Accolades for Naked July Festival

The Naked July Festival at National Pastime Theater has been open for over two weeks now, and accolades for the Festival concept and the individual shows have been appearing in print and on several Chicago theater web sites. Here is a small sampling of what area theater critics are saying about the month-long event at NPT.

In a recent review that was posted on the Buzz Magazine web site, Kimberly Katz makes a very apt but thought-provoking observation when she writes, “When is the last time you saw full frontal nudity in the theater? Was it “HAiR”, “Oh! Calcutta!” or maybe “The Blue Room”? Maybe you have never seen a play with nudity in it; well, here is your chance to experience the liberating effect of live theater specifically designed to give you the feeling that your body - despite its quirks or flaws - is OK just the way it is.” This reviewer has very succinctly captured the essence of the Naked July Festival—live shows on a small stage featuring actors with the courage and skill to perform without clothes, even when they are in close proximity to the audience. It works well here because the intent is not to shock the audience with a cheap or gratuitous nude scene as other playwrights or producers have tried; rather, nudity plays a fundamental role in all of these shows just as it does in our own lives and in our intimate relationships with other people.

In her review of Living Canvas –Demons, Katz writes “The performance of the lead dancer Emily Mark, who portrays Lily the autistic, was worth noting as she was not only an accomplished dancer but also an accomplished actor in expressing without words a very precise and deeply moving sense of what it must be like to be trapped in a body and mind afflicted with Autism. Also, I think it is a tremendously courageous task to undertake a role like this involving nudity from beginning to end. The neat thing about “Living Canvas” shows is that at the end they allow the audience to strip down and join them onstage under the lights and a lot of people actually went for it and joined in. That in itself was a beautiful, free love kind of thing to see happen in a theater setting in the year 2010, not 1968!” You can read the full review by clicking this link to go to the Buzz Magazine web site.

Katie Rauser, in another review on the Buzz Magazine site, wrote about the sensual qualities of Eros and the strong performances turned in by all of the actors. “Curator Shifra Werch, based on her research in which she asked several people what turned them on, chose each piece used in Eros. Werch not only did a fantastic job in choosing the material, but she also did well in assembling a shining cast that includes Reggie Robinson Jr., who hits a homerun with his performance of “Song of Solomon”, along with Taylor H. Entwistle and Nicolas Gamboa who successfully merge hot and funny in “Yum”. Gina Marie Koontz and Jason Gorczyca round out the outstanding cast that works so well together and continuously displays a strong comfort despite the changing of sexual partners from scene to scene. In line with the Naked July Festival, “Eros” contains plenty of nudity to further convey its message and it is done with great direction - beautifully and tastefully.” Rauser’s complete review can be found on the Buzz Magazine web site.



Tom Williams had similar praise for Living Canvas – Demons in his review posted on the Chicago Critic site. Of the popular late show he wrote, “This show is a expression of storytelling told with whimsical movement and dance devoid of dialogue. The choreography by Megan Piccochi is stylish and brave. Emily Mark and Miona Harris anchor the work. The actors are at ease as the celebrate their bodies in a stylish and creative work.”

In the final paragraph of his review, Williams provides us with a fitting summary of the Naked July experience – “One of the missions of the Living Canvas is to celebrate the human body in their work–therefore–they invite audience members to join them on stage nude to dance their inhibitions away. Three men and a woman did just that. A good time was had by all. If you ever want to experience nudity as art and personally-get to the Naked July Festival and strip away your inhibitions.” Click here to read the full review.

For ticket information for the remaining shows and more details about the Festival, be sure to visit the Naked July website.

The Naked July Collection—Part II

As noted in an earlier post, there is more to the Naked July Festival than the four shows that grace the performing space throughout the month. The lobby of the National Pastime Theater is filled with paintings, drawings, and photographs created by several local artists, and all pieces are available for purchase. Throughout the month, people who visit the lobby can participate in a silent auction and submit bids to purchase one or more of the pieces of art on display. The winners of the auctions will be announced at the end of the Festival.

One large painting shown here is a piece titled “Bluebees” and is the work of an artist named John Bickel. He maintains a website called “Art Signs” and the site is filled with examples of the artistic signs that he has created for a variety of stores and restaurants. If you would like to view more of Bickel’s work or get a quote on a custom project, you can click this link to visit his web site.

Another large and visually compelling piece in the Naked July Collection is this painting titled “Broken Promises” by Kim Aigner. Aigner’s online gallery is filled with dozens of outstanding samples of her paintings including stylized portraits, colorful still lifes, and amazing abstracts. Her philosophy of art is simply stated on her site: “I paint life as I see it - the good, the beautiful, the bad and the ugly.” Click this link to visit Aigner’s web site to view her gallery or contact the artist.

Mila Ryk is a Chicago-based artist who was born in the Ukraine and now maintains a studio in Morton Grove. There are several colorful paintings by Ryk in the Naked July Collection including the beautiful piece titled “Prelude” shown here. You can see her work at art festivals all around Chicago and the suburbs. More information about Ryk's exhibitions and art work can be found on her website titled “Imaginary Expressionism.”

Ursula Rivera created the set of three paintings shown below, and there are works by many other artists on display throughout the run of the Naked July Festival. Be sure to arrive early when you come to see the shows so that you have time to view the art and place a bid to purchase a piece for your own home.

Two More Festival Shows Now Open

The remaining two shows of the Naked July Festival opened on Thursday, July 8, as audiences had their first opportunity to see The Tumultuous Tale of the Tragically Transparent Tunic and Eros. Eros starts just one hour after the Transparent Tunic is over, so many audience members purchase tickets to both shows for a complete and very diverse evening of entertainment.

