A guy shows-up at a house wearing cat ears and a tail. The family there to greet him was expecting a cat, but this is just…a guy. So naturally, they show him the door. He is persistent, though. He insists that he is, in fact, a cat. They are still unconvinced. He utters a meow. That’s all the more convincing they need. Clearly he’s a cat. His name is Pete. They’d been expecting him.

OK, so it’s a little weird. First Stage does a pretty good job of completing the illusion in its production of Pete the Cat. Actor Ethan Smith may not employ a whole lot of cat-like affectations. He may not resemble the classic James Dean illustrations of the title character, Smith does a good job of bringing across the overall idea of an unshakably cool cat in the season opener for the reliably stylish children’s theater company.

Written by Sarah Hammond for TheaterWorksUSA, the plot of the one-hour musical moves the title character to the side as the plot focusses on a second grader named Jimmy who is struggling to create an original painting for art class. Pete and a magic VW bus show Jimmy some motivation as they make their way to Paris so they Jimmy can don the magic sunglasses that will allow him to find the inspiration he needed.

The child cast at First Stage bring energy to the stage as talented local theatre veteran Todd Denning and First Stage theatre alum Tori Watson capably round-out th adult cast. The music by Will Aronson harnesses sort of a classic light pop rock feel for Pete to groove to. As commissioned by TheaterWorksUSA, the overall aesthetic of Pete’s cool in the show seems firmly grounded in the boomer aesthetic that would likely be brought-in by many of the grandparents who will be taking kids to the show.

The visual feel of the show lives-up to First Stage’s high standards. There’s a sharp visual reality to the Martin McClendon’s scenic design that feels more or less inspired by Pete creator James Dean’s art style. The color palette that McClendon is working with feels very true to the cool colors that Dean casts the page in. Talented lighting designer Jason Fassl has done a remarkable job of lending luminescent color to the stage as well in a huge cat head that rests above the stage. With eyes that light-up. It’s too bad that the cat head above everything couldn’t look a bit more like Dean’s classic design for Pete. That distinctive Pete the Cat face is a genius piece of design that is instantly recognizable to anyone who might have been a kid or read to a kid in the past 15 years. That basic bit of iconography would have gone a long way towards making the show feel a bit more rooted in the title character.

First Stage’s production of Pete the Cat continues through November 3rd at the Todd Wehr Theater in the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts on 929 N. Water Street. For ticket reservations and more, visit First Stage online.

October appears to be play host to dark comedy as local small stages present a promising scattering of different narratives including history, the future, fortunes gained, illusive and illusory. Here's a look at some of what's coming to the stage in the first full month of Autumn 2024.

​New York-based playwright Frank Winters had work appear onstage locally before Marquette University Theatre had staged a production of his drama Student Body back in 2018. It was a tense one-hour conversation that touched on some pretty deep questions in a very tight format that locked-in inescapable realities. This week, Marquette stages the world premiere of Winters’ In the Cities of Refuge--a drama set in a small-town homeless shelter which looks to be every bit as deep and intense as Winters’ Student Body. The show runs Oct. 4th- 13th. For ticket reservations and more, visit Marquette Theatre Online.
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​The Milwaukee Turners had been a staunchly progressive group in Milwaukee back in the late 19th and early 20th century. This month, Cabaret Milwaukee stages a historical production that celebrates the Turners within the beautiful historic structure that is Turner Hall. It should prove to be an interesting journey as the group will be staging the drama with larger-than-life bunraku style puppets. Should be a fascinating evening at the Palm Garden Tavern at Turner Hall. For more information, visit the show’s Facebook events page. Frisch, Frei, Stark, Treu: A Puppet History of the Milwaukee Turners runs Oct. 11 - 27.

​January 20th. Kind of a nondescript date overall. It’s the date on which everything happens in In the Canyon by playwright Calamity West. It’s five scenes long. Each scene takes place on a different January 20th...from 2007 to 2067. A lot of thematic ground is covered from a woman’s right to choose...to climate change. It’s a drama that The Constructivists will be staging at The Broadway Theatre Center. The ever-changing landscape of America is presented in a progression of scenes that are directed by Jaimelyn Gray. The show runs Oct. 12 - 26. For more information, visit The Constructivists online.

