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Previews: Reviews: Merry Marxmas: The Plight of the Ruling Class by Jason Hart photo by Laura Gorzek Theater May 5 is Karl Marx’s birthday, but in the world of Entrepreneurial Communism, it’s also Marxmas. On Marxmas, Ben Turk has been known to dress as the author of The Communist Manifesto and take to the streets – to sell Marx-themed merchandise. You aren’t likely to see Turk this Marxmas, because he’ll be busy with The Plight of the Ruling Class, a new collection of one-act plays being produced by Insurgent Theatre, the company he co-founded and runs with Tracy Doyle. Insurgent Theatre launched under the name S-MartKino in 2003. Director and actor Doyle teamed up with Turk, who writes. Their vision was to bring high quality, locally produced political theatre to the masses, and to change America’s current political system while doing so. Entrepreneurial Communism guides the practice of Insurgent Theatre. This theory, at first glance an inherent contradiction, was formed by Turk while he was a Political Science student at UWM. Turk explains it this way: “It’s communist because it believes in an overhaul of our economic system, where the worker receives the full product of their labor. It’s entrepreneurial because it aims to achieve that by going into business instead of politics.” Entrepreneurial communism works like this: the revenues from each show are split 50/50, with half divided evenly amongst all of the cast and crew, and with the other half being used as seed money for the next show. Insurgent is also careful about where and how they spend their money: “We won’t sell ads in the program to someone who isn’t a small, local business. We won’t buy shit at Wal-mart. We try to keep it as small and local as possible.” The Plight of the Ruling Class is a set of three one-acts that focuses on incendiary issues: racism, Muslim rights, rape. The plays are written by Turk and Milwaukee playwright John Manno. Doyle is directing two of the pieces, and Alamo Basement’s Mike Q. Hanlon is directing the third. I watched an early run-through of the plays, and I was blown away by the quality of the acting and writing, and also by the courage demonstrated by their choice of topics. Cured, the play written by Manno, is especially interesting. Set in an alternate version of reality, Cured makes a statement about our blind acceptance of cultural norms and practices. I’ve been asked not to reveal the most shocking parts of Cured, and I won’t. I don’t enjoy learning crucial information about pieces before I see them. I’ll only say that you should make every attempt to see this play, or have someone who does tell you what it’s about. Insurgent’s most memorable project was the original full-length one act Bring the War Home, about 1960s radical group The Weather Underground. Bring the War Home was written by Turk, and directed by Doyle. It was the first play produced in Insurgent’s current home, the Astor Theatre, and sold out every performance except for one during a massive blizzard. Insurgent loves nothing so much as conflict. It’s disappointing to them, then, that self-selecting audiences at previous shows have led to unitary interpretations of their work. “No one disagreed with us. We were hoping we could create a discussion. It was more people who agreed with each other talking amongst themselves,” Turk said of the talkback afterwards. “That’s something we’re addressing in the rewrite,” said Doyle. “We are addressing the concern that most left-wingers saw it as a push towards doing the things the Weather Underground were doing. It wasn’t supposed to be pro-violence or pro-pacifism.” “Ultimately, it’s a criticism of political action – that going and fighting the state is the way to change society,” said Turk. Insurgent prefers to work from within, believing that change is ultimately rooted in the economy. Their theory is that the first step is to develop new economic patterns and systems, and then the politics and society will fall into place. They aim to transform the theatre scene too, bringing in people without experience. “There are a lot of people who have never done theatre before, and thought maybe that’s something I can do…” said Doyle. “But then they’re intimidated by the theatre scene,” continued Turk. Turk and Doyle do not come from theatre backgrounds – Doyle was a microbiology student and works in a lab, Turk has a degree in political science from UWM. Insurgent has recently entered into collaboration with Milwaukee theatre groups Alamo Basement, The Paris Business Review, and Pink Banana. The four groups have formed a DIY collective to assist each other and to bring entertaining theatre to the Milwaukee community. Plight is the first show produced by this as-yet unnamed collective, using the talents of members of all four groups. Perhaps Milwaukee will be the home base of an entrepreneurial communist DIY theatre movement. Insurgent Theatre’s Plight of the Ruling Class runs 8 PM May 3-6, 10-13 at the Astor Theatre (Inside of the Brady Street Pharmacy). Riverwest Currents online edition - May, 2006 Wed. May 3 WEB EXCLUSIVE!
