#Babes with Blades Theatre Company

[matildazq]

Review: The Duchess of Malfi, Babes with Blades, Chicago

[benevolentcalamity]

Vampire Lord [Dreven] x Female!Paladin!Reader

If he isn't hubby material when I'm done with him then what point is there in doing a vamp-

I'm kidding, I'm kidding. But yea, this was sooooo overdue, yannow?

Warning! Contains: Smut, blood drinking, tooth-rotting fluff.

CURTAINS!

Perhaps you've seen him, maybe in a dream.

Within a dark castle, erected in the heart of the otherwise serene heartlands, a fearsome vampire rests, as though willed to exist by the wives' tales and the deepest nightmares of every child. With a wave of his hand, he sent even the bravest knight to his knees, and spread his poison throughout the lands. Quickly he reduced the beloved monarchy to naught more than a glorious crypt of nothingness, and ruled the island with an iron fist.

But then she - ye, rather - was born.

In the pits of despair itself, a babe blessed by the gods grew into the next hope of the island. With a holy sword clenched tightly within her hands, she set out upon a snow white horse into the castle, as the hope of her people. As though sensing the defeat of the Lord, the flora came back alive, and the sun emerged from the murky clouds.

However, the hero was also said to have been killed in the fight, having laid down her life to stop him.

As though witnessing her sacrifice, the gods granted her a gift of immortality, and she rose again from the ashes. To protect her village, and stand against the Vampire Lord for the rest of his days - a blessed hero, a legend forevermore.

This is where you, "[Name] the Everlasting]", and your story began.

... Of course, legends change to match the stories writ, and thus many details and names are eventually forgotten, until you never died at all. Now, you are simply the Everlasting Hero, a living legend among the mortal humans whom die and leave their legacy and progeny to carry on.

Enough.

Rolled up scroll tightly held in your fist, you leave your cavalry behind, crossing the black iron bridge into the almost-fortress the castle has become. Like a theatre play the bats come flying out upon your entry, the horrified yelps of your men prompting them to stay away. You are used to it by now - the pleas for you to come back safely don't even faze you anymore.

Once your horse is safely hidden in the shadows you dismount, rubbing her chin with assurance of bringing her back safely to the stables of the kingdom. You say kingdom, because, well... We'll get to that.

The inside of the castle is a sight to behold, let it be known. It’s slowly evolving, maintaining its roots in gothic romantic architecture whilst embracing the machinery in various rooms. Elegant candlelight illuminates the pipes protecting electric wires as well as water, the occasional thumping of a distant steam hammer keeping everything functional not even an earthquake.

Paraphernalia of past heroes that attempted to take your role to ‘relieve you’ or something rests also on the walls collecting dust. This alone had been a lesson to those whom attempted to slay the Lord instead of you, as... pure as their intentions had been. All you yourself can hope for is that they learned, and no more souls have to be lost fulfilling a destiny that’s not their own.

Thankfully they have, only needing your blade to assure them they don’t have to try.

You know this layout like the back of your hand, having fought him basically all over. If he’s anything, he’s crafty, and so you’ve been ambushed here and there and wherever only to come out on top once again. A scourge like him could never overtake the forces of justice, after all, and his numerous defeats brought prosperous flowers to mark victory.

Seeing no more need, you unclasp your cape, and it glides graciously to the banister down below you upon your ascent the of oak stairs. At your back, the light of the foyer and main rooms fades to the wind, leaving only the flickering of the candles to keep you company. Outside, the wind howls as though in premature grieving, the clouds darkening, mimicking lighting of a theatre tragedy.

Your one hand falls to your blade as you ascend to the top, the grotesquely stretched awaiting hallway greeting you with the little flames slowly turning crimson. Clearing your throat, you progress, and eventually the two standing candelabras light a bright gold, illuminating the awaiting black doors. Intricate woodwork carved with love and dedication to the craft, portraying a figure blotting out the sun over a thorny glen.

Once you approach, they open, the moonlight shining through the increasing rift, and there stands the Lord himself.

Icy blue skin crinkles in delight, deep red eyes amidst dark sclera lighting up with glee as his lips stretch into an impossible grin showing indescribably ferocious fangs. A curtain of snow white hair billows in the night’s bitter breeze, creating a portrait of elegant evil. Dressed to the nines in a suit holding elements of death and ornate propriety, he is ready to receive you in this next encounter.

“So you’ve finally returned to me,” He purrs. “I must say, t’is such a shame I cannot come see you for a change of pace... You and me, tangled up in our beautiful bouts over your beautiful kingdom, t’would be a scene only a poet could hope to replicate.”

“I didn’t take you as one to enjoy poems and sonnets,” You retort, crookedly smirking. “Perhaps come by a tavern when you’ve the time, you’ll enjoy what the bards come up with for song, maybe.”

He palms his chest, eyes widening as though you’ve dealt a blow to him already. “Why, how you belittle yourself! You should know by now, I’d rather hear you sing of me, be it in battle, or...”

“Oh, would you shut up,” You snort, advancing, closing in on him like a shark.

And you wind your arms around his hips, him towering over many a man, as his cradle your shoulders. Leaning down, he places a kiss at your crown, before cupping your face and locking your lips into his. They’re cold, as the dead well are, but they taste of cider and raspberries, as though he had prepared for your return. Leaning back so he can lift you, you part your lips to welcome his surging tongue, arms winding around his neck to keep stable.

Snorting with amused impatience he strips you of your armor, leaving only the paladin’s tunic and pants underneath. Wrestling with your tongue as he carries you to his iron peacock bed, only breaking from you to drop you onto it, climbing over you to carry on once he’s sure you’re comfortable. Cradling your face, he purrs at your fingers combing through his hair, finally breaking the kiss truly so you’re able to breathe.

“You can’t keep prematurely withering nature just so you can see me sooner, you get that, right?” You tease, fiddling with his collar.

“Not in the slightest.” He accompanies the jeer with a grin of his own, leaning down and giving your jaw a nip. “But they won’t be able to tell - you’ll be spending another autumn and winter fighting the fearsome Lord.”

Leaning down, he gives you another kiss, laying down beside you and easing your hair from its braids, pulling a [h/c] tendril to his lips. Elegantly letting it fall, he tugs you closer to him, fitting nicely against you as he does. One hand resting on your stomach, he cradles your head with his free arm, peppering your forehead with kisses, unashamedly basking in you like you’re the most beautiful work of art this world has ever seen.

“Our time apart does seem to stretch into eternity, even though it truly doesn’t,” You admit, welcoming his knee between your legs. “I admit it, the spring and summer aren’t short enough.”

“And yet I must acknowledge they must be, and you must be allowed apart from me.” He gives your cheek another kiss. “My darling... Would it be so wrong for me to seek you in the nights of these seasons? You have said it would be...-”

“Shhh...” You reach up, kissing him. “You and I both know it’s a risk we can’t afford to take. If someone were to see you...”

