Performance of “act five” in conversation with Muscle Memory
On Friday, May 10 from 7:00 - 7:45 pm. we are pleased to host the performance of an excerpt of a play directed by dado and with script by playwright, Katherine Swan. This performance will be in the gallery, embedded amongst the artwork of Muscle Memory.
act five is an exploration of an imagined continuation, or fifth act, of Anton Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard. What if the orchard was not destroyed, and we return a year later to find our musicians still
playing out there? In this exploration, we finally get to meet and experience the offstage musicians in person. It was first workshopped in March 2023 as a part of A Red Orchid Theatre’s Incubator Series. The production features Elliot Bibat, Sam Hurwitz, Paul Somers as Yermolai Lopakhin, and Santiago Quintana.
Act Five is presented as a live discovery process shared with the audience. For this reading in the gallery, those involved in the production are interested in how the performers will be energized by the artwork and how the artwork will be elevated by the performance. For the audience, there is a new dimension to viewing the artwork and experiencing the play as the actors, artwork, sound, and story interconnect and unfold.
Paul’s work as a performer is part of his interdisciplinary practice. This is experimental theater, a work in progress, and we are humbled as these amazing members of the Chicago theatrical community bring this excerpt of the production to SoNa Chicago.
