The Mammals

"When I first started doing theater I realized that I was mostly interested in the really dark stuff, the out-there stuff: Pinter, Beckett, Classic Expressionism, Greek drama," Bob Fisher leans over his teacup when he gets excited, and he's excited now with good reason. He's talking about the founding of Chicago's longest running theater company dealing with horror, sci-fi, phantasmagoria: The Mammals.

While Fisher is content to talk about the merit and excitement of horror theater for its own sake, The Mammals have two underlying motives for exploring the genre. The first is the opportunity it provides the company to experiment with non-naturalistic theatrical techniques. Far from the "kitchen sink" naturalism of action and dialogue that much Chicago Theater was once known for, Fisher and The Mammals test the boundaries of an audience's imagination. For instance, "I love the psychological sound of a whisper - an actual whisper, not a stage whisper. So we work a lot with microphone headsets," Fisher says. While some companies would avoid them as an intrusion into the stage picture, The Mammals wear them proudly and allow the audience to accept them as part of the artifice of the production.

Additionally, in part because of the importance of early film in creating The Mammals' visual style, Fisher extols the virtue of non-naturalistic acting, "I love the way actors in emote in old silent horror movies." For The Mammals the goal of acting is not necessarily recreating exactly the behavior of people in their everyday lives, "I don't want to see a play about what happens everyday," Fisher insists, explaining that the theater offers an opportunity for something more amazing.

For The Mammals, the second great opportunity of the theater has slightly higher social stakes. "The act of going to the theatre," Fisher says, "is a rehearsal for getting off your ass and going to do something. If we don't have stories that are filled full of menace, then the stories that we as a spectator are rehearsing and watching are a missed opportunity for change."

Still, The Mammals' focus on horror, science-fiction and phantasmagoria, while specific, is not so restrictive as to leave them without opportunity to innovate. Despite the expectations some audience members have about the genre of horror, Fisher says, "It's amazing how much it can be about story rather than special effects. Devils Don't Forget has a lot of fright and suspense, but not one drop of blood. Well, one drop of blood. Ok, no fountains of blood."

Of late The Mammals have been particularly interested in yet another style, noir . Made famous in the films of hard-boiled detectives, Fisher has penned and The Mammals produced what he calls a Noir Triptych, three plays (two one-acts and one full-length) exploring the noir style, with a horror twist. "For some people 'horror' means comic book monsters coming at you with claws, for some people it's an extension of the Passion Play - good and evil - for some people it's just a means to tell a fascinating story. And all kinds of stories from The Manchurian Candidate to Saw can reach out and touch that genre."

Fisher is leaning over his teacup again, "A member of another theatre company in town told me once, 'What I like about The Mammals is that you actually scare people.' I'm proud of that. I like a menacing question being posed to the audience. They don't have to answer the question but they have to ask. We have challenging times ahead."

The Mammals are mounting a new production of Breed With Me, one of the Noir Triptych first produced in 2003, this winter. To find out more about The Mammals check out their website, become a fan on Facebook, or follow them on Twitter.

Benno Nelson

You can read more of Theatre In Chicago contributor Benno Nelson's writing at The@er (http://the-at-er.blogspot.com)

Full Storefrontal

Read the other articles in Benno Nelson's "Full Storefrontal" series that focuses on small theatre companies around Chicago on the Full Storefrontal page.