​Playwright Jen Silverman’s The Moors is a fun pseudo-deconstruction of the Bronte sisters’ work that made a local appearance in a UWM production not too long ago. This month, the deliciously clever dark comedy makes its way to the stage with a Renaissance Theaterworks production that features the return of talented local actress Sarah Sokolovic. Directed by Suzan Fete, the show has a remarkable cast including Marti Gobel, Allie Babich, Emily Vitrano and Reese Madigan. The show runs Oct. 20 - Nov. 10 at the Next Act Theatre on 255 S Water St. For ticket reservations and more, visit Renaissance online.

Hungarian playwright György Spiró sculpted an interesting narrative with Dust. A husband and wife win the lottery and they must work out precisely what it is that they’ve won. It’s a small fortune, but what is it that they’ve really won? The delightfully expressive drama was staged with Theatre Gigante just over a decade ago. The drama returns in another Gigante production that opens at month’s end. The show runs Oct. 28 - Nov. 3 at Kenilworth 508 Theatre. For more information, visit Gigante online.

The space looks powerful thanks to AntiShadows. It’s the center of a church, but it’s the heart of a big mess of human emotion cast in a simple glow with simple sheets that might be curtains.  The lighting group also designed the set, which transports the center of the sanctuary into the cozy, little living space of an activist who tragically died halfway around the world a couple of decades ago. The captivating Maya Danks comes to occupy that space in My Name is Rachel Corrie with Vanguard Productions this month.


Director Josh Pohja as fostered a really strong connection between Danks and the title character in the one-woman show. It’s a script drawn from the writings of an American Gen X activist who went over the Gaza to aid in the cause of pease and ended up tragically crushed to death. Alan Rickman and Katharine Viner did a remarkable job of constructing an expansive 90-minute date with a young woman who was trying to figure everything out from her place in the world at the dawn of a new millennium. It’s remarkably engrossing stuff on a whole bunch of different levels.


Aided by AntiShadows, Danks does a brilliantly vivid job of conjuring the full reality of a heartbreakingly sensitive woman of great curiosity who also happens to be staggeringly sharp in articulating complex ideas. Corrie was quite a storyteller. Danks captures her wit, whimsy, heart and compassion with a charming complexity. There’s a lot going on in the text that deals with issues that continue to tragically echo into the now, but the passion that drives the center of the drama is a bond between Danks and Corrie’s writing that is deeply moving.


The dynamics of Corrie’s experiences with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict continue to echo into the present. What Rachel Corrie describes in the course of her biography could have happened just this past year. People are suffering. There is death. People in power continue to do what people in power do. It’s so easy to feel so helpless about it. It’s refreshing to get another look at the actions of one woman who happened to be looking for some strategy to change things in some small way that might help.


There’s a great deal of complexity to the script drawn together from the deeper emotions of a woman who died way too soon. Danks manages to keep the inner life of the young woman well-rendered and cleverly structured even in the absence of anyone else onstage at all. It’s quite and accomplishment for an actress who hasn’t had as much of a chance to inhabit the center of the stage. It’s really, really cool to see her get there. The drama is a wonderful opportunity to hang out with her and Corey for a little over an hour without intermission.


Vanguard Theatre’s production of My Name is Rachel Corrie runs through September 29thh at Calvary Presbyterian Church on 628 N 10th St. For ticket reservations and more, visit Vanguard online.

Larger-than-life drama explodes across the small stage this fall as Next Act opens its season with The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity. The heartbreakingly relatable Adrian Feliciano is phenomenally engaging as a professional wrestler who has always been paid to lose. His biggest foe just might be the title character: a pro wrestling champion with far greater charisma and far less talent who is played by DiMonte Henning. David Cecsarini makes a similarly impressive appearance as the head of the wrestling organization...a gruff guy of massive authority in and out of the ring. He and the powerfully charismatic Henning make for sharply slick antagonists.


The Net Act production is driven by the engine of love for professional wrestling .Director Michael Cotey’s passion for the amplified drama of the sports entertainment industry crams the ridiculous immensity of pro-wrestling into one of the most intimate stages in town. The restult is positively overwhelming. (Complementary ear plugs are available from the ushers on the way in to the theatre.) Cotey has orchestrated a really impressive production. Scenic Designer Em Allen’s set dominates the stage with the look and feel of a pro wrestling ring. Everything looks SO stylish from the company logo to the precise placement of the massive video projections, the slickly-produced interstitials and everything else. It really is a beautifully over-the-top theatrical experience in every way iimaginable. Lighting Designer Maaz Ahmed manages both powerfully devastating light and subtle nuances.


