Flowers Out Of Season

Madrid St. Angelo is a pretty spiritual person, which may come as a surprise given his often controversial political, social and theatrical activism.  But talking with the Chicago-based actor/director/playwright for even a short time, one understands how these diverse facets come to feed one another.  “I really see theatre as a ministry and a means for outreach,” he says.  “If what we do ends with the curtain or blackout at the end of the play, then we have failed.  What we do begins onstage, but it has got to end in the hearts and minds of the audience.”  St. Angelo realizes that audiences may not always love what he does, but his goal is to give them something to think about.  Echoing a line he heard from the great acting guru Sanford Meisner, Madrid prays every time he steps on a stage, “Please God, let me be interesting.”

A veteran of local theatre and a member of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG), Madrid is currently the Artistic Director of the two-year-old People’s Theater of Chicago, an ensemble of five members and five associates.  His current production is the World Premiere of “Flowers Out of Season” by friend and fellow playwright Edward Crosby Wells.  St. Angelo discovered Wells’ work in the early 1990’s, which he says dealt with issues he has struggled with his entire life.  “The play explores the idea of the role God plays in our lives, how God works in our lives and how we see ourselves in relation to God.  Are we equal to God, or do we have the potential within ourselves to honor and manifest the power of God?” 

A press release describes “Flowers Out of Season” as “a masterful exploration of faith, and redemption in a cruel, socially, politically and spiritually bankrupt America.”  The principal character, Buck, is a born-again Christian with a dying wife and three children struggling through poverty, who faces an ethical decision involving an assisted suicide.  The play poses an interesting question, St. Angelo says, of who is it who gives and takes life.  “If God through the Holy Spirit comes to dwell within you as a believer, how much access to that power do we have as human beings?”  The work involves a lot of basic existential questions of good and evil, such as “when we are called on in life to do evil things for the sake of good, whose power do we align ourselves and to what end?  Is the power (of good and evil) one and the same?”  It also shows the power of God through nature and humanity.

Having been born and raised Catholic, Madrid has struggled with many of the questions of faith and religion expressed in the play.  “On one hand, Catholicism has been one of the biggest burdens and crosses I’ve had to bear in my life.  There’s a line in the play that says one never really stops being Catholic, and I think that is very true.  It was a religion I didn’t choose and didn’t ask to grow up a part of.  As an adult, however, it helps to think of myself as part of something as a whole that is much bigger than myself.  I appreciate where I come from and the religious upbringing I had.”

As a young adult, Madrid began to distance himself from some of the teachings of the Catholic Church, particularly its stand on homosexuality, gay rights and those with HIV and AIDS.  He was a member of the radical Act Up organization in his native New York throughout the early 90’s, which gave him a great outlet, “because it was theatre in the streets.  As a young man, it allowed me to discover who I was and gave me a voice on being gay.  I’m out and I’m not going to pretend I’m anything other than what I am as far as the church goes.” 

The clash between the Church and the gay movement, he says is just as polarizing as living in a country that denies its gay citizens the rights to marry and serve in the military.  “I live in a country where I am regarded as an alternative lifestyle or a choice.  This is the hand I’ve been dealt, so how can I stand up as an artist, as an individual and speak out against those things, and incorporate what I believe as an actor, writer and director.  I feel a responsibility to reflect in who I am as a person to speak out and be open.”

The theatre gives Madrid the medium to do exactly that and to advocate for change.  One way that he does that with his theatre company is to align with different businesses every year on AIDS Day for a Division Street Toy Drive, and working in association with AIDS Care Chicago to give kids Christmas.  “I really do believe as theatre artists we have the power to change lives through community.  We need to continue to explore ways to affect change.  This idea of doing safe theatre that doesn’t interest or insight or empower, that’s not the kind of theatre I want to do.”  He feels that while some audiences come to the theatre expecting too much, others come expecting too little.  “I hope they will be open to the experience of what it could be.”  Madrid states the importance of respect and reverence for the craft of acting and the stage.  “Just as a devout person approaches their faith or the building of a church, when you walk out on that stage you feel lucky, it’s an honor to be there.”

The People’s Theater of Chicago presents “Flowers Out of Season” through February 2, 2008 at Chicago’s EP Theatre, located at 1820 S. Halsted.  Performances are Thursday through Sunday at 7:30 p.m.  Tickets are $25.  For more information, visit www.peoplestheaterchicago.org.  For tickets and reservations, call (773) 371-1868.

Joe Stead

Theatre In Chicago News Contributor Joe Stead has spent over 20 years as a critic, director, designer and performer. His reviews currently appear online at www.steadstylechicago.com.