Adventurous audiences will be on the edge of their seats in this free experimental theater, dance and performance series. OnEdge will feature Chicago and world premieres from national and international artists and companies at various venues throughout the city. OnEdge dives into themes of identity and spirituality while challenging audiences to reexamine life and culture through intense, contemporary performances by emerging and mid-career artists. The series also includes workshops with some of the guest artists.
PERFORMANCES
January 16 & 17 Urban Renewal: Creator and performer Kyle deCamp depicts his experience growing up in Chicago’s Hyde Park in the chaotic ’60s. During this intimate performance, the audience is invited to bear witness to innocence and the aspirations and failures of modernism. Storefront Theater (66 E. Randolph St.)
January 19 & 26 Salonathon: Founded & curated by Jane Beachy, Salonathon has run weekly on Monday nights at Beauty Bar since July 2011 and is a home for underground, emerging and genre-defying art. Join OnEdge at Salonathon for two installments of works in progress by local and national artists. Beauty Bar (1444 W. Chicago Ave.)
January 22 & 23 The Thief of Mirrors: As part of the inaugural Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival, Montreal-based Daniel Barrowpresents the world premiere of The Thief of Mirrors. Throughout the performance, Barrow walks the razor’s edge of irony, challenging systems of class and control in our culture. Storefront Theater (66 E. Randolph St.)
January 24 Rodney King: Rodney King is a monologue from award winning actor, writer and director Roger Guenveur Smith. The solo performance recalls the events surrounding the 1992 Los Angeles riot through a “conversation” with King. Smith has a long list of film credits that include Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing, Malcolm X, Eve’s Bayou and American Gangster, for which he was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award. DuSable Museum of African American History (740 E. 56th Pl.)
January 28-31 REVIVAL: REVIVAL returns to OnEdge following its 2013 work-in-progress showing. The creation of Eric Hoff and Jesse Morgan Young serves as equal parts performance and party featuring Chicago artists and DJ Smirk from Wolf + Lamb. This one-of-a-kind experience takes place indoors, backstage at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park. Jay Pritzker Pavilion, Millennium Park (201 E. Randolph St.)
January 30-31 WONDER: Michelle Boulé pushes her body into new dimensions of exposure in WONDER. The dance engages the audience in a purposeful relationship with the performer to mutually explore seeing and being seen. Through a continuous cycle of costumes and personas, Boulé explores archetypes and definitions of gender, identity and virtuosity. Links Hall (3111 N. Western Ave.)
January 30 – February 1 Ads: Ads is a video work by seminal theater artist Richard Maxwell that asks local participants, “What do you believe?” and provides “airtime” for them to answer. Maxwell, a playwright and the artistic director for New York City Players, is the recipient of the 2014 Spalding Gray Award. Storefront Theater (66 E. Randolph St.)
For a complete schedule, visit cityofchicago.org/dcase. The schedule of performances is subject to change.