“The kingdom has become lively, even at night,” He sighs. “And you’ll be noticed leaving and followed... Nettlesome, truly.”

“But that means we have to cherish the time we do have,” You assure, giving him a comforting smile. “We will always have enough time - you remember that, right?”

Immediately he brightens once more, nodding. “Yes. Listen to me, being so foolish. We have but eternity, as is our vow.” He leans in, nipping your ear. “Wife.”

Centuries ago - or an entire millennium? - you had a particularly ugly, theatrical duel. You must’ve thrown each other all over this castle, reshaping and even flattening some of the architecture in the strife. Ferocious as he always had been, he was determined to finally best you, and rid himself of this neverending squabble. At last, it seemed he would fulfill this dark desire, as he had you defenseless underneath him, his fangs prepared to drain you of your eternal blood.

But then, a question burned into his mind: the same that had tortured you even before that.

Is this worth it?

He exists as a foil to the king from way back when; the darkness that could never truly be purged. In his rage towards his undying fate he threw his might against the kingdom and slayed the king. However, tragically his abyssal hunger wasn’t quelled, and his anger led him to kill any hero that would rise to lay claim to his head.

When you were born, he only became even angrier. Not at you, never at a babe that bears no sin - at the knowledge he would never find rest. He himself was doomed, in his blackened heart; he would not know satiation, rest, or warmth, for he was a being meant only to suffer and inflict suffering in turn. All in that time he lived, he was only ever angry at his own existence, taking it out on those who tried to disturb the peace he tried so hard to make for himself.

What would he do after you were truly dead? Would he finally be satisfied, or would it be the king’s death played by a different actor? He would be waiting yet more centuries, millennia even, for another that could finally bring him to the rest he so desperately cried for. Not to mention, it wouldn’t make him the least bit happy to kill you.

Realizing this, he relented, but just as you began reaching for your holy blade, he wept. Wept that he was truly doomed, wept that you would share the misery of immortality even with your blessed existence. Once he calmed, he asked that you not end that bout the same as the last ones, but not in surrendering to him. When you asked what he meant... Well, even you don’t recall his answer, only that you put your animosity aside and just... talked.

This is where your being gone for autumn and winter began: you would simply start coming here to speak with him, or just keeping him company to muse over what comes next. Before long it was like you never fought at all, like you were born just to be together; like you weren’t meant to cross blades to begin with. Forgetting his hunger, perhaps even exiling it, he began to smile, laugh, and dance. Even you, who had once grown tired of acting happy and bright, grew to sing and twirl and find warmth even in this place.

But it wasn’t enough. Your hearts began to ache for more, until one winter’s night he held you close and kissed you.

“If you’ll no longer take me as your foe,” He said so tenderly into your ear. “Then please, embrace me as your husband.”

That was a good nine centuries ago - to the both of you it came and went in a blink. He put a crest on your heart, and you entrusted your blood to him, and you only parted when the flowers began to bloom once more, to keep up appearances with the legend and, more importantly, keep yourselves safe.

“Dreven.”

He raises his head, acting as though he hadn’t begun drifting away. “Hm?”

“I...” Your cheeks turn pink, and you turn onto your side to properly face him. “Have you ever... well...” Faltering like you are isn’t helping him understand, and it shows in how he looks at you with the eyes of a curious pup.

“Speak, sweetheart.” He comfortingly wraps his arms around you. “Centuries later, and you’re still so shy when you entrust me with your heart.”

“... Do you want me?” You ask after a moment of trying to unfreeze your tongue.

For a moment he’s visibly confused, trying to understand what you mean. He’d not thought about it, considering he’d asked about sex only once and mentioned it never again when you dismissed the very notion. Not to say you coldly refused him anything, but you were so uncertain that you even could have kids, let alone care for them. And he, being undead, has no hope of having them himself. This knowledge he’d long accepted, however; you’d just not known what to do.

Then it clicks, and he smiles.

“Of course I do. Do you want me as well?”

Not feeling as stable laying down you sit up, him following. Scooping up your hand, he gives it a squeeze.

Swallowing, you nod. “I... I love you so much,” You murmur. “I want to share not just this eternity with you, but every essence of who I am, so you can embrace me as I have you.”

It dawns on you. It isn’t sex for the sake of pleasure you long for, nor is it children just to feel some accomplishment - it’s the joining of your soul and his, an expression of your love so pure. The completion of your love, consummating your marriage, it’s all you really want.

You just want to be with him.

Just as your innate self-doubt can try and take it back, he leans in and kisses you, eyes holding a tenderness he only allows you to see.

“What a thing to say...” He whispers, cupping your face. “My sweet, I want you so badly that it pains me. But I would never disgrace you for acting without invitation. If you’ll let me, then I will happily hold you close, and make love to you.”

Your heart swells with adoration, and you tug him in, and as his arms wrap around you your body warms and cools with reassurance. Raising your arms above your head, you exhale with a soft smile as he unties and frees you of your tunic. Once your breasts are freed he cups them delicately, leaning down to knead them like dough. Just as gently he lies you down, laying between your legs to better access them.

“Mmm...” He purrs. “Oh, [Name]... Every inch of you is so perfect...”

His kisses are deep and bracing, his body melting into your every crevice. Even with all your clothes soon being on the floor, he doesn’t overstep and act without your permission. Even as his erect cock begs to be inside of you, and the carnal instinct to take gnaws at his mind, he is showing great care in responding in kind to your vulnerability.

“I love you...” He breathes between kisses. “I love you, I love you, I love you...”

Breathing hitched from the arousal bubbling in your hips, you wrap your arms around his neck, spreading your legs. You jolt, if slightly, when his cock graces your clit.

“Please...” You whimper, feeling your wetness dribbling down your skin. “... I-I... Oh, Dreven, please...”

“Please what?” He purrs, nipping at your jaw. “What does my sweet wife want?”

You look up at him, vulnerable, pleading - and fuck are you sexy. “... Please, come inside...”

The unintentional joke towards him needing permission to enter a house has him chortling,  kissing your  lips as he readies himself. Ohh, he’s big, you can feel it already...

As though to assure you of his care for you, and his promised delicacy, he cradles your body sweetly, kissing you less with animalistic desire and instead with love stretching into the end of time. For a moment it feels as though something is shifting inside of him, but before you can ask if he’s alright he’s pushing slowly inside you.

“Gh-!” You arch up into him, hanging on as if for dear life, to which he pauses and peppers your cheek with kisses of assurance. “I-it’s so big...”

“I know,” He murmurs. One hand goes to your clit, rubbing it to prepare you some more. Like magic, he has the right pace, rubbing you all the right ways, and before you know it you’re moaning and mewling as he watches you completely engulf him.

For a moment he doesn’t move, giving your body time to adjust to his size. Holding you close with one hand on the bulge it creates, he nips at your neck, kissing you sweetly.