The early show written by David Denman is an adaptation of the classic tale “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” but this version is set at an unspecified time and place that leaves the story open to many interpretations. In this scene, the emperor recalls a romance with a woman named Moonbeam in the hippie era of the ‘60s. Mike Brown and Megan Brown share a quiet moment here before she suggests that they undress so that they can experience the beauty of nature in a free and natural way without the restrictions of clothing that society imposes on us.

In a later scene, Jen LaTurner and Shawn Goudie play the Empress and Demersal, two associates who are plotting to assassinate the Emperor in order to seize power. They are shown here in a sensual dance of love as they celebrate their plan to poison the leader with a vial of potent and deadly chemicals. They will discover later that there are some holes in their scheme.

The late night show in the Naked July schedule on Thursdays and Sundays is an extremely entertaining and edgy piece titled Eros. Unlike the two satirical adaptations of "The Emperor’s New Clothes" and the magical and colorful world of Living Canvas - Demons, Eros is decidedly erotic in nature. The show is composed of a series of short episodes or skits that are all built around the central themes of sexuality and eroticism in our lives. The cast of six intrepid performers, three male and three female, skillfully work through a diverse evening of scenes that range from whimsical and humorous to intensely erotic. With the infusion of music, dance, sensual lighting, and multimedia elements, Eros might remind viewers of Oh! Calcutta!, the infamous off-Broadway show that shocked audiences in the late ‘60s.

We first meet the six performers when they move out into the thrust stage area clad only in black underwear. Throughout the evening, the live performances on stage are accompanied with short multimedia slide shows filled with images of erotica throughout history from countries and cultures around the world. Like Taylor Entwhistle and Carolina Granger shown here, all of the performers move around the stage just a few feet from the audience as they chant the single word “erotic” to prepare the audience for the segments to come.

Eros confronts issues of sexuality from a wide range of perspectives, and the show is filled with sensual dance and musical numbers as well as allusions to familiar stories such as Dracula, Romeo and Juliet, and Brokeback Mountain. Shown here in one of the most intimate and erotic scenes in the show is a lesbian encounter between Gina Marie Koontz and Taylor Entwhistle as they undress and enjoy the pleasures of a new sexual experience with each other for the first time. Photo by David Silverman.

In a later scene that evokes images of the dark world of vampires and the Dracula saga, hooded figures descend on the stage and then haunt the audience as they move around the house making muted hissing noises. A scream is heard backstage and a frightened woman in a white gown is dragged to the center of the stage and then encircled by the vampire spirits. The young woman played by Gina Marie Koontz is helpless as a prince of darkness strips away her clothes before making her a victim of his evil intentions. Photo by David Silverman.

Eros is a show that will challenge your views of eroticism and sexuality, and the memorable scenes will remain with you long after the performance is over. The six performers reveal a considerable range of talent as they seamlessly move from one segment to another, and their bold and confident performances are the key to the success of Eros.

2010 Naked July Festival is Open

Naked July 2010 opened last evening with the first performances of The Emperor’s New Clothes and Living Canvas – Demons. The shows themselves are extremely entertaining, and, like last year, the Festival organizers have filled the lobby with artwork of a similar theme that audience members can view before they step into the performance space for the evening shows.

This year’s Festival opened with The Emperor’s New Clothes, a creative new adaptation of the classic tale that was written by Keely Haddad-Null, a member of the National Pastime Theater company. The story still features all of the familiar characters, albeit in a much different setting, and in an early scene, the “tailor,” played by Meg Elliott, begins to reveal her schemes to the audience as she coyly asks “ Why work so hard to get other people naked?” It is a question that some of us may have asked ourselves at one time or another, and it soon becomes clear that this ambitious tailor has her reasons.

David Bettino, Taylor Entwistle, and Mary Roberts play the three scheming associates who seek to undo the mayor of the City of Angels, but in the end they are exposed in more ways than they ever imagined. Don Claudin and Miona Harris turn in strong performances as the mayor and his wife Ginny, and they have everyone’s attention as they move around the thrust stage wearing only the new “clothes” that their tailor created just for them. We find that it is true what the tailor says when she observes that all of her fashion creations fit her clients perfectly and that no two outfits are ever exactly the same.

Some details about the new Living Canvas – Demons show have been posted here already, and it is interesting to note that Artistic Director Pete Guither has incorporated something new this year—images projected from the ceiling that are directed straight down to the performing space below. This has created an entirely new dimension to his concept since the nude performers are even more completely enveloped in the rich colorful patterns and textures as they move around the set and the thrust stage area just a few feet from the members of the audience.

In staging four bold new and original shows again this year for the second annual Naked July Festival, Laurence Bryan, Steven Besic, and the entire National Pastime company remind us once again of the tremendous creative potential that Chicago storefront theaters hold for local audiences. The NPT leaders fearlessly confront issues of sensuality and nudity on stage that other theater companies typically avoid, and in doing so, they challenge us to reassess our views about our own bodies and our own lives.

Be sure to find some time this month to see all four shows. Performances of The Emperor’s New Clothes and Living Canvas – Demons are on Friday and Saturday nights, and The Tumultuous Tale of the Tragically Transparent Tunic and Eros are on Thursdays and Sundays. Click here for ticket information—tickets for individual shows are available, and you can also purchase a Festival Pass that will admit you to all of the shows at a discounted price.