We’ve been receiving many questions from audience members about how we arrived at the portrayal of Angus’s memory loss in our production of Michael Healey’s The Drawer Boy.  It has been a collaboration between the playwright (who sculpted the character and his thought processes), the director, the dramaturgeand — of course — Will Kinnear, who has taken on the challenge of playing this enormously difficult role, and who does so with honesty and grace.  We love that our audiences are curious about Angus’s background, and at how we arrived at the choices we made, and we would love to share some of the research and resources we used in rehearsal!

One of the major challenges in The Drawer Boy is how to represent Angus’s memory loss. As written, Michael Healey provides a generous and empathetic portrayal of the character, with a full inner life and clear thought process. In transferring the writing from the page to a living, breathing character, the production team of The Drawer Boy wanted to dive deeper – to gain an understanding of the symptoms and effects of brain trauma, so that we might represent Angus as truthfully as possible. Together, with the help of our dramaturge Kati Sweaney, we researched different kinds of amnesia and brain trauma, in order to fully understand the character and the unique inner-working of his mind.

One of the main cases we studied was a man named K.C., who suffered a traumatic brain injury following a severe motorcycle accident. According to the website on K.C. and his history:

“The motorcycle accident drastically impacted K.C.’s personality and memories. His once thrill seeking-character was changed to a soft spoken and calm person. He is still able to gather his own and other’s thoughts, feelings and intentions, since that part of his brain was unaffected. His humour and sarcasm remain intact, yet he is unable to remember any previous personal memories (referred to as retrograde amnesia) or store new ones. K.C. has no problem recalling that an event has occurred but is unable to associate that event to him. It is as if someone else experienced his memories and just told him about them. Therefore, he has no personal attachments to his past memories. K.C. is no longer able to commit any new type of information to long term memory (referred to as anterograde amnesia) and details of his personal occurrences exist only in the present, vanishing from his reality as soon as he thinks about something else. However, he can learn new information or skills normally, like sorting books but he doesn’t remember actually learning it.”

There are also some fascinating interviews with K.C., which provided us with a helpful frame of reference for understanding someone whose memory loss is in so many ways similar to Angus’s.

Another patient we studied was Clive Wearing, a gifted musician who suffered from a virus, leaving him with both retrograde and anterograde amnesia.  Fascinatingly, Clive exhibits no symptoms at all when he is playing the piano or conducting, which you can see in this video:

Like K.C. and Clive, Angus does not fall along one clear, clinical diagnosis of amnesia, but exhibits symptoms of retrograde amnesia, anterograde amnesia, and repressed memory. He can remember basic tasks such as knitting, running the tractor, baking bread, etc., but cannot maintain a conversation, recognize new faces, or remember events from long in the past. And, although one review mischaracterizes Angus’s injury as having “unlocked Rainman-like abilities with numbers,” both the script and our research suggest that Angus was always intelligent and academically-minded (he had planned to go to university), so his ability to do the accounting on the farm would still be part of his procedural memory.

We are so thrilled that our audiences have been as curious as we were to find out more about Angus, and the cause and symptoms of his memory loss.  Please do not hesitate to contact us of you have more questions, or would like to find out more about our process and research!

We of the Filament Theatre Ensemble would love to invite you to our JEFF RECOMMENDED production!

The Drawer Boy
by Michael Healey

Produced in collaboration with The Den Theatre and performed at The Den’s beautiful space at 1333 N. Milwaukee Ave.

• Pay-What-You-Can Previews (Thursday January 19 and Friday January 20 at 7:30pm)
• Opening January 22 at 3:00, with a reception to follow catered by Native Foods.
• Performances Thursday-Saturday at 7:30pm, and Sundays at 3:00pm through February 25.
• See below for details and more special events!
• Click here to purchase your tickets now! 

Nick Polus and Will Kinnear in The Drawer Boy

Special Events

Mark your calendars for these exciting opportunities to delve deeper into the world of The Drawer Boy.

Theatre Thursday Thursday, January 26 at 7:30pm
Stay after Thursday’s performance for a special post-show conversation with the artists and a reception catered by the Birchwood Kitchen at this fantastic event through the League of Chicago Theatres.