“You’re doing so good, darling.” He sweeps your hair behind your ear. “You... ha... You feel divine.” Is that a...?

“I love you...” You breathe. “Oh... Dreven, my love...”

Once you’ve adjusted, you nod, and he holds you tightly as he begins to thrust. Every time he glides back inside of you he swells, getting more aroused each time. His breathing grows labored with desire, eventually sounding like a caged beast, his restraint palpable despite it. Even you can feel it: he doesn’t want to risk hurting you and taint your memory of entrusting him with your virginity, traumatizing you out of ever opening up this way again. He loves you so much, and it’s killing him that he can’t unleash the animal and keep you safe at the same time.

Cool lips gracing your neck, he coils like a spring, soon sinking his teeth into you as he has before. The sensation sends a warmth through your skin, and a moan follows an uneven gasp from your throat. One hand going to the back of his head you arch, his drinking of your blood adding to the pleasure until you can think of nothing else but him. How he loves you, how he cares for you, how badly he wants to keep you close that nothing in this world can harm you, but at the same time trembling before the might you display. Every bit of you is perfection in his eyes, a limitless sea of beauty he will happily drown in.

Opening your legs more widely, you soon pull them up, hooking your knees in your hands. Letting his cock in even deeper, you mewl as he finally hits that sweet spot he’d been looking for. Belly stretching slightly to show how deep he is, your body happily pulls him deeper and deeper, and before long he’s letting go, both of your bodies unable to restrain any longer.

“A-aah!” You cry out, him finally ceasing drinking and licking your wounds until they heal. “O-ooohh! Aah! Y-yes-!” Your insides mold to his shape, intending to let no other dive into it. “Yes, yes, yes-! Aah!”

Cupping your face, he pulls you into a deep kiss. The taste of your blood doesn’t last long on his tongue,  your mewling mixing perfectly with his growls and groans as he wholeheartedly claims you whilst professing his eternal love. It all fits  together so well, until you can no longer live without each other. The very realization makes your heart swell with affection for your husband, and before you know it tears are pouring down your eyes.

He notices, and his eyes go wide in alarm as his pace comes to a screeching halt. “Sweetheart, are you alright?” Feeling around with his hands, he tries to find a wound or some way he had hurt you without realizing it.

Your hand delicately rests on his face. “C-Cum with me...” You whimper. “Please, Dreven, cum with me...”

He relaxes, smiling with a nod. Wiping your tears from your face he tugs you back into that kiss, continuing his pace. He grows hotter and hotter inside you, swelling until he almost can’t move, until-

His head raises up as though to let him roar, and yours falls back as you cry out in shared orgasm. Snapping his hips, he cums inside once, twice, thrice... four? Five, nay, six times with a driving thrust. Pulling out with an oddly comedic ‘pop’, he falls beside you and tugs you into himself, holding you delicately as though worried he’ll break you in your already fragile state.

“Are you alright, my sweet?” He whispers, brushing some hair from your face. “Did I hurt you at all? The bite?”

You smile. “You should know by now, my wounds will always heal.”

Chortling at his own ignorance, he nods, kissing you sweetly. “... Thank you.”

You tilt your head, a bit confused. “You mean, for the sex, or...?”

His tenderness surfaces once more,  and he rolls back on top of you, slender fingers tracing your features in feigned interest.

“You’ve poured so much of yourself into me; given me so much of you in but a single night... My darling, I feel as though I’m going to overflow.” Tears begin welling in his eyes, the first time since that last battle, but now they’re of the purest joy. “Darling... [Name], my sweet, my eternal rose... I will love you and stay at your side, until eternity itself withers.”

Leaning down, he gives you a kiss, resting his forehead on yours. An indescribable emotion crosses his eyes, lighting them like the very stars.

“Ah... Such bliss...” He whispers. “I thought the abyss inside me unquenchable, insatiable... But now... Now, I am satisfied...”

Sitting up, he brings you with him, holding you so near and dear as the sky turns pink - to which he responds by telepathically drawing the drapes, casting you into the sweet veil of darkness.

“I love you so much...” He rests his face in the crook of your neck.

You smile, your own tears falling into his hair. “I love you too.”

Pulling back a bit, he cups your face, pulling you back into a kiss, eventually laying you down once more...

[zablife]

Dates with Jack (I imagine he'd get bored of the same old stuff): Cinema dates, dinner dates, disneyland (secretly he's a giant child and he totally knows Walt), flying (he knows Amelia Earhart), ice skating, roller skate/blading (lol, imagine him falling over), bowling, theatre dates, opera (he'd be unsure if he'd enjoy but then adore), ballet (he'd hate it), concerts, book stores (pick a book for each other), museums, art galleries, uni lectures, craft/hobby workshops, hiking.

Hi babes, these all sound like fun!! I totally agree, Jack would get bored easily so he would choose a variety of activities. He would do things you liked, but also take you places he could impress you with his knowledge. I'm sure he'd love to spoil you in other ways as well (shopping!!) Rn I'm imagining a date in a speakeasy with live jazz music and dancing. He'd lead you to a dark corner where you could sip your drinks and enjoy each other's company 😉

[outoftowninac]

WARNER / WARREN

1959

The Warner’s Embassy Theatre aka The Warner Theatre aka The Warren Theatre (Boardwalk and Arkansas Avenue, Atlantic City NJ) opened on June 19, 1929 with Warner Bros. “On With the Show” plus a stage show. 

The Warner was designed by the Philadelphia architectural firm of Hoffman-Henon Co. in a Moorish-Atmospheric style, with seating for 4,189 on three levels. It was also equipped with a Wurlitzer 4 manual, 29 ranks organ. 

For most of its life it was a movie palace, but in the late 1950’s it was renamed Warren Theatre and became a live venue. In order not to spend resources on a new marquee, the letters of ‘Warner’ on its blade marquee were simply rearranged to spell ‘Warren’.  This was also done at another Warner Theatre in Los Angeles. 

From late 1958 through the start of 1960, it went legit hosting live theatre, some coming from - others going to - The Great White Way. The great Atlantic City Boardwalk was dubbed The Great WOODEN Way. 

The transformation to theatrical venue kicked off with a September 1958 production of Make A Million starring Sam Levene. The show was about to open on Broadway, so technically, the Warren was contributing to Atlantic City’s rich history of being a try-out town for Broadway. 

In March 1959 the rarely seen Garden District by Tennessee Williams was on offer. Unlike the previous offering, this was a national tour based on a production previously seen off-Broadway. It was actually two one-act plays: Suddenly Last Summer and Something Unspoken. It starred Cathleen Nesbitt, Richard Gardner, and Diana Barrymore, third generation of the famous Barrymore acting clan. 

In April 1959, the Warren presented Dear Liar starring Brian Aherne and Katharine Cornell. Dear Liar was also Broadway-bound, landing at the Billy Rose Theatre a year later after an extensive tour. 

