Finding Phycus
Our roving reporter asks the question: is this play authentic?
the Production Staff
Playwright: Tom Willmorth
Director: Ira Amyx
Assistant Director/Dramaturg: Emmy Kreilkamp
Producers: the Strange Tree Group
& The Lord Chamberlain’s Men
Production Stage Manager: Rebekah T. Johnson
Assistant Stage Manager: Sarah Luse
Production Manager: Julian Pike
Fight Choreographer: David Samo
Vocal Coach: Melissa Nedell
Choreographer: Lindsey Frattare
Costume Designer: Delia Baseman
Lighting Designer: Julian Pike
Scenic Designer: Jay Neander
Master Carpenter: Charles Grendys (Big City Sets)
Scenic Painter: Marvin Astorga
Art & Content Director: Mary Connelly
Artistic Advisors: Weston Davis, Jennifer Marschand, Kate Nawrocki & Emily Schwartz
Press Photographer: Tyler Core
Poster Design: Phineas X. Jones
For press information, please contact
773-814-6163
All is not well
in the state of The Building Stage.
Queen Gertrude is dead; King Phycus is blinded; Hamlet’s nauseous sister Juliet is being wed against her will to the cloying, hunch-backed Gloucester whilst her one true love, the Roman Romeo, assists Brutus in plotting the ruination of the English throne. Join us as the flat-footed charlatans of the Lord Chamberlain’s Men combine forces with the visionary roustabouts of The Strange Tree Group to present an Elizabethan tragedy of (ahem) ‘Shakespearean’ proportions. A cast of six Strange Tree stalwarts take on six blended tragedies, thirty-one parts, forty location changes and one enormous sword-swinging battle of twenty thousand men in this world premiere send up of Shakespeare's first (and possibly worst) tragedy:
Star-crossed lovers, hunchbacks, villains, tyrants and heroes, friars and witches, gravediggers, soothsayers, ghosts, clowns, cowards and kings, dukes and…well…actors take to the stage to perform in this recently ‘uncovered’ Shakespearean text.
Join us as our outstanding scenic design team painstakingly recreates the inner workings of London’s Globe Theatre circa 1599 underneath the lofty ceilings of The Building Stage.
Attendees will find themselves immersed in the enchanting world of Elizabethan England, carousing with the groundlings while raising a glass of wassail to the Queen herself! Our notoriously resourceful technical crew shall craft as many of the props, set pieces and costumes that they can out of cleverly disguised found materials: Lampshades for helmets, butchered brooms for swords, tin cans for footlights…items found everywhere from attics to alleyways will parade across our stage…see if you can spot them! As the summer breeze blows through the trees, come and listen to our bawdy musicians sing a ditty, and get out and about in the windy city. This special experience is not to be missed, and we’re thrilled to be able to present this wild and woolly world premiere production to the city of Chicago.
Opens Friday June 18, 2010
Closes Saturday July 31, 2010
$10 Previews --
Wednesday, June 16th
& Thursday June 17th at 8pm
Thursday – Saturday, 8PM
Sunday, 7PM
Doors open an hour
before show time
General admission tickets available at the door for $25 ($15 for industry on Thursdays).
A select number of VIP tickets will be available for $45 and come with preferred seating, refreshments, and an original screen-printed poster signed by the artists and cast.
Box office opens 60 minutes before show time. You can purchase in advance by clicking here. For more ticket information, call 773-598-8240.
by Tom Willmorth
Directed by Ira Amyx
the Cast of King Phycus
Delia Baseman
Player 5 – Juliet / Soothsayer / Witch / Gregola / Clown / Soldier #2 / Lad
Scott Cupper
Player 4 – Friar Don / Chorus / Potpan / Sardonicus / Wales / Gravedigger
Michael Downey
Player 1 – King Phycus / Caesar / Sampson / Peter / Doctor / Sandwich
Carolyn Klein
Player 3 – MacBetty / Gertrude / Nurse/ Levus / Rosensteen
Bob Kruse
Player 2 – Gloucester / Brutus/ Goldenberg / Athol
Stuart Ritter
Player 6 – Hamlet / Romeo/ Extranius
Elizabeth Bagby & Wes Clark
Court Musicians
"The Strange Tree ensemble strikes just the right balance, merrily lobbing joke grenades with its trademark faux-earnestness in scenic designer Jay Neander's Easter egg-filled venue-within-a-venue. Phycus is probably a worthier addition to the canon than Double Falsehood"
TimeOut Chicago
The ingenuity of Tom Willmorth's script is well matched by an ensemble of energetic performers and increasingly clever staging by director Ira Amyx."
New City
"Filled with singing, dancing, political humor, and Shakespearean wordplay, the clever pastiche from the Strange Tree Group and the Lord Chamberlain's Men is a crowd pleaser."
Chicago Reader
