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.