In April 1959, Julie Harris brought The Warm Peninsula to the still chilly Jersey shore, in her first Atlantic City appearance. The play would arrive on Broadway in October 1959. Set in Miami Beach, the play also starred June Havoc, Larry Hagman, and Farley Granger. 

The summer season of 1959 kicked off with another Julie - Julie Wilson - in a revival tour of Babes in Arms. Like Harris, this was Wilson’s first time in front of an Atlantic City audience. The “face-lifted” revival had begun in April in Florida, and was billed as “Broadway-Bound” but that never came to pass. The Rogers and Hart musical instead played the ‘Music Fair’ circuit: Westbury, Valley Forge, and Camden County. 

Babes was followed by Bells with Martha Raye starring in the musical Bells Are Ringing.  That summer, Bells were everywhere with Raye’s tour just one of several productions of the Judy Holliday tuner on offer. 

The final legit offering at the Warren before its reverting to cinema was a December 1959 production of the national tour of Two for the Seesaw starring Hal March. March had played the character (originated by Henry Fonda) on Broadway in July and August 1959 before going out with the tour. He co-starred in the two-hander with Sheila Copelan in the role originated by Anne Bancroft.  

On July 29, 1960, the venue went back to its cinematic roots when “Windjammer” was presented in CineMiracle 3-strip projection. The engagement demanded special sound and screen requirements. 

The Warner / Warren Theatre closed in 1966 and was converted into a bowling alley. By 1978 the lobby was in use as a pizza parlor. In the late-1970’s the auditorium and main lobby were demolished to make way for Bally’s casino. The façade, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places was preserved. 

In 2021, entertainment company Spiegelworld announced that it was partnering with Caesar’s Entertainment to open a new entertainment / dining experience on the location. It will features a 400-seat performance space, restaurant, bars, and nightclub. A production titled “The Hook” will become its first (and billed as pernanent) residency.  The Warner legacy lives on. 

[thedreammweaver]

Black as Pitch and White as Snow (Burton-schumacherverse riddlebird au, mayor!Oswald, ballet dancer!Ed)

Warnings: depression, poor self care, insecurities, insecurities about weight, murder mention

Boring. That was the word for it. Oswald’s life had become boring. When he’d become mayor he didn’t intend on actually being good at it, he’d wanted to use the position to enact long brewing evil plans but it was so easy to get distracted these days. It had almost been a year and he hadn’t done anything diabolical yet, in truth he wasn’t sure if he even wanted to anymore...he’d lost his drive for mischief.

 He could feel himself getting slow and slipping deeper into the cliche of placated tub of lard politician but he didn’t know how to make it stop. The red triangle gang had left him when they noticed it, fine, he didn’t need them anyways though he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t lonely. His only ‘friend’ these days was Max Shreck after all and the man was hardly good company. The praises of “You’re doing great, Mayor Cobblepot.” Had gotten old fast. There was one thing that made him feel better though. He’d found himself going to the theatre a lot and he’d gotten quite taken with one dancer. At first he’d only seen the man in the background of some shows until the theatre’s main show had switched to a production of Swan Lake where the dual role of Odile and Odette had been adapted for a male dancer as there’d been a series of accidents within the company and that was the only option left. Oswald hadn’t thought anything of it at first, making Swan Lake gay wasn’t the weirdest thing going on in Gotham. That was until he realized the lead was the dancer with ginger hair that’d captured his eye so many times. He’d overheard that the man’s name was Ed while lurking around after one of the shows only to chicken out of introducing himself. Of course Oswald had been to see the production multiple times after learning that his obsession was in it.

   Oswald would rather be feeling inadequate while watching Ed dance than having to sit through dinner with Max. The faux sweetness with which the waitress approaching him said “Your table is ready, mayor Cobblepot.” Made Oswald feel worse.

Oswald tried to lose himself in the decor of the restaurant while Max droned on and on. That was until Max snapped his fingers to get the shorter man’s attention. “What’s wrong with you?”

“What?”

“You look like you’re in a funk, you just got re-elected you should be in a celebratory mood!”

Oswald hummed in miserable agreement.

“What happened to that excited crude little guy I met last Christmas, huh?”

“I honestly couldn’t tell you..” Oswald sighed.

       Maybe it was the way Ed’s shoulder blades looked oh so much like wings or how graceful he was or how when their eyes met so briefly it felt as if he was dancing for Oswald alone. Whatever the reason Oswald was smitten, that scared him though. There was no way someone so obviously athletic and poised would put up with Oswald’s wobbling waddling form, especially with how he was now....boring and sedentary. He once wouldn’t have hesitated in trying to woo Ed but as the theatre seat slightly pinched his sides he was reminded of the stark difference between them. He guessed he’d just have to be content with watching which...wasn’t too hard. The costume Ed was in still had a poofy skirt as the dance didn’t look right without it but the top had billowy sleeves like some traditional male ballet outfits though it dipped in the back, showing off the well honed muscles that lay under Ed’s skin. Oswald was watching in awe as Ed expertly performed the thirty two fouettes that were apart of Odile’s coda. Though he’d seen it many times it was still just as beautiful and impressive.

       Oswald decided to walk home feeling like he needed the exercise. He’d thought he was out of shape when living in the sewer but he had been traversing tunnels and going up and down ladders on the daily in that place, now he spent most of his time with his ass planted in a chair. His life had become a cycle of being depressed because he felt sluggish and feeling sluggish because he was depressed and he knew that his current lethargy wasn’t helped by eating his feelings everytime he felt miserable. Oswald was startled by a tap on his shoulder, the almost blind adoration for him had been watered down to simpering respect so he didn’t get approached often in public. He felt as if he could drop dead when he turned to see that the person wanting his attention was Ed. He’d never actually seen the man out of costume before. He was in a green sweater that said ‘virtual babe’ on the front in a pink glittery design, fuzzy green pants, and pink sneakers. He also had a backpack that was shaped like a frog, which was of course green as well. Ed adjusted his glasses nervously “Mayor Cobblepot? I- well, I...you’re at the shows a lot and I wanted to say hi.” he said, awkward but cheerful. “H-Hi..” Oswald said shyly. The way Ed was being lit by the streetlights so beautifully galvanized Oswald into blurting out his next words “Would you like to have a drink with me?”

Ed looked a bit surprised but not put off “Oh-uh..yea- yeah I would.”

     Oswald hoped Edward hadn’t noticed his struggling to keep up or his somewhat heavy breathing as they’d walked together. He put away his umbrella as Ed was admiring the foyer of Cobblepot Manor, awestruck. He was currently ogling at a rather large parasol that had been custom made into a chandelier. “That’s the biggest parasol I’ve ever seen..” Ed whispered in wonder. “Yeah, it’s nice..”Oswald mumbled still feeling a little nervous but trying to feign enough confidence to woo the other man.

