TICKETED PERFORMANCE: Sunday, April 13, 20 & 27, 2008, 7:00pm, Chopin Theatre, Chicago
CHICAGO: Theater Oobleck proudly presents as part of its 20th Anniversary season The Hysterical Alphabet, a video and live sound performance by Terri Kapsalis, John Corbett, and Danny Thompson at the Chopin Theatre, 1543 W. Division, Sunday, April 13, 20 and 27 at 7 p.m. Theater Oobleck is also presenting Mickle Maher’s The Strangerer in the same theater, Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m through May 11. Tickets are $10 or “more if you’ve got it, free if you’re broke.” Patrons presenting a program from The Strangerer receive $5 off The Hysterical Alphabet tickets. For information or reservations call 773.347.1041 or visit www.theateroobleck.com. Tickets may be purchased at the box office the day of performance with cash or check (no credit cards).
The Hysterical Alphabet teams Oobleck founding members Terri Kapsalis (voice) and Danny Thompson (video) with John Corbett (sound). This work is structured like an ABC book with each letter introducing an episode direct from the annals of medical lore. Kapsalis’ text radically and poetically tracks centuries of hysteria, from ancient Egypt to the present. Thompson’s disquieting film collages and Corbett’s eclectic score enrich Kapsalis’ words.
Kapsalis is the author of the book Public Privates: Performing Gynecology from Both Ends of the Speculum. She is a health educator and teaches at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Corbett, who has provided soundscapes for several Oobleck productions also teaches at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and is the co-owner of the art gallery Corbett vs. Dempsey. Thompson has written many plays for Oobleck, including Necessity and the award-winning The Complete Lost Works of Samuel Beckett…
The Hysterical Alphabet premiered at the Gene Siskel Film Center as part of the Outer Ear Festival of Sound, November 8, 2007. The Chopin Theatre performances coincide with the release of the book, The Hysterical Alphabet, by Kapsalis and visual artist Gina Litherland. This WhiteWalls Publication, distributed by University of Chicago Press, will be available at the performances.