Arts + Environment XChange Sunday, February 5 at 3:00pm
Filament and The Den are pleased to host Chicago’s Arts + Environment XChange first ever Xchange Xclusive, a networking event for artists and businesses with a passion for the environment. Stay after the show for a discussion on Sustainable Practices and Partnerships, and a unique opportunity to network with like-minded artists and professionals.

Film Screening Sunday, February 12 at 5:00pm
Want to learn more about The Farm Show, the Theatre Passe Muraille production that inspired The Drawer Boy?  Join us after a matinee performance for a screening of Michael Ondaatje’s 1974  documentary The Clinton Special – and see footage of the real Miles Potter in action!

Marco Minichiello, Nick Polus, Will Kinnear in The Drawer Boy

ABOUT THE DRAWER BOY:

Join Filament Theatre Ensemble and The Den Ensemble for The Drawer Boy, the award winning play by Michael Healey inspired by the Theatre Passe Muraille’s landmark production of The Farm Show. The Drawer Boy examines the relationship between two WWII veterans whose lives are turned upside down when a young actor visits their farm to gather research for a play. What unfolds is a powerful and often humorous journey, as the two older men begin to rebuild the story of their lives, the truth of which has long been left unspoken.

Directed by Julie Ritchey, Filament Artistic Director

Featuring: Filament Theatre Ensemble member Marco Minichiello (Miles) with guest artists Will Kinnear (Angus) and Nick Polus (Morgan)

Production Team:  Michael Healey (Playwright), Julie Ritchey (Director), Noel Huntzinger (Costume Design), Chad Bianchi (Scenic Design), Melissa Schlesinger (Sound Designer), Will Dean (Lighting Designer), Kati Sweaney (Dramaturge), Luke Heiden (Assistant Director), Jen Bukovsky (Stage Manager), Kris Kontour (Technical Director), Ryan Martin (The Den Theatre Artistic Director), Jane Phillips (Production Manager), Peter Oyloe (Marketing Director and Graphic Design)

Artistic Director Julie Ritchey reflects on 2011, and our dear friend Allison Powell.

To say that I am grateful for the many blessings that filled this last year would be an understatement. Filament has grown in ways I never thought imaginable in such a short time. From new supporters, audience, collaborators, our astonishing advisory board members – we have been graced with so many generous people, ready to cheer us on and provide support and insight whenever we need it. It has been a year of tremendous joy, and for that I am profoundly thankful.

This New Year also carries with it a degree of sadness, however, as January 2 marks the one year anniversary of Allison Powell’s passing. With every step forward Filament has taken, I have felt a pang of sorrow at the realization that Allie is not here to share in our celebrations. We recently performed Choose Thine Own Adventure at a children’s theatre in Wisconsin, and it was so marvelous and surreal to hear her play spoken again. Her presence was so strong, through all the jokes and irreverence and thoughtful use of text – in a way it was like having her in the room again.

As I reflect on this anniversary, mixed in among the tears and the ache of missing my friend, I feel a kind of gladness. The depth of sorrow comes from a depth of love, and I feel so fortunate to have known and loved Allie.

I think back to the day I met Allie: She had seen online that Filament was looking to hire a business manager, and she applied with the most

Opening Night of "Choose"

heart-warming cover letter I’ve ever read (I still have it saved, and read it often). We met for an interview, and the second she walked out the door I called Peter and Christian to say that my conversation with Allie felt more like the best first date of all time than it did a job interview. That moment was so characteristic of every conversation I ever had with Allie – she is funny, charming, intelligent, and beautiful. As soon as the rest of the company met her, they fell in love just like I did. How could they not? How lucky we are that her life brought her to Chicago, that she saw that listing, that we happened to meet, to collaborate, to become friends.

How astonishing it is for any one of us to find ourselves on the earth at the same time as each other. Think of all the events that led up to your birth. If your mom had been sick on the day of the party. If your grandmother had moved to a different town. If your great-grandfather hadn’t survived the war. If, if, if, back and back and back in time. If any one moment had aligned differently, you would not be here. What a miracle it is – and as an atheist I do not use the word miracle lightly – that with billions of people on the earth, and infinite individual human choices, we find ourselves sitting across the table from any one of the remarkable people we are fortunate enough to call friends.

