Prop: Small boxes filled with surprises
Appearing in: “From Nothing,” Redmoon Theater
The members of Redmoon Theater say that their latest production, “From Nothing,” is “a non-theater theatrical event” because they collaborated with everyday people to create it–and theatre-goers play a crucial role in making it happen.
Lots of boxes–between 200 and 300, to be exact–also get into the act. These include small, empty cigar boxes and ones a bit bigger that once held two bottles of champagne.
First they were painted white, then given to professional artists, community group members and students–who were told to fill them with groups of similar objects, such as marbles or roses.
The objects would be offset by a lone item–such as a candle, photo or trinket–inspired by the word “bedtime.”
“In `From Nothing’ we’re looking at beginnings and giving people an opportunity to be free to create something from nothing,” says Redmoon designer Angela Tillges.
Tillges took one of the empty boxes to a classroom of 3rd graders at Chicago’s Audubon Elementary School. They brainstormed about what bedtime meant to them and yawning was a recurring theme. They knew, of course, they couldn’t put a person yawning inside the small box–so they settled on using pictures of themselves yawning.
Tillges also asked them to suggest the colors that bedtime evoked and they kept mentioning darkness. So the youngsters found a photo of the night sky with the moon and stars, and put it in a corner of the box.
One artist filled her box with loose tea leaves and a cup with a watch inside it. “She set it up on a pulley system so when you open the door of the box, the watch–which is on the end of the string of a tea bag–comes out of the cup,” Tillges says.
But it would be a shame to reveal the contents of any more of the boxes, because audience members actually open the boxes to discover their secrets.
“It’s up to them what version of the show they’re going to see, depending on how involved they want to get,” explains Tillges. “They can get very involved, partially involved or stand back and watch other people. But the boxes are very inviting because there is such a sense of play about them.”
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“From Nothing,” through Dec. 23, Redmoon Central, 1463 W. Hubbard St., $10, 312-850-8440 ext. 111, www.redmoon.org.