Most people pay good money to see pro wrestling from a great distance. Fans of the strangely popular genre of...um...pop theatre...(?) will be happy to know that local wrestling legend Frankie DeFalco acted as fight coordinator for the show and yes: there ARE a few very definite moments of action that are faithfully adapted from the pro wrestling ring to the ring on the stage. And it all feels SO true to the atmosphere of an actual pro wrestling match from the crash of a body hitting the mat to the swing of a folding chair to the ropes and the lights and the video projections that are as massive and unavoidable as some long-forgotten deity.


Somewhere in the midst of all the razzle-dazzle of amplified athleticism beats the heart of a devastating drama. Feliciano speaks with deep passion and love in the role of a guy named “Mace” who is pushed through the motions of circumstances beyond his control...always just out of range of being able to take over his own destiny. Feliciano is positively brilliant as a man who is truly in love with a job that he sometimes hates. Thee’s a strong statement being made in Kristoffer Díaz’ script regarding the American Dream, the cultural identity of the U.S., the nature or money, power and racism and the whole twisted history of the North American continent...but what audiences are most likely to love about the show is its deep wells of passion and affection for that strangely persistent pop cultural powerhouse that IS pro wrestling.


Next Act Theatre’s production of The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity runs through October 6th a the Next Act Theatre on 255 S. Water St.

Milwaukee small stage theatre opens the season with some potentially badass moments onstage. The Milwaukee Rep debuts a cabaret show tribute to the women of rock. Next Act opens a show set in the world of professional wrestling. There's also a contemporary look at a Greek classic and more. Here's a look.

Milwaukee Rep hosts a celebration of rock divas that opens the theatre season downtown this year. Created by the Rep’s Mark Clemons Women of Rock is directed by Dan Kazemi. A group of 4 women celebrate such legends as  Janis Joplin, Tina Turner, Joan Jett, Debbie Harry, Alanis Morissette, Brandi Carlile and P!nk. The show runs Sep. 6 - Nov. 3 at the Stacker Cabaret. For more information, visit Milwaukee Rep online.

Next Act Theatre opens its season with a comic drama from the heart of popular fiction. The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity tells the story grounded in the glossy world of pro wrestling.  Dimonte Henning plays the title character...a heroic, charismatic pro wrestler. The relatively small Adrian Feliciano plays a superior athlete named “The Mace” who is paid to lose. Next Act’s Devid Cecsarini makes quite a transformation as the bald, goateed head of the wrestling organization. Playwright Kristoffer Diaz finds considerable depth in a pop cultural arena that is brought to the stage by talented director Micheal Cotey. The show runs September 11th -  October 6th at Next Act’s space on 255 S. Water St. For ticket reservations and more, visit Next Act Online.

A lot can happen before a kiss. A lot can happen afterward as well. A 1988 ronantic drama stagplay was turned into a popular film in 1992 starring Meg Ryan and Alec Baldwin. Years later, it’s been turned into a musica that’s being co-produced by the Milwaukee Rep. Prelude to a Kiss a musical makes part of its world premiere with the Rep September 10th - October 19th. The show makes its debut at The Harris Theater in the Sharon Lynne Wilson Center for the Arts on 3270 Mitchell Park Drive in Brookfield. For ticket reservations and more, visit the Rep online.

​One of the oldest surviving dramas in the history of storytelling gets a modern update as Milwaukee Chamber Theatre presents An Iliad. Kellen "Klassik" Abston and N'Jameh Camara play Poet and Muse in a reflection of the ancient world in the relatively intimate confines of the Goodman MainStage Hall at the Milwaukee Youth Arts Center.  A tight, little 90 minute concentration of ancient drama makes its way to a mainstage with a couple of powerful talents under the direction of Brent Hazelton. The show runs September 20th - October 6th on 325 W. Walnut St. For ticket reservations and more, visit Milwaukee Chamber Theatre online.

Rachel Corrie was a student activist who had been tragically killed while protesting in Gaza all the way back in 2003. My Name Is Rachel Corrie is a powerful dramatic presentation on the life of an American activist. I'd seen a production of the drama at Marquette 15 years ago. This month Vanguard Productions stages the drama at Cavalry Presbyterian Church on 628 N 10th St. The production features the talented Maya Danks as the young activist. For more information, visit Vanguard online. 

