Chicago Cultural Center
78 E Washington St
312.744.6630
This event has passed.
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Dan Howard and Rachel Rizzuto in Silent Theatre Company’s Carnival Nocturne, Photo: John W. Sisson, Jr.
- When
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Nov 19, 2009 – Dec 20, 2009
Thursdays–Sundays
- Where
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- Price
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$20
- Links
Carnival Nocturne is a colorful and engaging, if uneven, production about a cursed traveling circus, complete with fortune tellers and Siamese twins. The story is nothing new — a runaway joins the circus and eventually becomes its martyr in a modern fairy tale — but it's done without dialogue, to an uncanny and lyrical effect. The physical theater and carnival performances are entertaining if somewhat amateurish, and the story's narrative (thankfully minimal) is done in awkward rhyme. What distinguishes Carnival Nocturne, though, is its brilliant reference to silent film in acting and technical theater (especially lighting), which makes the piece feel wonderfully ephemeral. Accompanying live music, another trope of early film, is effective and sometimes gorgeous. The achievement, if not groundbreaking, is atmospheric and absorbing.