Allie helped lay the groundwork for all the developments this last year has brought. I see her work, vision, and ideas with every step we take. She helped to point us in a new direction, and I will work tirelessly to help finish the work that she could not. I am so grateful that Allison Powell is part of my story, of Filament’s story – of all of our story.  I miss my friend. I will always miss my friend.

As 2012 begins, let us celebrate. Let us remember the miracle that in the vast sea of people and places and choices, we have found each other. Let us hold our friends close, and cherish the overlapping of our lives. Let us treasure all the moments, good and bad, that have led us to be right where we are, loving the people we love. Let us not forget for a moment what a gift it is that we have shared another year together, and that we will share in this next year to come.

What a year it has been!

Thanks to you, Filament has become an emerging leader in sustainable theatrical production. Our work has been featured on NPR’s All Things Considered, TEDx, and we even had an article about our ticketing platform make it all the way to the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). We’ve received some great publicity, but it’s your voice that matters most:

“The entire experience, top to bottom, was incredibly awe-inspiring and wonderful.
Intimate, gorgeous, professional. This theatre company should be a model for
companies leaps and bounds above it.”

 -Audience Member, From the Circle

Your support, encouragement, and feedback have helped us to grow, shaped our programming, and kept us feeling inspired. Thank you.

Hearing what our work has meant to you has pushed us to keep moving forward. Currently, we are working closely with Alderman John Arena of the 45^th Ward to secure a new home in Chicago’s Portage Park neighborhood, which will allow us even more opportunities to work, share, and grow with you as together we explore folk theatre and a healthier relationship with our environment.

And we have even more exciting news to share with you. As we wrap up 2011, we received word from an individual donor who will double match all donations up to $5,000 thru December 31st. You give us $10 – we receive $30. If we meet our goal of raising $5,000 – it becomes $15,000!

Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to the Filament Theatre Ensemble. Donations can be made by clicking the link below:

Or by mailing a check to:
Filament Theatre Ensemble
2748 West Giddings St.
Grdn Apt.
Chicago, IL 60625

We’ve shared our stories, you’ve shared yours. Help keep this circle going.

Warmly,
The Folks at Filament

ALDERMAN ARENA SPONSORS LIVING DIORAMA TO CREATE HOLIDAY MEMORIES

CHICAGO, IL – As part of his continuing effort to reinvigorate the historic Six Corners area of the 45th Ward, Alderman John Arena and Arts Alive 45 have partnered with Filament Theatre Ensemble to present “Four Actors in Search of a Holiday Memory.”

Four actors from Filament will improvise holiday vignettes, set in a retro storefront along the Milwaukee Avenue corridor in the Six Corners shopping district.
“This is another imaginative use of storefront space to draw attention to the potential of Six Corners,” Alderman Arena said. “I want to demonstrate my commitment to rebuilding our business districts through a unique partnership with art and culture.”

The living diorama begins Saturday, December 17th between noon and 3 p.m., at 4047 N. Milwaukee Avenue. The audience will stand, framed by the U-shaped store windows where the actors will perform.

The theatre production is part of an all-day holiday affair, sponsored by the Six Corner Association, featuring a holiday sing-a-long accompanied by acclaimed organist Jay Warren on a historic Kimball pipe organ at the Portage Theater. Following the performance, the Portage Theater will show the film, “A Christmas Story.”

Marketing Director Peter Oyloe explores some thoughts on our everyday use of plastics in a very consumer-centric society. What are the effects and what can be done to offset the damages that have been and will be done?

One of the last consumer grade materials that we have been able to recycle at any significant volume has been plastic. It has traditionally been very difficult for recycling systems to tell the over 20 consumer grade plastic formulas apart and therefore to recycle them. Though they may look and act alike, chemically they are not all compatible with each other. Currently, as a country, we are only recycling about 27 percent of the plastics that we use. The impact is huge:  “I will just throw this one plastic bottle away,” said seven billion people…

Recently I came across an interesting TED Talk by a man named Mike Biddle who has made it his life’s mission to take this abundant “waste” material develop an elegant, yet sophisticated, solution for sorting and, finally, reusing this valuable substance.