After a few drinks talking to Ed had gotten easier. They’d ended up on the couch with Ed leaning on Oswald’s shoulder watching him intently as he talked. Oswald felt a bit tense as Ed’s hand was on his chest absently fiddling with his jacket. He was still having trouble believing Ed was in his house and actually touching him. “So how come you’re at the theatre all the time, don’t you have important mayor stuff to do?” Ed giggled. “It’s relaxing!” Oswald decided to shoot his shot “I..also enjoy seeing you..”

There was a beat of silence that almost made Oswald panic “Can I tell you a secret?” Ed asked. Oswald nodded. Eddie was giddy but shy as he spoke “I...uh, well, I hurt two other dancers and killed three to get the part..”

“Ed!”

“Don’t worry I pinned it on the two left alive, no one suspects me. I had to be the leads so you would notice me...I wanted to be your bird.”

Oswald was bewildered “You did all that for me??”

Ed nodded, the mischievous glint in his eye was re-awakening something in Oswald. “I-I didn’t think you could ever like me..” Oswald admitted. Ed sat up a bit “I’ve loved you ever since I saw you for the first time.” He moved into Ozzie’s lap “I need you, Oswald. I need you now.” He leaned in to kiss the shorter man. Oswald felt torpidity melting away as he grabbed Ed by the waist and pulled him close.

[zeldaspeaksmindfulness]

Lookingglass Theatre Company

In Collaboration with WBEZ Chicago present the World Premiere Audio Play of

Her Honor Jane Byrne

Written and Directed by Ensemble Member J. Nicole Brooks

Thanksgiving Day at 11am and Saturday, November 28 at 2pm

Chicago, IL–Lookingglass Theatre Company, in collaboration with WBEZ 91.5 Chicago, presents a World Premiere audio play of Her Honor Jane Byrne, written and directed by Ensemble Member and Mellon Playwright in Residence J. Nicole Brooks. Her Honor Jane Byrne will air on Chicago’s NPR news station WBEZ 91.5 FM and wbez,org on Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 26 from 11am-1pm CT and Saturday, November 28 from 2pm-4pm CT.

Chicago is “The City That Works”—but does it work for everybody? It’s 1981, the city’s simmering pot of neglected problems boils over, and Chicago’s first woman mayor is moving into Cabrini-Green. Is this just a P.R. stunt, or will it bring the City together? For the next three weeks, residents, activists, media, the “Machine,” and the Mayor herself will collide as the City’s raw truths are exposed. Tune in to find out who will come out on top in Lookingglass Ensemble Member J. Nicole Brooks’ bold new work, Her Honor Jane Byrne?

Her Honor Jane Byrne premiered on the Lookingglass stage in March 2020 just five days before the Theatre had to close due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Lookingglass Theatre Company has partnered with WBEZ, Chicago’s National Public Radio Station, to present Her Honor Jane Byrne as a radio play.

The cast features Ensemble Members Christine Mary Dunford (Jane Byrne), Thomas J. Cox (Alderman Roti, Swibel, Photographer, Evidence Tech) and Tracy Walsh (Reporter, Kathy, Claudia) with Robert Cornelius (Black Che, Seller), Nicole Michelle Haskins (Tiger, Rival Kid), Renee Lockett (Mabel Foley), Frank Nall (O’Donnell, Jay McMullen, Daley, Spilotro), Josh Odor (Superintendent Brzcek, Tavern Owner, Bodyguard, Pilot, Host), Taron Patton (Marion Stamps), Willie “Mudlife Roc” Round (Kid, Tral).

The creative team includes Michael Huey (composer), Christopher M. LaPorte (sound designer), Artistic Associate Wendy Mateo (associate director) Jason K. Martin (dialect specialist), Sarah Burnham (production manager), Jeremy Phillips (production assistant) and Ensemble Member Philip R. Smith (casting).

“Our play joins history to myth. Some of it is dramatic interpretation, and some of it is real,” comments J. Nicole Brooks. “When you grow up in a city that’s hyper segregated, run amuck with corruption, and political stunts and discord, you have to work hard to love it. I love the city of Chicago. I love the history. I’m fascinated by ethnic clans. I’m curious about patronage, councils, aldermen, and committeemen. Who gets elected and how? Who gets to lead us, and will they actually listen to us? Though I was very little, I can remember when it was announced that Mayor Jane Byrne was moving into Cabrini-Green. Can she stop the violence? Well, no one person can. Here we are decades later, asking the same questions. I hope our audiences walk away with a bit of the past, so they may know how to shape our future.”

““It was devastating to close Her Honor Jane Byrne last Spring just after it opened.  A play takes years of work to get it to the point of production, and this play was speaking directly to our city about our city.  So we are thrilled and grateful to WBEZ for giving us a new platform to share J. Nicole Brooks’ timely and brilliant play in its new audio form,” comments Artistic Director Heidi Stillman. “Over the past months since the show closed, it’s subject matter has only become more relevant. Her Honor Jane Byrne is ambitious, timely, and an important piece of work about the way geography, race and inequality line up in Chicago – and how choices made in the past are still playing out in our city today.”  

This project is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts. The following sponsors generously supported the premiere of Her Honor Jane Byrne on the Lookingglass stage last spring: Production Sponsors—National Endowment for the Arts and Edgerton Foundation; Lead Sponsors—Melinda McMullen and Duncan Kime; Production Support—Leigh and Henry Bienen, Linda Karn, Rachel E. Kraft and Douglas R. Brown, and Abbie Roth.

About the Artists

J. NICOLE BROOKS (Playwright/Director/Lookingglass Ensemble Member) is an actor, playwright, and director. Recent theatrical credits include Lottery Day (Goodman Theatre), Beyond Caring (Lookingglass Theatre Company), and Immediate Family (Mark Taper Forum, Goodman Theatre). Directing credits at Lookingglass include: Thaddeus & Slocum: A Vaudeville Adventure (co-directed with Krissy Vanderwarker), Mr. Rickey Calls A Meeting, and Black Diamond. J. Nicole is author of Fedra: Queen of Haiti, Black Diamond: The Years the Locusts Have Eaten, The Incredible Adventures of Yuri Kochiyama, HeLa, and Her Honor Jane Byrne.

ROBERT CORNELIUS (Black Che, Seller) is making his Lookingglass Theatre debut with the world premiere of Her Honor Jane Byrne. Other Chicago credits include the world premiere of Lottery Day at Goodman Theatre; The Total Bent at Haven Theatre in association with About Face Theatre; Rightlynd, Spiele 36, On the Block and Whitley at Victory Gardens Theater; Picnic with American Theatre Company, W;t with The Hypocrites, Raisin with Court Theatre, Taming of the Shrew at First Folio Theatre, Hamlet at The Gift Theatre, and Aida at Drury Lane Theatre. Regionally, Robert has worked at Indiana Repertory Theatre, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Madison Repertory Theatre, Montana Repertory Theatre, and St. Louis Black Repertory Theatre. Film/TV credits include: Chicago PD, South Side, Shameless, Hoodlum, and The Chi.

