Theater
Time Out Chicago / Issue 179 : Jul 31-Aug 6, 2008
The People's History of the United States
Quest Theatre Ensemble at Blue Theatre. By Andrew Park. Dir. Park. With ensemble cast.


FACE BOOK Quest walks us through some key moments.
Photo: Jeremy Lawson

Quest Theatre Ensemble's latest spectacle is an inventive and altogether moving survey of 400 years of American history, from the Pilgrims to September 11. Eschewing straightforward narrative, political agendas and grand unifying theories, writer-director Park relies instead on the far more evocative methods of song, movement and puppetry. Told in rough chronological order, each brief scene features a poignant or humorous vignette from the nation's past, accompanied by a well-chosen piece of roots music. No mere grade-school pageant, the show's power lies in its use of imagery that's at once beautiful, haunting and continually surprising: A rousing patriotic number suddenly turns heartbreaking when interrupted by a trio of the dispossessed (a suffragette, a slave, a Native American); separate water fountains on a bare stage simply but forcefully suggest Jim Crow; a tap- dancing Chairman Mao heralds the Red Scare; a young victim of Hiroshima sings Pete Seeger's "I Come and Stand at Every Door" as dozens of white origami cranes float in like angels. With sad-faced papier-mâché puppets by Megan Hovany, outsize masks by Amanda Church and a refreshingly sincere cast, Quest combines a homemade aesthetic with great technical skill to create a night of theater both accessible and sophisticated, a celebration of America that doesn't whitewash its flaws. Best of all, thanks to the company's dedication to making theater available to everyone, the whole thing's free.

- Zac Thompson




Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Highly Recommended

THE PEOPLE'S HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES This is unquestionably the best, most sophisticated example of the elementary school-style history pageant I've ever seen. Or expect to see--unless, say, the Goodman Theatre starts producing them. Beginning its chronology with pre-conquest Native Americans and working through every major marker from the first Thanksgiving to 9/11, Andrew Park's staging uses period songs and speeches to tell an evenhanded, tenderhearted, occasionally powerful version of America's story. That telling can get hokey at times, too--but it's an unashamed kind of hokey, more than counterbalanced by well-honed harmonies and design (including masks and quilts) that embraces the homemade with high craft. There are surprises, including a devastating speech by Jonathan Edwards. And when inspiration flags toward the end Park is smart enough to bring out a baby. --Tony Adler Through 8/24: Fri-Sat 8 PM, Sun 2 PM, Blue Theatre, Saint Gregory the Great Church, 1609 W. Gregory, 312-458-0895.