BY Lucia Mauro
 |
People who have been together for a long time tend to finish each other’s sentences. The same can be said of the artists who comprise Shattered Globe Theatre, now in its 10th year of producing powerfully crafted dramas and comedies with a pungent sociopolitical edge. But, as the ensemble proved in a recent interview, they go beyond completing each other’s thoughts to convey a fluid give-and-take of ideas.
Artistic co-director Brian Pudil articulates the group’s indefinable chemistry: "We’re doing something larger than any individual. It’s almost like an unwritten language. We can just look at each other and start riffing and jamming."
Shattered Globe was founded by Adam Langer, Brian Pudil and Joe Forbrich. Its first two productions–Backstage Pass and In the Shadow of a Smile–were penned by Langer. So it was initially a writer-driven theatre. Forbrich and Pudil soon assumed leadership of the company. Early participation in the Bailiwick Directors’ Festival and the Playwrights Center marked the beginnings of a cohesive ensemble.
Shortly after it was incorporated in 1991 the troupe moved into its malleable, long-time space at 2856 N. Halsted, where it produced some of its most pivotal shows until 1999. Victory Gardens Theater invited Shattered Globe to become its resident company in its upstairs studio after a chain of events–the sale of the adjoining Gaslight tavern on Halsted and a City building-inspection crackdown–forced Shattered Globe out of its original space. They still use the Halsted facility for storage.
While the troupe has lost some audience members who didn’t know where to find them, they’ve gained crossover patrons through the Victory Gardens collective and have the advantage of sharing artistic resources. For example, Victory Gardens’ artistic director Dennis Zacek brought Bruce Graham’s fiercely provocative script , Coyote on a Fence, to Shattered Globe’s attention. The result was a Jeff-nominated production (see page 13).
Over the years, the theatre’s actors, directors and designers–who come from a variety of artistic backgrounds–stuck together and continued to learn from each other. Most of the original ensemble and board have remained in tact.
"Although we also work outside Shattered Globe," says ensemble member Linda Reiter, "we devote a lot of time to the company. So many people today want to go into movies. We all wanted a theatre company and got along great."
Fellow ensemble member Eileen Niccolai consistently uses the word family when describing how the company is structured, adding "some of our favorite shows have been about families."
Pudil interjects, "We’re like each other’s safety nets."
While these mutually congratulatory relationships may sound too good to be true, Shattered Globe has proven with nearly every production that its artists have attained a symbiotic connection beyond the stage.
Our interview took place at Victory Gardens immediately following a magical and grounded performance of Arthur Laurents’ Invitation to a March, a daring 1960 comedy about life choices and their unpredictable consequences (running through May 13, and nominated for a Jeff). Several ensemble members wanted to participate. And as they chatted, joked and snacked on pretzels, my own feelings about their inextricable bond and dedication to substantial material were confirmed. Even after the house manager politely shooed us out of the theatre, we continued the interview on Lincoln Avenue.
"We’ve become more of an actor-driven theatre," notes Steve Key, artistic co-director. "The ensemble isn’t something that happens because you say so. You can’t create it; it comes together."
But Shattered Globe, while requiring resident and outside directors to cast a certain number of ensemble members in each show, does not uncomfortably retrofit actors to the roles just to meet that stipulation.
"We still have to audition for roles," stresses Pudil. "We have to fight for roles all the same. And we make sure that the material is suitable for the ensemble."
Since 1991, Shattered Globe has grown from its original six members to a family of 21 actors, directors, designers, writers and technicians. The founders established a structure whereby a five-member "Artistic Directing Collective" led the organization. This structure contributed to the tight team-oriented energy that fuels the ensemble. It did not, however, allow for the faster decision-making that their growing profile demanded.
So in 1997, the Artistic Directing Collective (Forbrich, Key, Niccolai, Pudil and Reiter) asked Lou Contey, an existing ensemble member and director, to step up and join Pudil as artistic co-directors. Contey and Pudil led the company for three years. Last year Contey handed leadership over to Key, who joined Pudil as artistic co-directors. The remaining members of the former Artistic Directing Collective continued in a position, which they presently hold, called the Artistic Advisory Panel. The company also does not draw rigid lines between the business and artistic sides; these roles are quite fluid.
Since its first production, Shattered Globe has produced 42 plays, presenting an eclectic mix of world premieres by some of Chicago’s most promising playwrights, Chicago premieres of national and international writers, American classics, and power-packed contemporary dramas. It has received 28 Jeff Citations.
Outstanding productions include Talk Radio, A Streetcar Named Desire, The Manchurian Candidate, All My Sons, Frozen Assets and the recent Coyote on a Fence, which focused on the complex issues surrounding the death penalty and included eye-opening post-show discussions with attorneys and released Death Row inmates. Forbrich captured these discussions on videotape, which he plans to expand into a documentary. Coyote on a Fence will be re-mounted at the Storefront Theatre in October.
For the past seven years, I have been drawn to Shattered Globe’s staunch commitment to quality and a visible passion for work that has something crucial to say. The ensemble has a keen understanding of period drama, as well as a desire to tackle burning issues of our time. All of its design elements are integral to every production, and they create entirely fresh theatrical mindscapes with each show. For instance, the cut, shape and color of Karen Kawa’s early 1960s costumes for Invitation to a March speak to audiences in their own revelatory yet unobtrusive way.
"We started working with action-design," explains ensemble member Rebecca Jordan. "The set would evolve around what we were doing. So the designs create another level of communication."
Now, according to Pudil, the company is focusing on works (both classic and contemporary) that address American identity. Adds Key, "We’re dissecting, questioning and reveling in the American experience."
Returning to the benefits of a tight ensemble–before heading to a neighborhood bar–the Shattered Globe artists reiterate that "the force that drives the company is the ensemble." Niccolai says, "I think at different periods, Shattered Globe wasn’t any one person’s vision. It really was a place to look out for each other and help each other grow."
Key chimes in, "And push each other’s boundaries."
That brings us to the name: Shattered Globe Theatre. Reiter shares a dramatic story–which keeps getting embellished by the minute–about how everyone was sitting at a bar called Max’s, with globes on the ceiling, and one of the hanging orbs crashed down on the counter and broke into a million pieces.
But the inspiration really came from the collective notion of breaking the boundaries of classic, Old Globe-based theatre without sacrificing strong craft or commitment to a cause.