THOMAS J. COX (Alderman Roti, Swibel, Photographer, Evidence Tech/Lookingglass Ensemble Member) most recently appeared at Lookingglass in 20,000 Leagues Under the Seas. A founding Ensemble Member, Thom has appeared in many productions since 1988, including: Cascabel, The Jungle, The Odyssey, West, The Arabian Nights, The Master and Margarita, The Great Fire, Nelson Algren: For Keeps and a Single Day, 1984, The Old Curiosity Shop, and Peter Pan (A Play). Regionally, he has appeared at Goodman Theatre, Writers Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Northlight Theatre, The House Theatre of Chicago, Court Theatre, The Gift Theatre, Victory Gardens Theater, and Milwaukee Repertory Theater. Most recently, Thom was seen in Bernhardt/Hamlet and A Christmas Carol (Goodman Theatre) and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Writers Theatre). TV/Film: Brotherhood (Showtime), Chicago Fire (NBC), Since You’ve Been Gone (Miramax).

CHRISTINE MARY DUNFORD (Jane Byrne/Lookingglass Ensemble Member) has appeared in nearly two dozen Lookingglass productions. Christine’s three most recent productions include Blood Wedding, Trust, and Our Town. For Lookingglass’ 25th Anniversary Season in 2013, she directed her own original adaptation (Jeff nominated) of Still Alice, based on the book by Lisa Genova, which has been translated into multiple languages and is being produced in small theatres across the world. Over the years Christine has served the company as managing director and director of development, and she co-founded and taught with Lookingglass’ Education and Community program. Christine is Director of the School of Theatre and Music at the University of Illinois at Chicago; and she co-founded and helps run the Memory Ensemble—a partnership between Lookingglass and Northwestern’s Alzheimer’s Disease Center (CNADC)—that uses improvisational performance activities to improve life for people with memory loss.

NICOLE MICHELLE HASKINS (Tiger, Rival Kid) is making her Lookingglass debut! Acting credits include: The Color Purple (Drury Lane Theatre), U.S. Premiere of Hopelessly Devoted (Piven Theatre Workshop, Jeff nomination: Best Actor in a Play), Caroline, or Change (Firebrand Theatre, Black Theatre Alliance Award nomination: Best Supporting Actress in a Musical), Spitfire Grill (Refuge Theatre Project, Jeff Award Nomination: Best Supporting Actress in a Musical), World Premiere of HeLa (Sideshow Theatre Company); Music Man, Father Comes Home from the Wars Parts 1,2 & 3, and How to Catch Creation (Goodman Theatre), The Wiz (Kokandy Productions, Jeff Award nomination: Best Supporting Actress in a Musical), Parade (Writers Theatre), and RENT (Theo Ubique Caberet Theatre). Proudly represented by Shirley Hamilton. School at Steppenwolf Acting Fellow 2014, Associate Artist with Black Lives, Black Words, International Theatre Collective, and MOSAIC Youth Theatre of Detroit Alum.

RENEE LOCKETT (Mabel Foley) is making her Lookingglass debut. Last seen in First Floor Theater’s Jeff recommended Sugar in our Wounds. Other Chicago credits include: Familiar (Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Jeff nomination: Ensemble), Surely, Goodness and Mercy (Redtwist Theatre, Jeff nomination: Performer in a Drama, Black Theatre Alliance Award nomination: Best Actress), A Wonder in My Soul (Victory Gardens Theater), Crowns (Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre, Black Theatre Alliance Award nomination: Best Ensemble). Renee has also worked with Babes with Blades, Court Theatre, Northlight Theatre, MPAACT, Prologue Theatre, Collaboraction Theatre Company, Three Cat Productions, Black Ensemble Theater, ETA  Creative Arts, and Black Lives, Black Words. Renee is an ensemble member of MPAACT and an Artistic Associate with Black Lives, Black Words. Most recent Film credits include: The Plow and Freelancers Anonymous, as well as TV roles on The Chi and a recurring guest star role on Comedy Central’s South Side. Renee is represented by DDO Artists Agency.

FRANK NALL (O’Donnell, Jay McMullen, Daley, Spilotro) is making his Lookingglass debut in this powerful piece by J. Nicole Brooks. A member of the Artistic Home Ensemble, Frank was last seen in their production of Vanya on the Plains as Elijah. Other Chicago credits include: Frankenstein (Remy Bumppo Theatre Company, Jeff Award winner) and Traitor as Howard (A Red Orchid Theatre, Jeff Award winner). Film and TV credits include: the CNN reporter from Spygame, Transplant surgeon on Empire, Carlisle on Boss, and assorted commercials. Frank has an MFA from the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign.

JOSH ODOR (Superintendent Brzcek, Tavern Owner, Bodyguard, Pilot, Host) is working with Lookingglass for the first time. Chicago credits include: To Catch a Fish and Blood and Gifts (TimeLine Theatre), El Grito del Bronx (Goodman Theatre/Collaboraction Theatre Company), Oorah! (Steppenwolf Theatre Company/LiveWire Chicago), Scientific Method and The Firebirds Take the Field (Rivendell Theatre Ensemble), Welcome to Jesus (American Theater Company), Moment, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, and The Resistable Rise of Arturo Ui (Steep Theatre), You on the Moors Now (The Hypocrites), Life On Paper (Jackalope Theatre), Hit the Wall (The Inconvenience), Winterset (Griffin Theatre), The Nutcracker (The House Theatre of Chicago) and Sweet Bird of Youth and The Time of Your Life (The Artistic Home). Regionally Josh has worked at the Long Wharf Theatre. TV/ Film credits: The Chi, Chicago Med/PD/Fire, Boss, Betrayal, Janie Jones, Empire, and The Express.

TARON PATTON (Marion Stamps) returns to the stage in Her Honor Jane Byrne. Producer credits includes: N (Greenhouse Theater Center) and Misty Tanner (Q&A Productions). Directing credits: N (Greenhouse Theater Center) Saturday Night, Sunday Morning (Steppenwolf Garage Rep), Bulrusher and Nativity Tribute (Congo Square Theatre). Acting credits: Meet Vera Stark (Goodman Theatre), Hot L Baltimore (Steppenwolf Theatre Company); The Bluest Eye (Steppenwolf Theatre Company and New Victory Theater), King Hedley II (Congo Square Theatre), and Joe Turner’s Come and Gone (Goodman Theatre). Television credits: The Chi, Empire, Chicago PD, Chicago Fire, Chicago Med, A Different World.

