The Fool Returns To His Chair

The Neo-Futurists open their 2007/08 season with The Fool (Returns To His Chair), conceived by John Pierson, opening Saturday, August 25 at 8:00pm at The Neo-Futurarium. Expect the unexpected… and 300 milk crates.

In The Fool, an ensemble cast presents a history of fools through the ages with physical performance, comedy, rhythm and music... and with almost no text or spoken word.  The production explores everything from Western Romantic Fools and Russian Holy Fools to the trickster Gods, ancient tarot traveling fool, and even the Muppets.

Pierson says, “Each cast member has identified a type of historical or societal fool of particular interest.  Months before rehearsals began, I gave them all the assignment of doing extensive reading and research on their particular fool.  Well, except for Ryan Walters.  He selected the trickster Gods (precursors to Bugs Bunny), so he got to watch a bunch of cartoons instead.”

John Pierson is a musician, author, teacher and long-time Neo-Futurist, seen most recently in You Asked For It! and Daredevils.  He has a number of aliases, including writer Ian Pierce and Jughead of the seminal punk band Screeching Weasel.  His recent novel is entitled Weasels in a Box. 

Q&A with creator John Pierson

Q:  Why did you make the choice to create a play without words?
A:  There actually is some text in the play, but it is used only to confuse rather than clarify.  We wanted to face the challenge of presenting a visual and musical piece without spoken word that is highly entertaining yet provides emotional weight and historical context.

Q:  What kind of historical context?
A: Every image and story in the play is taken from history, religion or mythology.  We are deliberately staying away from theatrical fools, jesters and the like, and focusing instead on literary, iconic, and societal fools through the ages.  As one example, the Holy Fool Basil told a tale of dreaming that a shoe became a coffin.  We are trying to tell that story visually onstage in one of our segments.  As another example, we are using tales of the Tarot traveling fool to show various journeys, including unexpected obstacles and shifting goals or targets. 

Q:  That all sounds pretty serious… what about the Muppets?
A:  [Laughs]… We’re using books like Grover’s The Monster at the End of This Book to represent the realization that we are our own monster.  Also, Ryan Walters is setting up cartoon-inspired chases with fake cliffs, bombs, etc., based primarily on his hysterical ability to fail at tasks he sets for himself, as we saw in his show Daredevils.

Q:  Tell me more about the unusual technical aspects of the show.
A:  First of all, we have… um… acquired 300 milk crates, which will be used throughout the production for everything from costumes to set pieces to obstacles, representing masks, mountains, and even a stage within the stage.  Also, our wonderful lighting designer Maggie Fullilove-Nugent is helping us light the entire show without using the theatre’s grid or instruments – all of the lighting is done with practicals controlled by the cast.

Q:  What else should the audience know?
A: To be ready for anything.  There are going to be lots of surprises, and we’ll be breaking our own rules that we establish throughout the show.  We’re using the State Park (Neo-Futurarium lobby) before performances to kind of ease the audience into this unusual theatrical experience.  The space will feature chaotic monologues, music and visual stimuli in relation to Fools.  And we’ll have guest artists from various companies strewn about confusing people as well!

The Fool (Returns To His Chair) opens Saturday, August 25 at 8:00 p.m. Performances continue through September 29: Thurs/Fri/Sat at 8:00 p.m. All performances take place at The Neo-Futurarium, 5153 N. Ashland. For tickets, visit www.neofuturists.org or call 773-275-5255