This annual summer showcase of experimental theater, performance, and music used to be presented at multiple locations, but now all activities take place at a single venue: the Lunar Cabaret in Lincoln Park, home base of the Curious Theatre Branch, whose artistic director Beau O’Reilly is the event’s coordinator. But though the Rhino’s roaming grounds have been reined in this year, the beast’s appetite hasn’t been curtailed. The Rhino Fest, which takes its name from surrealist painter Salvador Dali’s use of the term “rhinocerontic” (it means real big), still seeks to offer audiences a broad sampling of new, sometimes innovative work from the fringes of Chicago’s performing-arts community.
The eighth annual Rhinoceros Theater Festival opens Thursday, September 4, at the Lunar Cabaret, 2827 N. Lincoln, and runs through Sunday, September 28. Performances are generally Mondays at 8 PM, Thursdays at 8 and 9 PM, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 and 10 PM, and Sundays at 3 and 8 PM; consult the listings below for specific shows and times. All events are $10 or “pay what you can.” For more information, call 773-327-6666.
The Reader lists festival schedules (which are subject to last-minute change) on a week-by-week basis; following is the schedule for opening night.
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 4
Ten Tongues
Poet Cin Salach and musician Mark Messing, ex-members of the Loofah Method performance troupe, headline this evening of spoken word and music, which will be repeated Friday and Saturday, September 5 and 6. Also on the bill are musicians Mark Penner-Howell and Danny Faith. 8 PM.
Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): Cin Salach uncredited photo.