30+ Years of Curious Theatre
Still in Play A Performance of Getting Ready by Jenny Magnus

Sept 15–17, 2011
Dec 9–11, 2011

2010–11 Jenny Magnus/Curious Theatre Branch Development Residency at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago
  • Location
  • Museum of Contemporary Art
    220 E. Chicago Ave, Chicago
  • Links Hall
    3435 N. Sheffield, Chicago

Synopsis

An examination and homage to sustained attention, Still in Play: A Performance of Getting Ready is the story of a troupe that is really a tribe struggling to be an ensemble. A group of actors come together to prepare for a show, and in their attentions to themselves and each other, they weave the fabric of their determination to make something happen on the stage. Taking place in the 60 minutes before the performance, the actors inhabit the space in ways that become evidently theatrical, moving from individual actions to group actions, and revealing the conflicted eros of collaboration.

Some actors are born ready; they come in with all the energy and focus they are ever going to have. Others have to slowly put on their decided bodies, a step-by-step transformation from person in the world to person on the stage. In Still in Play, whether they play ductball, mutter into a camera, rehearse a monologue, enact a song, groan, or simply sit and wait, the actors all seek the moments of heightened awareness that emerge when someone participates in their chosen art form.

Cast

Nia O'Reilly Amandes, Jayita Bhattacharya, Jeffrey Bivens, Briana Finegan, Sidonie Greenberg, Judith Harding, Cat Jarboe, Jenny Magnus, Troy Martin, Beau O'Reilly, Colm O'Reilly, Matt Rieger, John Starrs, Matt Test, Vicki Walden

Directed by

Stefan Brün

Assistant Directors

Jennifer Moniz, Briana Finegan

Music by

The Crooked Mouth

Choreography by

Jayita Bhattacharya

Set Design by

Adam Rust

Lighting Design by

Richard Norwood

Sound Design by

Joseph Fosco

Costume Design by

Diane Hamm

Video Projections by

Jeffrey Bivens

Video

Still in Play preview

Still in Play Behind the Scenes

Photos

Still in Play photos

Reviews

  • "Understanding the ties that bind Curious, in the abstract if not in detail, is crucial to this work about theater and community."—WBEZ
  • "All the messy, frictional, subjective, confusing, personal, sublime, riduiculous and joyous aspects of artmaking.... Think of it, playfully, as A Chorus Line for the avant-garde storefront set."—Time Out
  • "There always has been more than a touch of the Samuel Beckett about Magnus, a formidable writer and an enthusiastic musician."—Chicago Tribune