Walkabout Theater Company’s “The Unembarrassed Mind” features some unusual characters, including Queen Victoria, explorer Richard Burton and wife Lady Isabel Burton, and bawdy shadow puppets.
For music, director Stephan Mazurek turned to cornetist Rob Mazurek (no relation), founder of the Chicago Underground Duo. The two worked on the original play seven years ago and the duo, Rob and percussionist Chad Taylor, recorded the music on 1988’s “12 Degrees of Freedom.”
Since then, Stephan and co-writer Loren Crawford have fleshed out the script, which meant expanding the score.
Before rehearsals, collaboration took place by e-mail, since the duo tours. Taylor, a former Chicagoan, lives in New York; Rob Mazurek left Chicago and lives in Manaus, Brazil.
“Rob has evolved so much as an artist since the last production,” says Stephan. “He’s kind of like Richard Burton because he’s been to a lot of different places all over the world.”
The Underground Duo is often described as a jazz group in reviews. But Rob–who regularly reads Andre Breton’s “Manifesto on Surrealism” and is fascinated by the magic realism of author Gabriel Garcia Marquez–finds that definition too limited.
“I consider jazz to be a swing rhythm and on all eight of our records that counts for maybe 10 percent of the music,” he says. “The other 90 percent is free improvisation, electronic rhythm, African rhythm, Indian rhythm, the sound of our voices, sound manipulation.”
When the script calls for “God Save the Queen,” the duo uses the anthem as an improvisational launching pad. For Burton’s music, Rob says he was inspired by his own life in the rain forest: “We can talk about themes and leitmotifs but mostly we’re trying to push forward the feelings of the characters.”
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“The Unembarrassed Mind,” through June 26, Storefront Theater, 66 E. Randolph St., $15; 312-742-8497.
