Live Bait Theater’s showcase of one-person performances features old and new work by a slew of fringe artists, among them Stephanie Shaw, Lotti Pharriss, David Kodeski, Mark Gagne, Judith Harding, Karin McKie, and Kristin Garrison. The festival climaxes with a salute to the late James Grigsby, whose solo show Terminal Madness was Live Bait’s first production in 1988.
The seventh annual Fillet of Solo Festival runs through August 25 at Live Bait Theater, 3914 N. Clark; performances take place in the theater’s main-stage and Bucket spaces. Tickets are $10 per show; a festival pass to all shows costs $30, and a pass to the two “Live Bait Bucket Solo Sampler” shows is $15. Call 773-871-1212 for reservations (tickets are also available on-line at www.TicketWeb.com); check www.livebaittheater.org for more information.
Following is the schedule for August 15-22; a full schedule is available on-line at www.chicagoreader.com.
THURSDAY, AUGUST 15
Live Bait Bucket Solo Sampler #1: Seeking and Hiding
David Kodeski hosts an evening of short solo performances (ten minutes max) by Karin McKie, Kristin Garrison, Michael Lehrer, Lotti Pharriss, and Beth Ann Bryant-Richards. Bucket, 7:30 PM.
FRIDAY, AUGUST 16
Live Bait Bucket Solo Sampler #2: Image, Bodies and Risk
Edward Thomas-Herrera hosts a program of short solo performances (ten minutes max) by Jamie Black, Diane Dorsey, Mark Gagne, Judith Harding, Carrie Kaufman, and Ron Kelly. Bucket,
7:30 PM.
Battle Scars
See review in this section. Main stage,
PM.
Tastes Like Chicken
Jonathan Pereira’s comic monologue “flirts with issues of racial identity, but [its] final thoughts on the irrationality of prejudice feel more random than conclusive. Still, [Pereira is] a mesmerizing performer with a gift for physical comedy and the courage to structure a monologue in a highly unconventional manner,” says Reader critic Justin Hayford. Bucket, 11 PM.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 17
Battle Scars
See review in this section. Main stage,
PM.
Are You There, God? It’s Me, Kristin
Kristin Garrison offers her piece about being a teenager in the 1970s. “Garrison is . . . a major-league performer [who] shows she can claim a room. Whether holding forth onstage or dashing through the theater’s aisles, she seems to be with her audience rather than performing at us or even to us. . . . Although at times her methodical approach results in rather labored pacing, for the most part Garrison captivates by the sheer ingenuity of her wit. Now she needs to make more sense of her disjointed musings. . . . For her material to be as memorable as she is, [she] needs to rely more on structure than on quirks,” says Reader critic Justin Hayford. Bucket, 8:30 PM.
My Dirty Little Secret
Marianna Runge’s monologue, directed by Don Regal, explores her conflicted relationship with Catholicism as well as her experiences as a phone sex operator. “Runge explores her mammoth topic–the quest for faith–in discrete, manageable, uninflated episodes. As a result the material never feels forced, though Runge’s performance is at times a bit mannered. Fortunately her writing never is: she dispenses with literary flourishes to focus on incidental details that capture a mood or convey a psychological state,” says Reader critic Justin Hayford. Bucket, 11 PM.
THURSDAY, AUGUST 22
Live Bait Bucket Solo Sampler #1: Seeking and Hiding
See listing for Thursday, August 15. Bucket, 7:30 PM.