CheekyChicago

“A night of comedy so funny you just might pee. Just a little.” This is the tagline for the Plagiarists’ American Stage Sessions: The Best of History of World Drama (PART 237, 156, and 994 presented in Consecutivity) – aka A.S.S. – but its really more of a warning. This intelligent and hilarious young company has created a show that doesn’t give you much room for breathing in between fits of laughter. The basic premise is that we are watching what is essentially a bizarre Masterpiece Theatre Telethon featuring three segments from America’s greatest playwrights, only none of these plays or playwrights actually exist. The result lives somewhere between Monty Python and Waiting for Guffman. With wit and vigor, the Plagiarists attack the material they created with full dedication, making it not only hilarious, but almost conceivable that these outlandish plays could have come from a Tennessee Williams or Eugene O’Neill…or, at least, a twisted relative. What is most impressive is that this company collectively wrote these pieces (with the assistance of director, Steve Wilson and castmate, Ryan Palmer), managing to entertain both theatre kids and the normals (all of you who weren’t theatre nerds in high school). What started as a backstage joke (see short video, The Corsage, on their website) branched into a writing exercise. The ensemble completed most of the writing by adding on to one another’s work using “basecamp”, a project management website. They then performed the piece as part of Mary-Arrchie Theatre Company’s Abbie Hoffman Festival, and continued with two more installments in the following years. Director Wilson became their biggest fan and helped turn the three pieces into one full length show.

The Plagiarist’s mission statement is to “steal from literature, visual art, history and the culture at large to create new theatre that finds the familiar in the strange, the unique in the commonplace and, ultimately, enlarges the world.” Well, in A.S.S., they have accomplished just that, stealing themes and styles from theatre history and blowing them up into something highly original and hilarious. Every theatre company tries to find a way to stand out and be unique, which the Plagiarists pull off easily, but they also put an emphasis on bringing the theatre community together with their work. By performing on Mondays and Tuesdays (most theatre’s dark nights), they are giving the opportunity to other theatre artists to come enjoy their productions. They also host monthly salons in the back of The Black Rock in Roscoe Village, placing the emphasis on celebrating the theatre community’s works in progress. It is a risk free environment, a place to share and branch out. The company is comprised of extremely talented actors who work all over the city, from iO to the Goodman, but they make sure they come together at least once every other week for purely creative playtime. The overwhelming joy, support and belief in one another and the Chicago theatre scene as a whole is what makes this company so innovative and exciting. Go see this production immediately. This is a group of performers you’ll want to keep track of. And who doesn’t want the chance to laugh their A.S.S. off?

Now thru Nov. 3 at the Viaduct Theatre on Mondays and Tuesdays, 8 pm.