Playwright: About Face Youth Theatre Ensemble
At: Goodman, 170 N. Dearborn
Phone: (312) 443-3800; $25-$28
Runs through: Aug. 15
Every year, About Face Youth Theatre showcases our best and brightest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning and allied (LGBTQA) youth. For nearly a year, youth from across the city come together to workshop true stories for the production, bringing to light LGBTQA stories and how they impact our young people.
And every year, I'm impressed with the result, which is always innovative and moving. In years past, shows focused on personal experience: coming out, the problems with growing up in the age of AIDS, and coming to terms with oneself and one's family and friends.
This year, the ensemble took a different approach. Instead of focusing on their own personal experiences, those involved with the project went out with tape recorders in hand to chronicle the experiences of Chicagoans of all different ages, sexual orientations, walks of life, and levels of prosperity.
The result is a wonderful show that sings with varied and telling voices about what it means to be different. The show is Chicago-specific and in the telling of the tales, a strong picture of the city emerges: its diversity, its strength, and its lifeblood. But, like most good works of art, On the Record manages to be both very specific and hauntingly universal. If you are LGBTQA, you can identify with someone's story here. The great thing about the show is not only in its rich wellsprings of talent and its diversity, but also in its economy. Director Megan Carney and her ensemble have crafted a tightly woven tapestry of experience, one that is certain to enlighten and move.
The stories are a historical composite: moving from the tale of science writer who is just beginning to hear about the killer of young gay men, then called GRID, but which later became more broadly known as AIDS; to the story of a young boy who realized that, at his core, he was female; to a story of a drag king; a paralyzed lesbian made crippled by a construction work accident where her femaleness forced her to prove herself far beyond what any male would have been expected to do; to the stories of a PFLAG group. In the end, this ensemble brings all of these tales (and more) to life with compassion and astonishing skill, for performers who are mostly teenagers.
Carney has assembled a fine group of creative professionals (including the sound design of Andre Pluess, lighting by Jaymi Lee Smith, scenic design by Brenda Sabatka, and beautifully integrated video projections by Logan Kibens) to provide a stylish, fitting, and compelling backdrop for her performers.
About Face Youth Theatre has always delivered on its promise of professionalism and heartfelt truth. This year is no exception.