by Russ Bickerstaff
Originally published 05/01/06 in Vital Source. Still in its infancy, S-Martkino’s Insurgent Theatre remains deliciously unknown to the larger masses of Milwaukee Theatre goers. Resonating out of the Astor Theatre, its fourth show, “The Plight of The Ruling Class,” is a two-hour presentation of three fresh, compelling shorts written by local playwrights John Manno and Ben Turk. Each of the three stories carves-out a different path in the exploration of the dynamic between control and submission. As a whole, the show is captivatingly rough around the edges, sculpting an evening of drama that is at least as compelling as something you’d pay quite a bit more to see in another part of town. The show opens with Manno’s chillingly dark comedy “Cured.” It follows the psychological journey of one Sarah Smith. Like any young idealist, she hates her family’s complicity with the way things are. All too aware and too disgusted by her society’s immorality, Sarah must decide whether or not she’s willing to assimilate into its corruption. Mary Diaz proves to be an impressive talent in the role of Sarah. She fills the central role with heart and compassion throughout the character’s progression. Alice Wilson fills the submissive June Cleaver-esque mother role with creepy effectiveness in a story like this. Shawn Smith is suitably authoritative in the role of her father John who runs the family business. As a playwright, Manno has real talent. As a play, “Cured” runs many thematic and stylistic parallels with British playwright Caryl Curchill’s much more accomplished “Far Away” (which was staged last season by Bialystock and Bloom). While “Cured” contains much more humor than Churchill’s play, it is also considerably darker, being much more firmly rooted in reality. The staging is a bit chilling. As seen numerous times over the course of the season, we once again see actors actually eating onstage in character. This time the eating itself plays a very stylishly visceral addition to a very fundamental aspect of the plot. Following “Cured” and intermission, the production shifts gears for a pair of complimentary plays written by Insurgent Theatre co-founder Ben Turk. “Claire and George” stars Jason Hames as a government official who is forced to interrogate a friend and US immigrant who has made a bomb threat. Here Olivia Lopez plays Claire, a woman willing to do anything to see her husband who is being detained under the oppressive power of the USA Patriot Act. It’s a touching story that shows some of the tragedy and complexity of US-Middle-Eastern relations, but it feels a bit forced. Much of the dialogue sounds stilted and expository. There’s very little here for anyone who’s already familiar with US foreign policy. It’s a bit frustrating to watch, which would be fine if it were more engagingly frustrating. The production closes with “George and Claire,” which begins in suspense and ends in tragedy through some rather strange comedy. In this instance, David Bohn plays George, a nice guy who loves his girlfriend Claire (daringly played here by Jody Tempas). Claire has a submissive, sado-masochistic fetish and desperately wants him to rape her. Being the nice guy he is, George can’t seem to bring himself to rape his girlfriend, which makes her feel bad. It seems to me that I’ve seen this type of story played out before, but I can’t imagine where. The ironic comedy here is priceless. Claire says, “Can’t you see you’re hurting me?” and she means that emotionally because he’s unwilling to hurt her physically. It’s this strange awkwardness of sexual communication that drives the entire play and more than makes-up for a rather weak, if thoroughly provocative, dramatic ending to an excellent evening’s theatre. Insurgent Theatre’s “The Plight of the Ruling Class” runs now through May 13 at the Astor Theatre. Tickets are $15 in advance or $8 at the door. Visit Insurgent Theatre online at: http://insurgenttheatre.org for more information. VS Provocative and Risky Cannibalism. Terrorism. Rape. Such are the subjects of Insurgent Theatre’s latest production, The Plight of the Ruling Class, a collection of three one-acts by Milwaukee playwrights. At the Astor Theatre through May 13, it’s a boxing match for your brain, and a guided tour of hell for your emotions.
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