As our quest for oil becomes ever more destructive, politically challenging, and dangerous, the cost of goods made from petroleum (LOTS OF THEM) such as plastics has risen significantly in recent years. It can cost, depending on the grade of plastic, a dollar to several dollars per pound for the raw material. So why haven’t we been finding better ways to deal with these mountains of valuable trash that we have been shipping all around the world?

Mr. Biddle has found an exciting solution to some of the issues surrounding plastic wastes and has been able to turn huge quantities of these materials into food for new products; all the while aiding in the cleanup of cities we currently use as waste dumps around the globe. It is my hope that his work inspires others to find more elegant solutions to how we handle our waste. Even though we no longer want something it most certainly has value somewhere. We learned early on in our schooling that energy is neither created or destroyed, in this same manner the act of “throwing something away” only means it ends up somewhere else for someone else to deal with. It does not go away. The video below shows Mr. Biddle talking about the work he is doing as well as some very powerful images of where “waste” ends up.

A couple more tidbits for you to explore…

1. One of the largest man made structures in the world is and was the Fresh Kills Landfill on Staten Island in NYC. It was opened in 1947 as a temporary solution for NYC’s waste but soon became the full time waste dump of America’s most populous city. It is now the site of a 30 year effort to convert this massive island of trash into a nature preserve called Freshkills Park.

2. Each year Americans create nearly 210 million tons of solid waste. Over two thirds of it is edible.

3. Waste Land is a documentary that follows the three year project of  Vik Muniz a very well known Brazilian artist as he helps several “catadores” or “pickers” create artworks out of the garbage of Jardim Gramacho, in Rio de Janeiro, the largest garbage dump in the world.  These “pickers” live and work in this man made landscape of waste gathering materials which they bring to recyclers with hopes of making a modest living. It is a powerful character study of these proud people and the effects they and Mr. Muniz have on each others lives.

4. Here is a news video of one of the “Trash Villages” in the Chinese city of Guiyang

The first synthetic plastic was patented by Alexander Parkes in the UK in 1856, but it was in the 1940s and 1950s when plastic really began to become mainstream and its life as a very everyday throwaway commodity began in earnest. With 7 billion people on this planet and a rapidly dwindling supply of oil from which to craft such materials we must find ways to conserve/recycle as well as develop renewable and biodegradable alternatives to our addiction to plastic.

There is a company that is working on such a product. Their name is Cereplast and they produce bio-plastics which they have divided into two classes. The first is what they call Cereplast Compostables which are plastics derived of plant starches such as corn, potatoes, tapioca, and algae. They are designed to degrade in tradition compost type conditions. Where as a traditional plastic may take up to 1000 years to degrade entirely in such conditions these bio-plastics might take 128 days. This of course is not ideal for durable goods such as sunglasses or baby seats so for these applications they have developed a material they call Cereplast Sustainables. These are plastics derived of bio-based resins that use 70 percent less petroleum than traditional plastics but still maintain the same level of durability.

Work is being done, and as you can see the hardest work before these sustainable plastic producers is how to get the same level of durability and mold-ability as traditional plastics while keeping costs down and producing at scale. However, as there are multiple usage scenarios for our current plastic needs, it is unlikely that there will be one end all be all solution. It is easy to see however that we can do our part to cut our usage and find ways to recycle as much of our “waste” as possible.

In nature “waste equals food”. It is only in our current resource usage scenarios that “waste equals trash”. As we develop elegant ways to balance our desire for consumer goods with healthy life cycle considerations we will find ourselves in much cleaner cities where we all do our part to feed the world that has for so long fed us, abundantly.

Filament’s Jack Novak shares with us his being thankful  for Thanksgiving itself and how we form our own narratives for our holiday experiences. 

Every year we hear a lot of talk about what to give thanks for at Thanksgiving. For my own part, I will say that I am currently more focused on the holiday itself. I am thankful for Thanksgiving. Of course when I sit at the thanksgiving table I’m sure I’ll think of many other things that I am genuinely thankful for, but right now I’m pretty focused on just making it to that table full of home-cooked delight. Is that bad?

