Walkabout Theater Company's Fall Fundraiser: DIS/ORDERED by Dani Bryant

Dani Bryant's foodie cycle of plays that were presented by the Walkabout Theater Company included: Binge, Feminists Who Lunch and Kitchen.  I thought that the thing that all elements of this fun evening had in common was how honest and real everyone/everything was.  In fact, true to the company's moniker -- the show itself was held in a Chicago location I never would have dreamed of -- not quite a hundred mile "walkabout" journey in the desert -- but close enough for the Midwest.  I loved all of the introductions - hearing about how the Walkabout Theater Company started (according to the Big Cheese Dude who spoke - be careful how you challenge your girlfriend in the middle of the night) - what Emma Stanton's experience of performing with Walkabout to an audience that is normally underserved by the theater community was.... The things that happen in life that are truly touching and magical...  All of the crazy reasons why people do theater, make/create things and the meaning gleaned in the end...

 

Bryant strikes a delicate balance between the reality of how loaded a subject food is, and the theatrical aspects that become present quickly in her sharp-witted Feminists Who Lunch.  The plays incorporated down-to-earth revelations, formal structures -- from the funny and fast-moving infomercial of Binge to performance art/mise-en-scene-like moments in Kitchen when Mary Hollis Inboden painstakingly/heartbreakingly measures and weighs servings of cereal, yogurt and grapes...  Dani Bryant/Foodie Plays - this should be a welcome addition to any thinking person's theater anywhere...  www.pantriesinabind.com  www.walkabouttheater.org

 



This was the aweseome outdoor stage built by theater artist, John Wilson. My cell phone camera does not do it justice.  www.collaboraction.org