Pinter and Perception, a unique opportunity to examine the role
perception plays in relation to disability, is the next Victory Gardens Access
Project Crip Slam event, Sunday, March 16 at 7:30 pm at the Victory Gardens
Greenhouse Theater, 2257 N. Lincoln Avenue, Chicago.
Admission is free, but reservations are recommended. Call the Victory Gardens
box office, 773.871.3000 (TTY:
773.871.0682) to reserve.
Pinter and Perception will begin with a introduction by
director Todd Bauer, then the climatic scene from Harold Pinter's The Birthday
Party will be performed twice in immediate succession. First the roles of
Goldberg and McCann will be performed by non-disabled actors, and Stanley and
Petey by disabled actors, and then again with the casting reversed. A post-performance discussion will examine
the role appearance and perception play with relation to disability, in the
dynamic of theater, and in the roles we all inhabit in our lives.
Topics will include:
To what extent does the appearance you inhabit define and
confine you?
What difference does it make to have a visible or invisible
disability?
According to Bauer, "Through this discussion, we hope
to raise the awareness of the role perception plays in our daily lives -
especially with relation to other people. Theater is the perfect vehicle for
this examination as its dynamic is based upon our belief that what is portrayed
is real, but at the same time we are aware of it being also a mask of
reality. By reversing that mask, we hope
to strike through it to a deeper truth."
At Victory
Gardens, Bauer last
staged Crip Slam: Medieval Cripples, an
evening of two medieval plays involving disabled characters, in March 2007.
His many credits as a playwright and director include
serving as a lecturer and directing two short plays by Samuel Beckett in 2006
for Bodies of Work: The Chicago
Festival of Disability Arts and Culture.
Performers in Pinter and Perception are Michael Herzovi,
Matt Lauterbach, Rob Rotman, and Don Tenbrunsel. An after-show reception will
be sponsored by Progress
Center for Independent
Living.
Now in its 15th year, the Victory Gardens Access Project is
a nationally recognized model outreach effort designed to involve people with
disabilities in all aspects of theater, both on and off the stage. Through the program, Victory Gardens has been
Chicago's earliest adopter of assistive services such as providing Sign
Language interpreted performances, as well as captioned and audio-described
shows, large-print and Braille programs, pre-show Touch Tours of the theater
and set, dedicated wheelchair seating, and TTY phone lines.
To receive updates on Crip Slam Sundays events and all
Access Project activities, subscribe to the Access Project Newsletter by
calling 773.549.5788 ext 2131 (voice), 773.871.0682 (TTY), or
sending email to information@victorygardens.org.
Originally developed by Remains Theater with funding from
the Lila Wallace Readers Digest Resident Theater Initiative, the Victory
Gardens Access Project is supported by Kraft Foods, the Christopher and Dana
Reeve Foundation, the Harry S. Black & Allon Fuller Fund, Daniel Efner, the
Ethel Louise Armstrong Foundation, and the Samuel A. Burstein Family
Foundation.
# # #
Digital photos available on request
Press contacts:
Jay Kelly jkelly@victorygardens.org or (773) 549-5788
ext 2136
or
Shannon O'Neill
soneill@victorygardens.org or (773) 549-5788 ext. 2131
