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With the great summer months here in Chicago the lure of warm sunny days may pull some away from going to the theatre but that need not be the case. With “Theatre-Hikes” there is no need to sit on a hard seat in a dark theatre waiting for the scenes to change. Instead, as they promote, you could be strolling along with the actors to ever-changing locations as the story unfolds, enjoying each scene in a completely new and surprising setting. The audience can enjoy a non-strenuous “hike” across natural areas and trails while they delight in performances that employ the stunning landscapes and gardens of such places as The Morton Arboretum or the Little Red Schoolhouse Nature Center as a natural stage.
The purpose of Theatre-Hikes is to provide the public with theatrical performances combined with hiking, offering an event that travels to various locations. In addition, Theatre-Hikes hopes to nurture in the public a respect for the preservation of hiking trails. During a theatre-hike, the audience walks to different outdoor locations for each scene of a play, averaging two miles during a two-hour performance.
Director Cederquist commented on the unique opportunities the outdoor setting provides. “It's wonderful to be performing such an elemental play outdoors. Certainly, it's a challenge for the actors to play large enough to be seen and heard, but to retain emotional truth and honesty. Being outdoors, in the wind, the water and the earth, will bring a truly raw and elemental feel to our production which would be missing from a conventional theatre production,” he said.
The current Theatre-Hike production is The Miracle Worker which plays Saturdays and Sundays at the Morton Arboretum until June 25 before moving on to the The Little Red Schoolhouse Nature Center for a few performances.
Next, Theatre-Hikes takes on Moby Dick: Rehearsed. As always the innovative theatre troupe will take this classic play and stage its scenes at various locations along a trail in the outdoors requiring the audience to literally, physically, follow the action, Moby Dick: Rehearsed will open July 1 at The Morton Arboretum and run through July 30 at both the Arboretum and the Little Red Schoolhouse Nature Center in Willow Springs.
In Moby Dick: Rehearsed, by Orson Welles, what begins with a company of actors gathering to rehearse King Lear outdoors switches to a rehearsal of Moby Dick, as adapted by Welles. First produced on Broadway in 1955, this simple but riveting stage adaptation of Melville's story will transport theatre-hikers to Captain Ahab’s fateful voyage cross the open seas aboard the Pequod, in search of the great white whale, Moby Dick. Directed by G. J. Cederquist, co-artistic director of Steep Theatre Company in Wrigleyvillee.
“Our production addresses the question of perception and vision. Because all the props are mimed as part of this ‘staged reading,’ how do we see things that aren't really there? Can you pretend to see a ship? A white whale? Perception also applies to the characters within the play. Like Lear (the play that the actors gather initially to perform), can Ahab see his insanity and his downfall? Can he perceive the order of the world, and his place in it, his fate? Lastly, perception applies to the location of our performance: do we see a play differently when we’re NOT in a theatre? How does theatre change when its location changes, not just from indoors to outdoors, but from scene to scene?” Cederquist asked.
“I saw a revelatory production of Moby Dick: Rehearsed when I was very young. The form and content of the piece have never left me since. Both the scale of Melville's story and the ‘play-within-a-play’ style in which it is told are tremendously challenging for the artist and highly exciting for the audience,” Cederquist said.
The remaining Theatre-Hikes season includes:
Heidi
The story of a young orphan who is sent to live with her grumpy grandfather in the Swiss Alps, is presented in a rarely-performed, heart-warming musical adaptation that blends the dramatic qualities of the immortal story of Heidi and lovely Schumann melodies to create a show with universal appeal, with book by Neil Simon and William Friedberg. Directed by Betsey Cassell, director of last year’s Theatre-Hike, The Wizard of Oz. Runs August 5-September 17.
Rascal
A classic and award winning children's story, adapted as a theatre-hike, which offers a memorable portrait of a friendship between a boy and a raccoon and its effect on his family and town (the nearby Edgerton, Wisconsin) in 1918. Directed by Linda LeVeque this timeless yet nostalgic American tale runs September 2-October 22.
Frankenstein
Adapted from the novel by Mary Shelley, a brilliant young scientist, Victor Frankenstein, returns to his Swiss chateau to escape a terrible pursuer. No one can shake free the dark secret that terrifies him. Victor has brought into being a creature made from pieces of the dead. The creature tracks Victor to his sanctuary to demand a bride to share its loneliness. The alternately scary yet funny version provides a spooky autumn treat! Directed by Adam Webster. Runs October 7-22.