“If all the year were playing holidays, to sport would be a tedious as to work, but when they seldom come, they wished-for come” – that’s Shakespeare. After all, what is the point of a holiday? I’m pretty sure most of us don’t celebrate Thanksgiving to pay homage to the historical relationship of the pilgrims and the Native Americans (actually Thanksgiving’s ‘true’ history has prompted some protests to the holiday). Similarly most of us probably don’t give much thought to the Christian narrative behind Christmas, and still fewer to its Pagan roots.

I think we tend to create our own narrative for holidays. We do this in much the same way that a storyteller finds his own meaning in an ancient folktale – anyone who saw our “From the Circle” will have some insight into that comparison. Any ancient story, ritual, or holiday is somewhat mysterious to a contemporary observer. These are things that have spawned from generations of collective observation, belief, and imagination, and are therefore full of symbols, references, and metaphors which are not immediately accessible (much like Shakespeare’s plays, in fact). We add a little of our own society into the mix in order to have a way to access the whole. Thanksgiving is a potent example of this. Although few celebrate the history of Thanksgiving, even fewer lack their own unique family folklore surrounding the holiday. This folklore is present down to the smallest detail – who cuts the turkey, who brings the pecan pie. A friend of mine has a particularly odd Thanksgiving tradition in his family – they pick up the turkey and ‘walk’ it to the pan. Yes, that’s right, they make the turkey look like it’s walking to the pan before they cook it. This goes back to his father being a young boy having just moved to the U.S. His older sister, in an attempt to make the new American holiday of Thanksgiving more…entertaining? who knows…walked the turkey to the pan, and this strange ritual stuck.

So, I guess, this coming Thursday, as you’re giving thanks for whatever other noble things, don’t forget to also give thanks for Thanksgiving – and not just Thanksgiving in general, but your Thanksgiving. I’m sure it is a holiday worth celebrating.

Ensemble member and From the Circle storyteller Audrey Bertaux-Skeirik shares the wonderful story of Gluskabe a Native American legend that didn’t quite make it into From the Circle: Remembering the Earth through Folktales.

Here’s a little secret. There was never a script (per se) for From the Circle: Remembering the Earth Through Folktakes. Instead, there were stories, from books, from oral tradition, from memory, from personal experience, and even from science we extracted these stories that were used in the performance. Throughout the rehearsal processes we tested out a multitude of stories that, over time, came and went, were shortened, lengthened, cut and pasted, exchanged for different versions, and ultimately fourteen stories made it to the stage.
But what about the stories that didn’t make it to the stage? Here is one that almost made it in, but ultimately was cut from the show the week before we opened.

A large statue of Gluskabe beside the town hall of Parrsboro, Nova Scotia

THE CREATION OF GLUSKABE (Abridged)

When the Creator finished making the world, he dusted off his hands and from those sprinkles of dust Gluskabe formed himself. Gluskabe sat up and walked around and the Creator exclaimed how wonderful Gluskabe was!
“I am wonderful because you sprinkled me!” said Gluskabe
Then the Creator and Gluskabe walk over the whole world, exclaiming on its beauty and wonder!

It is a delightfully simple story about creation, appreciation, and wonder. But why did we remove this story? Ultimately we found that these elements were already in other stories we were telling, and although the story was interesting and engaging, it led the show to linger, rather than propelling it forward.
Gluskabe shows up in many folk tales and has a multitude of adventures, so if this deleted scene caught your attention, you may want to read more Gluskabe stories!

More Resources

Artistic Director Julie Ritchey waxes poetic about her friend and countryman Abraham Lincoln as she examines how stories continue to shape our nation.

I have to admit that I am a little bit obsessed with Abraham Lincoln. So when I found myself in Washington DC for a whirlwind weekend at AATE’s theatre leadership institute, my first stop after leaving the airport was the National Mall for a quick visit to the Lincoln Memorial.

After living in the world of From the Circle: Remembering the Earth through Folktales for the last several months, I’ve definitely had folktales on the brain. To be there, at the National Mall, looking at all the monuments got me thinking about our American folktales – and not just Johnny Appleseed and Paul Bunyon, but the stories – some true, some legend – of the history of our country and, by association, what it means to be an American. Although I generally don’t consider myself to be overly patriotic, it’s hard to walk down the National Mall, looking at the monuments, memorials, and vibrant fall leaves and not feel a little bit like Jimmy Stewart in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.