WILLIE "MUDLIFE ROC" ROUND (Kid, Tral) is a songwriter, playwright, videographer, mentor, and hip-hop artist hailing from the West Side of Chicago, who has performed across the country and opened for Grammy Award-winning artist Lil Wayne as well as Gucci Mane. He does extensive outreach in the North Lawndale neighborhood in Chicago (also known as “The Holy City”) and has mentored inner city youth as part of the College Mentoring Experience, as well as his own youth movement called MUD LIFE (Motivating the Urban to be Determined). He holds a B.A. in Communications, Radio, and Television Broadcasting from Central State University. His play Broke Down Drone (also co-written with G. Riley Mills) played during the 2019 Peacebook.

TRACY WALSH (Reporter, Kathy, Claudia/Lookingglass Ensemble Member) is a Lookingglass Ensemble Member where she has performed in, choreographed, directed, and written many plays on the Main Stage and for the Lookingglass Young Ensemble. In recent seasons at Lookingglass, Tracy provided dances for The Steadfast Tin Soldier, wrote, directed, and choreographed Cassandra for the Young Ensemble, provided intimacy choreography for Beyond Caring, movement for Acts of God, and choreographed Blood Wedding. She appeared in and choreographed Iphigenia in Aulis (Court Theatre/Getty Villa in Los Angeles), choreographed Agamemnon (Court Theatre) and appeared in and choreographed Electra (Court Theatre). Other Chicago choreography credits include: Arcadia and All’s Well that Ends Well (The Goodman Theatre), The Jewel Box and Don Giovanni (Chicago Opera Theatre), Carmen (Court Theatre) and the Napoleonade (Eclipse Theatre Company). Tracy and her husband own and teach at Lighthouse Yoga in Evanston.

FACT SHEET

Her Honor Jane Byrne will air on Chicago’s NPR news station WBEZ 91.5 FM and wbez,org.

Title:                                        Her Honor Jane Byrne

Written and Directed by:         Ensemble Member J. Nicole Brooks

Featuring:                               Ensemble Members Christine Mary Dunford, Thomas J. Cox and Tracy Walsh with Robert Cornelius, Nicole Michelle Haskins, Renee Lockett, Frank Nall, Josh Odor, Taron Patton, and Willie “Mudlife Roc” Round.

Creative Team:                        Michael Huey (composer), Christopher M. LaPorte (sound designer), Artistic Associate Wendy Mateo (associate director) Jason K. Martin (dialect specialist), Sarah Burnham (production manager), Jeremy Phillips (production assistant) and Ensemble Member Philip R. Smith (casting).

Dates:               Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 26 from 11am-1pm CT and Saturday, November 28 from 2pm-4pm CT.

                      Also happening online with Lookingglass

The Steadfast Tin Soldier

Lookingglass Theatre Company presents the holiday stream of Ensemble Member Mary Zimmerman’s The Steadfast Tin Soldier. Experience Chicago’s beloved holiday tradition with your family this holiday season, as the production streams into your home this December! Based on Hans Christian Andersen’s story about a little tin soldier who never gives up, this production is a gorgeous spectacle of music and movement that is perfect for the whole family.

Online access to the production is $25 and includes Livestream and On Demand. An Opening Night Livestream will take place December 1, 2020 at 6:30PM Central. Opening night is $75 and includes a pre-show event with live music hosted by Ensemble Member Kasey Foster, who plays the Ballerina in The Steadfast Tin Soldier. Following the show, Artistic Producer Kareem Bandealy will host a Q&A with Adaptor/Director and Ensemble Member Mary Zimmerman, Co-Sound Designer, Composer and Ensemble Member Andre Pluess, and Costume Designer Ana Kuzmanic.

Tickets are on sale now at www.lookingglasstheatre.org.                                                                    

The cast of The Steadfast Tin Soldier features Ensemble Members Kasey Foster (Ballerina) and Anthony Irons (Goblin), with Joe Dempsey (Nursemaid), John Gregorio (Rat), and Alex Stein (Steadfast Tin Soldier).

Original music for The Steadfast Tin Soldier is composed by Ensemble Member Andre Pluess and Amanda Dehnert. Musicians include Leandro López Várady (Music Director/Piano), Greg Hirte (Violin), Juan Horie (Cello), and Constance Volk (Flutes).

The creative team includes Todd Rosenthal (scenic design), Ana Kuzmanic (costume design), TJ Gerckens (lighting design), Ensemble Member Andre Pluess and Christopher M. LaPorte (sound design), Leandro López Várady (associate arranger), Ensemble Member Tracy Walsh (choreography), Ensemble Member Sylvia Hernandez-DiStasi (circus choreography), Chicago Puppet Studio (puppet design), Amanda Herrmann (properties),Rigability Inc. (rigging design), Katrina Herrmann (stage manager) and Liz Anne Larsen (assistant stage manager). The production was filmed in 2019 by HMS Media.

The Secret Passage

The Secret Passage is a digital membership that reveals a corridor of hidden doors. And behind each door lives an exclusive peek into the Lookingglass process. From mind-expanding artist conversations to first-ever play workshops to archival audio recordings of our former glories to discounts on classes and public Lookingglass events, the perks of the pass will cast you as a true “insider” and a key player in preserving our future.  

The Secret Passage memberships are $50, for access through August 2021, or $8 monthly. Members will receive a discount to The Steadfast Tin Soldier, along with access to the following monthly programming, plus more to be announced:

The Jungle Radio Play by Upton Sinclair, adapted and directed by Ensemble Member David Schwimmer

The Master and Margarita Radio Play, by Mikhail Bulgakov’s adapted by Artistic Director/Ensemble member Heidi Stillman, directed by Heidi Stillman and Ensemble Member David Catlin, featuring many Ensemble Members including David Schwimmer, Philip R. Smith, Joy Gregory, and our beloved friend and Steppenwolf ensemble member Mariann Mayberry.

           The Scarlet Letter Radio Play by Nathaniel Hawthorne, adapted by Ensemble Member Thomas J. Cox

Lucy and Charlie’s Honeymoon Sneek Peek, a new musical by Artistic Associate Matthew C. Yee

The Hidden Door: Artist Conversations: Online conversations featuring exclusive conversations with Ensemble Members David Schwimmer, Kevin Douglas, Mary Zimmerman, Mellon Playwright in Residence J. Nicole Brooks, Anthony Fleming, Kareem Bandealy, and David Catlin, among others.  

Live Concerts: Coffeehouse and House Party, features Artistic Associates Matt Yee and Sully Ratke, with a special appearance by Ensemble Member Kareem Bandealy. House Party is an intimate concert by Ensemble Member Kasey Foster and partner Charlie Otto.

For more information on The Secret Passage, visit lookingglasstheatre.org/secret-passage

About Lookingglass Theatre Company Inventive. Collaborative. Transformative. Lookingglass Theatre Company, recipient of the 2011 Regional Theatre Tony Award, was founded in 1988 by eight Northwestern University students. Now in its 32nd Season, Lookingglass is home to a multi-disciplined ensemble of artists who create story-centered theatrical work that is physical, aurally rich and visually metaphoric. The Company, located in Chicago’s landmark Water Tower Water Works, has staged 70 world premieres, received 161 Joseph Jefferson Award Nominations, and produced work all across the United States. In 2016, Lookingglass received the MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions and in 2017, was the recipient of the League of Chicago Theatres’ Artistic Achievement Award.  