​There’s a misty moodiness to the outdoor stage at Lapham Peak in Delafield. The late summer haze finds a perfect outdoor home for SummerStage’s production of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Director Dustin J. Martin finds the classic heart of the tragedy with a pleasantly familiar staging to Shakespeare’s classic. Zach Thomas Woods is a deeply charismatic figure as the emo college kid who is home from classes in Wittenberg visiting family tragedy. His father’s dead. His father’s ghost tells him that it his uncle who is responsible. The madness plays itself out from there in a thoroughly engaging production. Some of Shakespeare’s best-known moments take their turn on a simple stage. It’s absurdly difficult to find original energies in so much of Hamlet’s speech from the gravedigger’s scene to that impossible soliloquy at the top of Act III. Woods finds quite a bit of genuine emotion in and amidst the cliched vocalizations of a character who can often read like little more than a cover band doing Shakespeare’s Greatest Hits. On some level, Hamlet seems like some tedious emo kid who is always quoting Shakespeare. It's difficult to navigate around the ominous echo of the play's history. Woods finds the soul at the heart of the cliche and brings it to the stage quite admirably.


Michael Chobanoff is suitably duplicitous in th role of King Claudius--the man who murdered Hamlet’s father in order to claim the throne. Chobanoff manages a much more dominant stage presence in the role of the villain than most actors often manage. The politician’s presence that settles-in around Chobanoff finds a perfect match to Woods’ crafty madness in the role of Hamlet.


Ariana Manghera’s Ophelia finds a sharp and emotional connection with Woods’ Hamlet. It’s often difficult to find a genuine connection between the characters in and amidst the machinations of murder and political intrigue that dominate the plot. Manghera deftly finds the strength in Ophelia that can be so difficult for most actresses to locate. She’s got a solidly well-articulated chemistry with Woods that works its way through the edges of the play with striking clarity in and amidst all of the heartache and political drama.


The big finale comes across with uncommon strength thanks to the passion of Josh Scheibe as Ophelia’s brother Laertes. An early appearance firmly establishes a family connection between Laertes, Ophelia and their father. (William Molitor lends a paternal texture to the proceedings as their father Polonius.) A deft establishment of that connection serves as a firm foundation for the tragedy near the play’s end. Scheibe cleverly wields that tragedy as a slicingly precise motivation for the tragedy’s climactic conflict.


The physics energy of the drama’s aggression makes a compelling appearance on the stage thanks to the work of fight choreographer Christopher Elst. The sword fight between Hamlet and Laertes jumps around the outdoor set with pragmatic energy that eschews unnecessary flair in favor of a classy dramatic poise. Elst’s fight choreography moves everything quite gracefully across the stage with the kind of energy that blunts some of the strangely dark and inadvertent comedy that can sometime unfortunately surface amidst a whole bunch of dead people onstage at the end of the tragedy.


SummerStage of Delafield’s production of Hamlet continues through September 7th at Lapham Peak on W329 N846 County Highway C in Delafield. For ticket reservations and more information, visit Summerstage online.

Once again, Milwaukee Irish Fest rolls its way through the Maier Festival grounds this weekend. The Theatre Pavilion comes to rest just precisely where it has in recent years: in a cozy, little snug place just beyond the water that’s far from the noise and commotion of the rest of the fest. I had an opportunity to see a couple of performances opening night.

​Irish Fest continues through Sunday, August 19th at Henry Maier Festival Park. For a complete listing of upcoming events at the Theatre Pavilion, visit Irish Fest online.

The heart of the summer of 2024 wraps-up with a variety of different shows coming to small stages in Milwaukee including the debut of a musical set in a portrait studio and a stages reading of a cyberpunk-inspired sci-fi drama. Also this month: the return of the Milwaukee Black Theatre Festival and the Drama Tent at Milwaukee Irish Fest. Here's a look at some of what lies ahead.

