Partly a multimedia installation, partly a fusion of music, theater and lounge, but mostly a festival of 10-minute plays, Sketchbook has been an artistic refuge for those who enjoy theatrical provocation but can’t stand to sit still for long periods.
“We’re like Southwest Airlines without the peanuts,” said a staffer for Collaboraction, which produces the festival, persuading attendees at the to move around the Steppenwolf Garage and view each new play from a different vantage point. This year, Collaboraction premieres 16 scripts, many penned by hot, nationally prominent writers such as Barbara Blumenthal Ehrlich, Michael John Garces and Quiara Alegria Hudes (whose “In the Heights” will be on Broadway next season).
The early Sketchbooks mostly were rough-hewn endeavors. Not anymore. The move to Steppenwolf changes the vibe. And the inclusion of top Equity performers such as Steve Pickering, Sandra Delgado, Danny Goldring and Peggy Roeder in the ensemble ratchets up the acting stakes; this edition features an ethnically diverse cast that seems to range from about 9 years old to 70.
But what’s most impressive about Sketchbook Seven is the complex and diverse view of life flowing from this shrewdly curated collection. Anthony Moseley and the other producers aren’t kids anymore, and it shows. They’ve put together a surprisingly rich and emotional tapestry of life, pondering death, childhood, parenthood, innocence, stupidity, grief, community.
The obvious comparison here is with Actors Theatre of Louisville, which popularized short-form drama by name playwrights. But in the last couple of years, at least, the Louisville 10-minutes have felt flat, pretentious and trapped in the limitations of their form. Not only does Collaboraction do fresher, more diverse plays, but it presents them in high style with interludes for live music and conversation.
I spent five hours wandering in and around the Garage during Saturday’s double-header, and could have stood to see more.
The opener in Program A, Stephan Cone’s “We Came Here Because It’s Beautiful,” is a splendid piece that juxtaposes an erotically forward old woman (played by Roeder) with a nervous new bride (Rebekah Ward-Hays). Other highlights of the first set are “AIDS, a Presentation By Ricky Cates, Jr., Third Grade,” a daring little monologue from writer Drew Dir that manages to talk lightly about AIDS and cancer and still say something moving about the effect of disease on the young, and Graney’s dark-and-quirky “Autobiography,” which explores human misadventure merely by recounting the history of an iconic car.
If you can only see one set, go with Program B, which includes both Keith Huff’s superbly performed “Deep Blue Sea” (wherein two scuba-diving scientists face their own mortality in the darkness of the ocean) and Hudes’ “Barrio ABC’s,” a cheery ode to the alphabet of urban community.
The program fizzles out with the under-rehearsed “Love Seat.” But you’ll be forgiving, because you’ll already have enjoyed Itamar Moses’ “Szinhaz,” a funny spoof of Eastern European theater deliciously performed by Pickering and Isabel Liss, and Mara Casey’s thriller “It’s About Time.” In this gripping, sultry noiresque pleasure, Goldring and the delicious Nina O’Keefe exude more icy sensuality than anyone has the right to expect in a 10-minute anything.
“Sketchbook Festival”
When: Through July 1 (Programs A and B rotate)
Where: Steppenwolf Garage Theatre, 1642 N. Halsted St.
Running time: 1 hour, 45 minutes each
Tickets: $30 ($50 for both parts) at 312-335-1650
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cjones5@tribune.com