Lookingglass continues to expand its artistic, financial, and institutional boundaries under the guidance of Artistic Director Heidi Stillman, Executive Director Rachel L. Fink, a 29-member artistic ensemble, 22 artistic associates, an administrative staff, and a dedicated board of directors led by Chair Nancy Timmers and President Richard Chapman. For more information, visit lookingglasstheatre.org.  

About WBEZ Chicago

WBEZ, Chicago’s NPR news station, serves the community with fact-based, objective news and information. WBEZ’s award-winning journalists ask tough questions, dig deep for answers and expose truths that spark change and foster understanding. In addition to its local and national news programming, WBEZ Chicago is home to a growing portfolio of popular podcasts, including the “Making” series of Making Beyoncé, Making Obama and Making Oprah; an investigative podcast series, Motive; 16 Shots: A podcast about the fatal police shooting of Laquan McDonald; Nerdette; and Curious City. WBEZ Chicago has a legacy of innovation as the birthplace of nationally acclaimed programs such as This American Life, and Wait Wait...Don’t Tell Me! and the ground-breaking podcast, Serial.

# # #

[thelocaltourist]

Babes with Blades Theatre Company Presents “Othello” http://bit.ly/2slO8ge

[londontheatre]

Life By The Throat – Eve Steele

It’s a pleasantly warm and sunny evening. I’m having a stroll around the streets near Battersea Bridge and the park – streets vaguely familiar to me from a long-gone childhood of chip shops and giant Palm Toffee ads. I’m feeling good. Then it hits me. Out of the blue. An angry fist straight into the throat. A back-handed slap in the gob, an indiscriminate kick in the shins, a baseball bat rammed into the gut and – the coup de grace – an unforgiving knee buried in the groin. I double up, fall to the ground and through the old Young’s Brewery fuggy daze I see images of that other aspect of my childhood – the Teds with razor blades displayed in their top pocket and fishhooks stitched into their sleeves.

Yes, I’ve been mugged. I didn’t see it coming, I wasn’t prepared – I mean, Battersea’s got gentrified since my day, hasn’t it? Mugged not by one of those Teddy Boy ghosts from the past but mugged by a slip of girl (I use the phrase advisedly, with apologies to the Sexism Police), a firebrand female whom I imagine eats fishhooks for lunch. I’m on the ground – not those well-worn paving slabs of Battersea Park Road but on the floor of a theatre, Theatre 503, upstairs at the Latchmere pub, an old style London pub, thankfully unchanged in configuration since I stood outside waiting to return beer bottles for the deposit.

The mugger is Eve Steele and she is performing her self-penned play Life By The Throat. I never expect anything from a show except the unexpected and this one took me totally unawares. It’s a one-person show, a seventy-minute typhoon-tirade, a poverty-porn-poem delivered with shock-jock ferocity, a full-frontal assault on our senses, our prejudices and our deeply lurking trepidations.

Steele is a one-woman tour de force who plays a babe-kid- boy-teen- youth-lad-dad- man-alco with passion, empathy and understanding. Her creation, James Joseph Patrick Keogh, is a mad-little-brained Hulme Mancunian of Irish extraction and despite being a top athlete at School runs the full gamut of thieving, smoking, drinking, soft drug use, sexual abuse, borstal time, heavy drug use, jail time, drug dependency and alcoholism. Steele gives us every nuance of this beleaguered life, the highs, the lows, the very highs, the rock-bottoms, the drunken rages. She (and again, I use the term advisedly) is James, her every action, her every gesture her every glance, her every aside gives us the complete package of the man she is depicting and it’s very, very convincing. It feels like taking on a kick-boxer, a cage fighter and an MMA exponent all rolled into one: a hard-hitting, no-holds- barred, gut-wrenching relentless diatribe telling the truth about life below the poverty line in this country today.

Yes, the show can be filed under Ken Loach but it’s not overtly political, overtly socialist in its outlook – though socialists may well want to claim it as their own: it’s just overtly Life. And channeling Oscar Wilde – “The Ballad of Reading Gaol” – as part of the repetitive prison sequences adds a literary perspective through which we can view the sordid, tawdry life that Steele is delineating.

Steele’s partner in crimes in this production is director Ed Jones – together they form Most Wanted Theatre Company. Jones demonstrably shares Steele’s empathy for the subject and his direction is subtle yet brash, nuanced yet very much in-yer- face. I’m not going to allow him to escape scot-free from what is blatantly a joint mugging: it’s very much a perpetrator-and-mastermind relationship. Particularly smart is the use of sudden loud music for Keogh to chill/rant/dance/fight to. It’s a clever mix of ska-reggae- club classics and anyone who incorporates the Althea and Donna classic “Uptown Top Ranking” is going to get my vote every time.

The trip south of the river to Theatre 503 is always rewarding – an innovative and stimulating Fringe theatre that rarely disappoints. This is Artistic Director Lisa Spirling’s first season and she has bought into 503’s well-established New Writing pedigree with an eclectic and stimulating collection of shows.

Scheduling Life By The Throat into the mix is an inspired decision though Ms Spirling may need to check her Public Liability Insurance to see what the cover limit is for muggings.

Review by Peter Yates

The remarkable life of Jamie Joseph Patrick Keogh is channelled in this one-woman show inspired by interviews with and acting as a celebration of men who have been involved with drugs, been through the criminal justice system and had to cope with adversity.

Born into poverty and madness, Jamie is a force to be reckoned with. He survives on wit, laughter and ingenious schemes. Whether it’s sprinting on sports day, chasing oblivion or running away from cops, it seems to be only a matter of time for him before a crash comes.

In an age when masculinity is in crisis, this is both a show about it means to be a man from a broken background and what it means to be a woman who has loved a man like that. The show celebrates the ingenuity of the thief and the chancer – the bad boy – but also reaches out to him with love, compassion and understanding, aims to give colourful insight into the lives of those living on the edge in society.

Most Wanted in association with LittleMighty present Life by The Throat Award-winning writer-performer and former Coronation Street star Eve Steele performs one man’s life from birth to death in this gritty, true-to-life performance exploring class, gender and living life on society’s margins

Written and performed by Eve Steele | Directed by Ed Jones UK TOUR: Tuesday 18 April – Saturday 20 May 2017 (further dates to be announced)

Company Written and performed by Eve Steele Produced by LittleMighty Directed by Ed Jones http://ift.tt/2ouAzqs | @MostWantedShows | @littlemightyUK | #LifebyTheThroat Running time: 1 hour approx | Age restriction: 14+

http://ift.tt/2pGgguV LondonTheatre1.com

[matildazq]

Two bloody, severed thumbs up. Really enjoyed this.