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Pink Umbrella Theatre opens the month this weekend with a new musical by David Lancelle and Patrick Thompson. It’s a story set in a photography studio. It’s a place to get family portraits and headshots--that sort of thing. One partner calls-in sick, leaving the entire studio to one person. Sounds like a fun premise for a small-scale musical for the small stage.
August 2 - 11 at Christ Church Episcopal on 5655 N. Lake Drive in Whitefish Bay. For more information, visit Pink Umbrella online.
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​​The Third Annual MKW Black Theatre Festival takes the stage of the Marcus Center this month. The festival opens with a production of the classic theatrical narrative for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf directed by Linetta Alexander. Also opening the festival: Idris Goodwin’s The Realness: A Break Beat Play. Denzel Taylor directs an interesting personal political drama as a young artist enters the hip-hop scene of the mid-to-late 1990s and tangles with the reality of dreaming for love or money in “the middle-class fantasy of rap.” Also featured later-on on the festival: Bill Harris’ Stories About the Old Days and a pay-what-you-can reading of In the Blood--Suzan-Lori Parks’ modern re-telling of The Scarlett Letter.  For more information, visit Black Arts MKE online.
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​I really don't want to miss this one, but there is SO MUCH opening next week. Local playwright Rick Bingen seems to be channeling J. Michael Straczynski's "The Mind of Simon Foster" or Philip K. Dick's "Paycheck" in a story involving a man who seems to be leaking memories. He's got to race against the clock to try to build a device to save the memories. Kind of a fun cybeerunky-sounding sci-fi premise that's being presented in a staged reading directed by the talented Maya Danks.  The reading runs August 9 - 10 at The Brick House on 504 East Center St. For more information, visit The Brick House online.
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​Milwaukee Irish Fest returns to the festival grounds this year. Once again, the Theatre Pavilion Tent features a number of cozy, small stage shows including Wild Sky--a 2022 play about the Easter Rising of 1916 by Deirdre Kinahan. Also on the festival this year: Green and Blue--the story of two men patrolling between two different Irelands during the height of the conflict. THAT show comes to Irish Fest courtesy of Belfast's touring Kabosh Theatre Company.  For the full schedule and more, visit Milwaukee Irish Fest online. 
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​R.I.P. is one of a few completely new pieces to be opening in Milwaukee this month. The musical comedy about the afterlife should be really interesting given the nature of the story. Director Alan Piotrowicz took some time out to answer a few questions about the show, which opens this coming week.

It’s a musical comedy about life and death. There’s a really delicate balance there. Love, loss and auto accidents aren’t always the cheeriest things to cover. It must be kind of ominous to try to find the right balance between tragic drama. How are you handling the balance between comedy and drama? 

It’s an incredibly delicate balance! But the thing about death is that it is one of the truly universal experiences in life. We all will have to face it at some point, not only once ourselves, but also whenever we grieve a loss. But grief and love are inextricably intertwined, and so with the heartbreak also comes joy – happy moments, funny anecdotes, opportunity for growth, chances for reconnection – and so too are there moments of light and levity in our show. The fact of the matter is we don’t know for sure what happens after we die, and neither do the Dead in our show, as find themselves wait in the back rooms of a mortuary. When things are that crazy, what can you do but find the humor?

Half the ensemble of characters is dead. The other half is alive. This should make for some rather interesting dramatic dynamics. Is there a whole lot of direct musical interaction between the living and the dead? How does the dynamic work on both sides of life and death in R.I.P.?


One of the many conversations I’ve had with Robert Grede, the playwright and composer, is about the role of music in the show. Rob’s done an amazing job of defining the “rules” of how the living and the dead can and can’t interact, and as we explored those rules during an earlier workshop, we learned that perhaps it is actually the music that acts as the connective thread between them. There’s an adage in musical theatre (I think from Bob Fosse) that “the time to sing is when your emotional level is just too high to speak anymore,” so it just makes sense to me that the moment these characters are reaching their most emotionally vulnerable place is both when they would be singing and when they’d be able to connect (even across the barrier of death) to fulfil their hopes and dreams. My personal favorite song in the show, in fact, started as a solo piece for a grieving sister, but as we continued to develop the script, it evolved into a beautiful duet between both sisters (one living and one dead), finding how they’ll each be able to move on.

The Next Act space can be VERY intimate. There’s an intimidating factor in staging something this delicate so close to the audience. This isn’t a simple staging either. There’s choreography and everything. How is the space of the show informing on the mood, music and movement of the piece? 

When we were looking for a venue for this show, I was a huge advocate for Next Act’s performance space. I’ve directed there before, including a production of Dead Man’s Cell Phone for Pink Banana Theatre Co, and actually designed lighting for several shows for Next Act Theatre, including 7 Stories, Four Places, A Sleeping Country, Grace, and Three Views of the Same Object – and those were all in some way about death! (I also did some not about death, too, I swear.) I love directing in intimate spaces, so it doesn’t seem so intimidating for me. Small, up-close spaces means that the storytelling is also more connected with the audience. We’re allowing folks to be a true fly on the wall, watching the lives (and in this case, afterlives) of these characters. Then when the music picks up and the dancing kicks off, the space feels as big and alive as it needs to be – and we definitely will have some "rock out" moments to share.

There’s quite a range of different ages and experience levels in the ensemble of performers. Some of the people in the cast have been around for decades. There are a few who have only attained their BAs like...a couple of years ago. It must be exciting working with such a diverse group. How has the group dynamic been in rehearsal? 

