Icarus
World Premiere
By
David Catlin
In Association with The Actors Gymnasium
(The Actors Gymnasium Website)

December 5, 2009 to January 24, 2010

At
Lookingglass Theatre Company
(Lookingglass Theatre Company Website)
821 N. Michigan Avenue
Chicago, Illinois 60611
312.337.0665

Director: David Catlin
Executive Director: Rachel E. Kraft
Producing Artistic Director: Philip R. Smith
Artistic Director of New Work: Heidi Stillman
Costume & Properties Design: Alison Siple
Lighting Design: Jaymi Lee Smith
Sound Design & Composition: Rick Sims
Circus Choreography & Movement Direction:
Sylvia Hernandez-DiStasi
Director of Production: Alexandra Sieffert
Production Stage Manager: Patia Bartlett
Public Relations: Cathy Taylor, Schoenly Hixson

Cast
Adeoye: Aegeus, Minotaur
Lawrence E. DiStasi: Patient X, Daedalus
Anthony Fleming III: Minos, Theseus
Lauren Hirte: Aetra, Androgeus
Nicole Shalhoub: Woman, Medea, Naucrate,
Lindsey Noel Whiting: Pasiphae, Icarus

Susan Weinrebe
December 13, 2009

High-flying, adored, and doomed, Lookingglass Theatre’s world premiere of Icarus traces the back story of the life and death of its eponymous character. Once again, David Catlin and a cast that seemingly can do anything, brilliantly evoke a mélange of images hearkening back to Michelangelo’s engravings and Saturday morning cartoons as well as our own childhood sense of play and yearning.

A patient, not etherized, but apparently catatonic upon a table, a droning cacophony, a ventilator dripping, a woozy disorientation, and a Greek chorus, “Once upon a time there were three men and three women,” begin the tale. What follows is most willing suspension of belief as the actors become acrobats, aerialists, and clowns in the metaphor-laden play. The mythology of Aegeus, Theseus, the Minotaur, Daedalus, and Icarus is turned on its side so the audience can perceive what is ancient with new eyes.

The three couples court to Elvis crooning, “I can’t help falling in love with you,” and shortly, the women labor to deliver…small suitcases! One suitcase with horns is the rampaging Minotaur contained by a web of clothesline strung by the others. A pile of suitcases stands in for the stone that must be moved to extract a heroic sword. Little “birds” attached under the audience’s seats are removed and launched on command toward the stage, tangibly involving the audience in this expression of flight.

As the couples partner one another, demonstrating the trust inherent in balancing on shoulders and swinging with ropes and lengths of fabric high above the stage, a dual sense of yearning and danger permeate the atmosphere. One yearns to fly, but these actors do so without a net! Lindsey Noel Whiting (Icarus) soars to the arc of her rope’s swing, and we are exhilarated and terrified not only for the expected outcome but for the actor’s safety as well.

Recounting the well-known cautionary tale, Icarus keeps the audience viscerally engaged, as the play uses a new vocabulary to reveal the timeless hopes and fears of parents for their children.

Lindsey Noel Whiting, Larry DiStasi
in "Icarus"
Courtesy of Sean Williams

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For more information, contact Dr. Roberta E. Zlokower at zlokower@bestweb.net