is bringing the physical reality of the freaks to the stage. There’s a human salamander, a dog-faced lady and more. The characters are described in breathtaking detail in monologues. There’s a patchwork feel to the script, which is pieced together in more than 25 individual scenes that mix expository poetry with moody, shadowy dialogue.
The rhythm of a script like Kreitzer’s is a key challenge. Director Jason Economus has been working extensively with a large cast that includes Youngblood co-founders Tess Cinpinski, Rich Gillard, Andrew Edwin Voss and Benjamin James Wilson.
Economus and the cast are approaching rather fantastic characters from a sympathetic perspective, looking to find out what makes the characters “normal.” The right approach should allow the audience to identify with the characters by pointing out the fantastic elements in everyday life. Ideally, the right mood, rhythm and atmosphere will fall into place behind compelling, human characters.
The richness of the mood isn’t being carried entirely by the cast, however. “There is something creepy about the space itself,” Economus says. “[Costume designer] Frank Barrows is helping to really flesh it out in a believable, creative way.”
Barrows, a costume production student at UWM, is part of a young, talented design crew that also features scenic designer Evan Crain, who has done impressive work for recent studio theater shows, seasoned lighting designer Jason Fassl and sound designer Loren M. Watson. Economus also speaks of using sound as a character in and of itself.
Youngblood Theatre’s production of Freakshow runs Oct. 29-Nov. 20 at the Lincoln Storage Warehouse, 2018 S. First St.
Theater Happenings
The script presents Youngblood with a number of challenges, not the least of which is bringing the physical reality of the freaks to the stage. There’s a human salamander, a dog-faced lady and more. The characters are described in breathtaking detail in monologues. There’s a patchwork feel to the script, which is pieced together in more than 25 individual scenes that mix expository poetry with moody, shadowy dialogue.
The rhythm of a script like Kreitzer’s is a key challenge. Director Jason Economus has been working extensively with a large cast that includes Youngblood co-founders Tess Cinpinski, Rich Gillard, Andrew Edwin Voss and Benjamin James Wilson.
Economus and the cast are approaching rather fantastic characters from a sympathetic perspective, looking to find out what makes the characters “normal.” The right approach should allow the audience to identify with the characters by pointing out the fantastic elements in everyday life. Ideally, the right mood, rhythm and atmosphere will fall into place behind compelling, human characters.
The richness of the mood isn’t being carried entirely by the cast, however. “There is something creepy about the space itself,” Economus says. “[Costume designer] Frank Barrows is helping to really flesh it out in a believable, creative way.”
Barrows, a costume production student at UWM, is part of a young, talented design crew that also features scenic designer Evan Crain, who has done impressive work for recent studio theater shows, seasoned lighting designer Jason Fassl and sound designer Loren M. Watson. Economus also speaks of using sound as a character in and of itself.
Youngblood Theatre’s production of Freakshow runs Oct. 29-Nov. 20 at the Lincoln Storage Warehouse, 2018 S. First St.
Theater Happenings
- Acacia Theatre Company presents Tom Key’s stage adaptation of
John Bunyan’s classic 17th-century Christian allegory Pilgrim’s Progress Oct. 29-Nov. 7 at Concordia University’s
Todd Wehr Auditorium. Call 414-744-5995 for more information.
- The touring Broadway production of Mel Brooks’ musical comedy Young Frankensteinrolls through town next week. The big-budget show appears at the Marcus Center Nov. 2-7. Call 414-273-7206 for more information.
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