Trying to Explain Next Weekend While Things Explode

It was thee evening of July 3rd and there we were in the most remarkably upscale fireworks gathering I’d ever been a part of. The condo overlooked the lake. Everyone there was wearing tuxedos and evening gowns. Everyone was drinking expensive wine out of martini glasses. There were cigarettes on holders. Even the mosquitoes were wearing bowties and offering refreshments. The delicate chatter of a cocktail party atmosphere was only occasionally broken by the occasional boom of fireworks in the distance. (I’m exaggerating only in the way things were . . . not the way they felt.)

And there I was talking to a guy from Chicago about the Milwaukee theatre scene. I’d mentioned that there really IS a lot going on in local theatre. Next week alone there are five shows opening in the greater Milwaukee area. He seemed suitably impressed by this. My wife told him that one of the shows in question was mine. In the strange atmosphere of distant fireworks and polite mosquitoes, I felt the need to clarify—one of the five shows opening next week is a set of three short pieces that are about a half hour long each. I wrote one of them. John Manno wrote another. Peter Woods wrote the title piece: Systems. The gentleman from Chicago asked me what the play was about. I fidgeted about, glancing over at a mosquito that could only shrug back casually. This is precisely why I don’t bring up the show in casual conversation: It’s difficult to define exactly what the show is about in a way that people can readily identify with. I take a sip and say:

“the whole show is about the fourth wall.”

“oh.”

“but not in the way you might think. It’s experimental, but n a way that’s really accessible.”

“so what’s it about?”

“Well, mine is about a pair of people trying to do a job. I’ve been told that Manno’s piece is about a group of characters who decide to put on a play. Woods’ piece is called Systems and it features a dialogue between two talented actresses (Tracy Doyle and Cynthia Kmak) about . . . uhh . . . being onstage, in a way. There’s more to it than that, though.”

“oh”

It should be an interesting evening. Not being as in on the other two shows, I can’t speak for them, but mine stars actor/Alchemist Theatre co-founder Kirk Thomsen and Peter Kuyk-White. Never met Kuyk-White, but evidently he’s the drummer for local band The Good Luck Joes and recently graduated with a degree in philosophy from the College of Wooster. (If I'm reading the website correctly, he wrote an independant study paper there entitled: Examining the Mythology of Rock Music: Sincerity, Authenticity, and the Nature of Musical Content) Please Wait Ten Minutes is being directed by a Chicago-based gentleman by the name of Jeff Grygny. A Ph.D. in humanities Grygny has taught at Columbia University. A number of years ago he directed an audience-intensive show in Chicago called The Edwardian Mysteries. My piece Please Wait Ten Minutes is distinctly different, but has some of the same spirit that animated Mysteries.

Systems and the two other plays that run with it appear onstage at the Alchemist Theatre July 10 – 27 in alternation with Rex Winsome's Paint The Town.