The Essence of a Chicago Storefront Theater

Anyone who has visited the National Pastime Theater venue or enjoyed watching a performance in the old ballroom space knows that there is a great deal of history associated with this location. Built as the Buena Park Hotel in the late 1920’s in the midst of the Prohibition era, it now serves a contemporary theater audience with reminders of a glamorous though sometimes notorious past. The original marble clock dominates the main wall of what is now the performance space, and the missing hands on the face of the clock seem to instill a sense of timelessness in the room. Those actors and directors who work in this space insist that they feel the magic and energy that seem to emanate from all corners of this historic space.

Given this history, it seems fitting that this location serves as the home for the Naked July Festival for a second summer. During the Prohibition years, revelers sought a private refuge in the “speakeasy” here so that they could assert their personal freedoms as they willfully disregarded the federal ban on alcoholic beverages. In that same spirit, the artistic directors who have created the Naked July Festival are determined to challenge the views of those individuals in today's society who would have us believe that simple nudity in dance or the performing arts is somehow wrong or distasteful or immoral. As NPT founder Laurence Bryan pointed out in a Chicago Tribune article a few years ago, “We are in this place for a reason. We have had a very anti-Establishment theme here and I think it fits the history of the place. This is the perfect place to produce the plays that we do.”

It certainly seems like a perfect place to stage the four performance pieces that make up the Naked July program this summer. The shows are sure to amaze you and challenge your sensibilities. This bold and innovative concept is the essence of storefront theater in Chicago. Don’t miss it.