Playwright: loosely modeled on Shakespeare and Mary Shelley
At: 500 Clown at Steppenwolf Upstairs Theatre, 1650 N. Halsted
Phone: 312-355-1650; $30; $50 both shows
Runs through: July 29
BY SCOTT C. MORGAN
Curmudgeons who see lots of Chicago theater might grumble at 500 Clown reviving both 500 Clown Macbeth and 500 Clown Frankenstein yet again. 'Why don't they just create something new?' they may sneer.
True, both 500 Clown Macbeth and 500 Clown Frankenstein have been around a few years and have been seen at venues like Theater on the Lake and Lookingglass Theatre. But that doesn't mean everyone who should see 500 Clown's signature shows has already been.
Besides, how many more death-defying stunts do you want the plucky 500 Clown performers to attempt when so many are already piled into these two shows? Plus, 500 Clown is playing its highest-profile Chicago venue to date, so let everyone involved thrive on this high of having arrived.
If there's one thing to tie 500 Clown to Steppenwolf ( well, the early days of Steppenwolf anyway ) , it's the go-for-broke physicality the performers throw into their roles. Whether being squashed by floorboards or dodging tumbling tables, 500 Clown takes painful-looking stunts to comic extremes.
If you're not already a convert to 500 Clown's comic style, you will be after witnessing how they have their way reinterpreting Macbeth and Frankenstein. With their trademark red ears ( as opposed to red noses ) , the artists of 500 Clown deconstruct and pare down each work to its essence.
Hence, 500 Clown Macbeth becomes a dangerous power grab to get an unattainable hovering crown. Then 500 Clown Frankenstein makes an unwitting monster who becomes a despised outcast for being different.
There are only three on-stage clowns in 500 Clown ( plus director Leslie Buxbaum Danzig ) , but they all more than make up for the masses needed to tell these classic stories. As expected, the men ( Adrian Danzig as Bruce and Paul Kalina as Shank ) take the brunt of the dangerous stunt work. As the troupe's onstage woman ( with the male name of Kevin ) , Molly Brennan delights in being the brains of the outfit.
Brennan delivers the most spoken Shakespeare with the iconic 'Out, damned spot!' Macbeth soliloquy ( here interpreted literally in a great gag ) . Brennan also revels in 500 Clown Frankenstein doling out characters and pages of plot in order to highlight that a woman was responsible for creating this iconic work of horror.
If you have to choose between the two, 500 Clown Frankenstein is the more accessible piece. ( 500 Clown Macbeth is brilliant, but much of that comes from already being familiar with the intricacies of Shakespeare's jinxed tragedy. ) But you'll save $10 if you buy a package to see both.
So if you've never experienced 500 Clown, go now. Those of us who were hip enough to catch them the first time around will just have to patiently wait for them to create new comic classics.
