Playwright: Keely Haddad-Null, adapted from the story by Hans Christian Andersen. At: National Pastime Theater at the Old Speakeasy, 4139 N. Broadway. Phone: 773-327-7077; $20. Runs through: Aug. 1
Don't be fooled by the title: National Pastime Theater's Naked July: Art Stripped Down festival, while featuring plenty of exposed skin, is not about sweaty salacious sensationalism. Indeed, a character in Keely Haddad-Null's adaptation of The Emperor's New Clothes ( not to be confused with the G-rated version at Navy Pier ) lists several perfectly valid reasons for going bare, ranging from indigenous climate to universal parity.
The "emperor" in this modern re-staging of the Danish fable is the Mayor of Los Angeles, who has retained his office despite many scandals involving the usual moral issues—because "naughty" distracts his constituents from "illegal." With economic collapse imminent, his henchmen must now cook up a peccadillo shocking enough to prevent an uprising among the commoners upon whose services their lifestyles rely. A reclusive film producer well-versed in the SoCal mentality steers them to a designer whose fashions are guaranteed to stun viewers—of sufficient sophistication—into speechless awe.
Most retellings of this popular parable soften the satire, but director Carolyne Anderson rejects easy escape routes, instructing her actors to play their roles with never a wink or snicker. The dialogue, forged from contemporary buzz-vocabulary, is delivered with deadpan solemnity, right down to the inspirational oratory—"We are living the American Dream!"—spewed forth with evangelical fervor by the city's chief official, clad in nothing but tan lines. Meg Elliot projects mischievous charm as the trickster tailor ( who keeps her clothes on—specifically, Emily Beaudin's enchanting gown-of-many-colors ) , Don Claudin and Miona Harris are a delightfully clueless First Couple, while Mary Roberts, David Bettino and Taylor Entwistle comprise the deliciously amoral trio of civil servants.
The Friday-Saturday program's late-night slot is occupied by the Living Canvas, a dance troupe that performs costumed in lighted projections utilizing colors, patterns, and graphic images, in turn invoking op-art collages produced by the moving bodies' contours bending the flat-screen pictures. And unlike last year's plot-encumbered Giving Tree, Demons' account of a waif seduced by pagan creatures and the sister who seeks her liberation proceeds with seamless fluidity to create breathtaking spectacle dazzling the senses.
Running time on each show is only an hour, and the Naked July Thursday-Sunday roster features slapstick farce in The Tumultuous Tale of the Tragically Transparent Tunic, along with Eros, Shifra Werch's "multi-media exploration of aphrodisiac elements."