I had only visited DC twice before, and had forgotten the inscription above the statue of Lincoln that reads “In this temple, as in the hearts of the people for whom he saved the union, the memory of Abraham Lincoln is enshrined forever.” The phrase resonated with me like a folktale, a story that we all carry a piece of and a relationship to – a sort of celebration of collective memory. That all the people, all the events of human history are broken up into little pieces, little stories, and carried in the hearts of the people.

I read the Gettysburg Address, the Second Inaugural Address, and watched as people took their photographs in front of the giant statue of Abe himself. Then, to enjoy the beautiful day in that beautiful place, I turned around to sit on the steps and write. The reflecting pool was completely torn up, crawling with bulldozers and workers in hard hats. At first I was disappointed – it was certainly a less majestic view of the Mall, with dirt and plastic fence in place of that long, smooth stretch of water. But then it took on a kind of poetry, with Abraham Lincoln in his marble chair, overlooking a giant rebuilding project.

With the protests, the wars, the upcoming elections, we are all in the middle of a Great Rebuilding. We do not know how it will end, or how history will tell the story in the generations to come. But someday, many years from now, these stories will be forever enshrined in the hearts of the people for whom we are working to rebuild this union.

Ensemble member Lindsey Dorcus talks about her experience with Shape Notes and the gifts of song that it has brought to her life and how she has used some of the tools learned through these experiences in her vocal work in From the Circle: Remembering the Earth through Folktales.

“From The Circle” is in rehearsal at the Dank Haus. I am outside in the hall with another actor, crouched low over a small music player. We are trying to hear each note and find a “sticking place” for this song in our brains, because if we are going to sing in harmony in from of strangers, this song needs to be very deeply stuck. So we listen and hum along, slowly, slowly beginning to learn our respective parts. Finally, another actor pulls out his guitar, we set a key, and dive into the piece in earnest. And I am so glad to be singing.

I used to sing all the time. As a child I would bop along to whatever was on the radio or whichever tape was on rotation in my music player that week. I would sing until my sister told me to stop, and when she grew tired of my humming I joined choirs, sang in church musicals, and closed my bedroom door while I belted the soundtrack to CATS. I was a bold kid who was able to stay on pitch, so I assumed I was an incredible singer.

However, as I grew older I realized I was a fine singer…but not an incredible one. I met people with jaw-dropping voices, with a true understanding of music, who could consistently and quickly create beautiful sounds. I found my own voice to be inconsistent and fickle, and the shouting joy I had was replaced by the realizations that I had to drill for ages to learn a new song and that there were many, many “wrong” ways to sing. Musical theatre class became a weekly burden and singing in front of people was simply terrifying.

I still sang occasionally in private, but I began to miss singing with other people and the confidence I used to have in my voice. Then in the summer of 2007 I discovered Shape Note Singing. Shape notes are a notation system first introduced in American choral music around 1800, shape notes use triangles, squares, and circles and a simplified solfege system to make four-part harmonies easy to learn. In practice, this means that groups of people of all musical abilities can gather together to create a gorgeous, jubilant wall of sound.

My first shape-note sing was with the Bread and Puppet Theatre in Vermont. I was apprenticing there for the summer, learning all about political puppet theatre and sustainable living. There on the farm people would gather from all over the community in a barn full of paper mache art, sit grouped by vocal range on wooden benches, and sing. Here it did not matter if you were an incredible singer or a lousy one…blended together, every voice sounded beautiful. The sheer power of it sent shivers down my spine, and I sang with passion and power that I hadn’t felt in years: I found that wild joy again.

So when it came time to gather some traditional songs for “From the Circle”, I immediately knew where to look. The Sacred Harp favorite “Idumea” makes an appearance in our show. It has been modified to sound good as a duet, but the atonality and questioning lyrics remain very intact. It still sends shivers down my spine, and every time I sing it I am reminded that when approaching a task with joy, I will always find something incredible.