We’re so lucky in Milwaukee to have an array of talent that includes both strong young talent and accomplished actors who have been seen on many different stages in the region. However, it’s not always the case that they get to work in the same room! One of the things I love about RIP is that Rob’s created characters spanning a wide range of ages and life experiences, and we needed a cast that reflected that. This gave us the opportunity to assemble a team of artists with so much awesome experience – spanning from Milwaukee’s historic Melody Top Theatre to the most recent class of Professional Residencies at Milwaukee Rep. We begin rehearsals in one week, and I couldn’t be more excited to get everybody together in the room. 

Thanks in advance for taking the time to answer a few questions about the show.

The world premiere of RIP - A Musical Comedy of Life & Death runs Jul. 17 - 25 at Next Act Theatre’s performance space on  255 S Water St. For more information, visit the musical’s webpage.
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The RNC rolls into town next week. So y’know....there’s that...
This weekend Quasimondo Physical Theatre opens a critical theatrical analysis of the events of the attack on the US Capitol on January 6th, 2021.  Red, White and Coup runs throughout the month at an immersive space on the North Side. Writer/Director Brian Rott took some time out to answer a few questions I has about the show for a preview I’ve written for The Shepherd-Express. He was nice enough to let me post the entirety of those responses for The Small Stage....


The Small Stage: January 6th, 2021 was horrifying and disgusting on a whole bunch of different levels. Not a whole lot of people would have taken a look at what happened and though, "Y'know? I think this would really work onstage." Where did the specific inspiration come from?


Brian. Rott: I’m actually surprised that we haven’t seen much in way of plays or popular media addressing January 6th. Someone recently said to me that politics don’t mix well with theatre.  I think there may be some truth to that, regarding not wanting to alienate half of your audience, but for myself and our ensemble this piece isn’t about spreading a political agenda or fueling partisanship. It’s about presenting the truth and history of what we know happened. Jan. 6th was horrifying. I remember stopping my day to follow the TV coverage, as did probably a lot of people. We remember those images, but I think most people don’t know the details of how we got there. They don’t know that Jan 6th was the result of a meticulously crafted plan carried out  by dozens of people, and more so how it could have gone much worse if not for a few individuals who stood up to adversity. The inspiration first came  because I followed the televised January 6th committee hearings which fueled my interest to learn more, and my research led me to believe that this is an important story to tell now, in our City of Milwaukee, as a companion piece to hosting the RNC and their presidential candidate nominee, in an election year where history has the potential to repeat itself.


The Small Stage: The events of January 6th were crazy and chaotic on a number of different levels. How are you bringing that chaos to the stage? How are you framing the action of history for the production?


Brian. Rott:The show follows the events leading up to January 6th, the day itself, and a little of the aftermath to the present day. With an abundant amount of story to tell, we focused on the planners - Donald Trump and his lawyers, the foils - public officials who opposed their actions to overturn the election, as well as a handful of rioters who marched on the capital. I think the show follows the chaos of Trump’s team grasping at straws and spreading misinformation to the physical chaos enacted by marchers at the capital on January 6th.


The Small Stage: Quasimondo shows always manage a really engaging sort of a surrealistic circus atmosphere. How are you using that energy to peer into January 6th?


Brian. Rott: Entering the world of politics, pundits, lawyers, and Washington D.C, is new dramatic territory for us. Our goal was to write the script from available public sources; news articles, court filings, press conference transcripts, etc., many sources of which were somewhat dry. We were faced with the challenge of how to convey this story factually while also making it digestible and entertaining. This is where the fun came in. While most of the text is “on the record”, we’ve taken a number of liberties playing with form and switching style to create an accessible piece that showcases the spectacle and circus of politics. In many cases we didn’t need to add much, as the content alone proved absurd enough as is.


The Small Stage: The space of the North Milwaukee Arthaus has a lot of space and a lot of potential. How are you staging that space for the purposes of the show?


Brian Rott: Our building, the North Milwaukee Village Hall was built in 1901 as an all-in-one municipal building for the Village of North Milwaukee. We’re staging the production upstairs in the main hall, which was utilized as the primary hub for community events and local politics until 1929. I think of this performance at the Arthaus as site specific, given the building’s history in housing local politics and serving the public, which serves the content of “Red, White, and Coup” perfectly, and creates an immersive environment to experience the show.


Quasimondo Physical Theatre’s Red, White and Coup runs July 13- 27 at  North Milwaukee Arthaus on 5151 North 35th St. For more information visit Quasimondo online.