What Is The Nine? Pt. 3 -- It's Experimental!

I promised to tell you what exactly that green cross is all about last time, but that would be putting the cart ahead of the horse, so I'm gonna put the final leg of The Nine tripod up first.

There's a bugaboo around the big 'E' word. Call your work experimental and something remarkable happens: the first images in everyone's mind are the exact sort of experimental work that they don't like. Like the glacial? "Experimental work" calls to mind the hyperactive and neon. A big fan of movement? Suddenly "experimental work" is purely textual and overly wordy. It's the natural human reaction to consider work that we enjoy the norm and, therefore, anything that fucks with what we enjoy is experimental, or at least falls within that umbrella that we call experimental. Problem is, there's no real substitute word that both gets the message across and avoids any of these built in connotations.

If I had to use any one word to switch out for experimental to describe the attitude and style of The Nine as a total product, it would be 'new'. I'm a huge proponent of new work, but an even bigger proponent of the idea that new work does not always equate to new words. Original work, world premieres, new and emerging playwrights, they've got their supporters -- that half of 'new work' has a pretty dedicated watchdog network. No, I'm a stickler for the other half: the idea that it is still possible to make new and exciting decisions that effectively transcend plays and other art that are otherwise engrained into us as an audience. I'm sure you will have made curious note by now that not only is Romeo & Juliet part of The Nine, but it also falls in at Part Seven, definitely on the more experimental end of the spectrum. It's one of my favorite parts to explain to others for that very reason. (Seriously, hit me up sometime, I dare you.)

Even more importantly than that, and still under that new work heading, I revel in the idea that it is possible to find thousands (thousands!) of works of theatre that have been forgotten and/or left by the wayside for whatever reason. Walk into the seventh floor of the Harold Washington library downtown and you can't throw a rock without hitting a play that hasn't been done in Chicago in a decade or more, if ever. Curious note you may not have made: as far as I have been able to gather, Part Six, Caesar Antichrist, will be a Chicago premiere. The play was written by Alfred Jarry of Ubu Roi and proto-surrealism fame... in 1896! It seems like a claim too bold to be true, and I certainly encourage anyone with information I might not have to correct me, but the idea that it is possible for a play to exist and be readily available and to still have not been performed in a major theatrical center more than a century after it has been written both horrifies and delights me. Delights because, in all of the pissing and moaning that happens about the warhorses being trotted out yearly (and believe me, I am pissing and moaning just as much as the next guy about Chicago's 2010/2011 Orgy a la Arthur Miller), the problem is not that old work is old hat. The problem is that we've forgotten how to dig for it.

I love to do exactly that sort of digging, and I'm more than happy to be the guy to resurface Adamov and Tardieu and Caesar Antichrist. And I'm more than happy to be the guy to roll out standards like subUrbia and Romeo & Juliet not because they are crowd pleasers but because they fit the reframing I have pulled for them like a glove without falling apart within. And I'm also more than happy to be the guy to bring in the new words with two world premiere full lengths and one world premiere one act. But what I'm most happy to do? The sort of thing I am not able to find other people doing in the contemporary theatre scene in Chicago. That is bottom guideline in my mind to not only experimentalism, but also to art in general: Is someone else already creating what you want to create? Then don't add to the clutter; find that someone else and work with them to do it better and with more reach. Is no one else creating what you want to create? Then it's more imperative than ever that you do.

The Nine, both as a sum and its parts, are that something that I don't see others creating. I'm taking that first step and hoping that the others that currently aren't will join me to make it better and to give it more reach.

Bries.

Because you don't exist until you're on a t-shirt.

After that whole "The Nine is temporary" post, aren't you just jonesing for a chance to assert your permanence? Itching to find a way to prove that you were around for The Nine even after The Nine is a memory? Some sort of keepsake, like, I dunno, maybe a t-shirt or a mug? Well then, let me point you in this direction: www.cafepress.com/theninechicago!

Yeah, we're shilling ourselves. We've plastered our name and image on a bunch of shit and are putting it out there for you to buy. We're shameless... what can I say? But here's the thing: we know we're shameless, so we're gonna make it up to you. We know that setting up a cafepress shop takes little creativity and even less effort and you, good friends, deserve better than that. (It's the same reason you'll never see a The Nine bar fundraiser. A house party, on the other hand, is worth preparing for -- I'm serious -- but that's a motherfucking house party, amiright?) So we're taking our cafepress shop and using it as a springboard to give you the better that you deserve. Allow me to illustrate:

A) First of all, this ain't just any logo that you're pasting on your cute lil' patoot. If I do say so myself, our green cross is a pretty sweet image. Simple, sturdy, and with just the right amount of brickhouse attitude, it stands up and announces itself without saying "Hey, I'm a theatre t-shirt!" Because, as much as we love what we do, we'd rather you look good than like a billboard. Then, when you're beating off all the guys and gals with a stick, you can casually slip our name and website into the pillow talk. It's like being part of a street team, except you also get laid as part of the deal. *Please note, this is all conjecture. But you're a good bunch, I've got faith.*

B) What I will guarantee you is the best customer service you could ask for on our part. You'll see we have a couple of variations on the image -- there's the cross with text, without, a couple of slight variations in size, and that fun smaller 'you are here' image. Those things can each be put on any of the items shown. Want a shirt with a different version of the cross than we're displaying or an image on back instead of front? We'll take care of that for you! Want a cafepress product that we don't have listed? We'll look into getting it up there! (Though, I'll warn you; much as I love the cross, there's a couple items/colors it just doesn't work with.) Have questions or comments? We'll listen to them! Just drop us a line at TheNineChicago@gmail.com. The world's your oyster.

C) We'll keep taking care of you even beyond that! Wear/bring your Nine swag to the show and get a free gift! A free gift that all of those suckers who don't have your sweet threads will have to pay for! Really, though, I'm serious. Granted, it'll be smallish, but anyone with their Nine merchandise at the show will get a free goodie bag that we would charge anyone else for. Apparently, I just like to give stuff away...

D) I'm a little serious about that keepsake stuff. As I mentioned last time, anyone who comes to see subUrbia is part of a very exclusive group. Anyone who comes to the entire nine show cycle will be part of an extremely exclusive group. And when it's done, it's done for good. Have something to remember us by. I've got my own little plans for a special souvenir for each show. If you're looking to be one of the magic 180, why not do the same? Get creative! We're just the enablers here.

E) And finally, yes, it will help us financially as well. 100% of the profit we make from all sales on cafepress will go towards the next show. In this case, that's Part Two: Radio Silence (an evening of radio-esque shorts: Words And Music by Samuel Beckett, Peculiar Way by Paul Rekk, and The Eiffel Tower Wedding Party by Jean Cocteau). Because again, if you want to help, we don't want you to pay for something already done, we want your support in making something new.

There, I unleash you unto the world of commerce, go and purchase freely! Next time, I'll even tell you what the cross is all about...