Well, I’m writing this from a hotel room in St. Louis, and I have to say right from the get-go (or maybe gecko) that Katy Perry was 100 percent correct when she wrote “That’s what you get for waking up in St. Louis.”
Debaucherous night, let me tell you. Not only was I in my hotel bed by 10 p.m. but I really pushed the envelope and watched one of those restaurants-are-filthy-but-an-Englishman-on-steroids-can-fix-them-right-up-by-yelling-at-the-owner-and-firing-a-line-cook-and-then-everyone-is-grateful-and-cries-shows. Such a transformative viewing experience. I’m thinking I may skip my reading tonight at Subterranean Books and just watch that show about Cajun people pawning things instead.

On the subject of readings, Chicago--look out. First time YA novelist Lisa Jenn Bigelow reads this Saturday at The Book Cellar. Her first novel, Starting From Here is out and Bigelow spoke with Our Town about creating a relatable narrator, balancing her work as a librarian with her passion for writing and why LGBTQ teens need to see themselves reflected in literature.

Our Town What was your initial kernel of inspiration for the book?
Lisa Jenn Bigelow It was two kernels popping together. There's an unfortunate stereotype in literature that all dog books end with the dog kicking it. Old Yeller, Where the Red Fern Grows, etc. I decided I wanted to write an "anti-dead dog book." Instead of the story culminating in the dog's death, a near-death experience would be the catalyst for the rest of the story. I had a side character from a short story I'd written—a girl who'd lost her mother, whose dad was away working as a truck driver, who was doing poorly in school. And I thought, she could really use a good dog.



OT How long did you work on it?
LJB That’s hard to answer. From the time I started writing it to its publication was about seven years, but most of that time I was waiting to hear back from agents and, once I found an agent, editors. Writing the first draft probably only took about six months, with several rounds of editing to follow. Publishing can be an excruciatingly slow business sometimes. Even after the book sold to Marshall Cavendish Children’s Books (which was subsequently acquired by Amazon), two and a half years passed before the book came out.

OT I want to compliment you on the very relatable voice. Did you go through drafts getting to know what your narrator sounded like, or did you sort of hear her in your head right away?
LJB Thanks! For the most part, Colby's voice was clear in my mind—outwardly sarcastic and tough, inwardly tender and raw. But there was still a lot of tweaking throughout the editing process. It was important to make readers sympathize with her in spite of her jagged edges. Humor helped, as did letting her vulnerability show. My editor was also meticulous in finding inconsistencies—places where Colby sounded too mature, too country, even too masculine. There's nothing like an inconsistent voice to rip readers out of a story.

OT How do you balance your writing work and your career as a librarian?
LJB It's a challenge. Finding the time isn't a problem so much as finding the energy, especially in winter when the days are so short. I'm extremely diurnal, and if the sun is down, I want to be asleep. I try to take an hour to write before or after work, but it doesn’t always happen. On the other hand, a plus to being a librarian—aside from simply enjoying the work—is that keeping up with industry news is part of the job, so it dovetails nicely with writing. And, of course, I'm constantly surrounded by inspiration.

Are you getting what you need at home? Do you have the intimacy you crave? Can one person really meet another’s every little need? Not when it comes to....poetry? Get ready to meet the Poetry Whores at where else? The Poetry Bordello, an event boasting a unique combination of Victorian costume party, performance art, musical performance and poetry readings.  The evening includes interactions with “Bordello Regulars” who dress and act as characters from a Victorian-era brothel as well as authentic burlesque. If you’re thinking, big deal, my partner provides all of that on a nightly basis, then you won’t want to miss the evening’s highlight: a chance to purchase a one-on-one poetry reading with one of the Poetry Whores. Our Town spoke with creator/Madame Susan Yount and Poetry Whore Nate Lowe aka Carlo Matos about what to expect from this naughty literary event.

Our Town Describe Poetry Bordello’s genesis. 
Susan Yount Our resident historians inform us that it all started at the 2007 Brighton Fringe Festival in the U.K., when Jimmy McGee and Chris Parkinson created the idea to sell poetry directly to the people within the setting of a brothel. Their brothel setting was a bit tongue-in-cheek but ultimately received numerous awards including "Best Literary Event"! The idea traveled to other cities, including Chicago. The first show in Chicago was organized in mid 2010 and included poets from New York and Chicago. Our first all-Chicago show opened on 24 September 2010.


OT Why take the Victorian age as inspiration?
SY It was during this time that Chicago quite literally raised itself from the ashes of the Great Fire, like a great Victorian Phoenix, and as a result its culture, history and architecture are intertwined with the gilded age in a manner that is distinctly Chicago. Also, during the conception of an all Chicago Poetry Bordello, I was inspired by Karen Abbott’s book, Sin in the Second City, a fabulously researched and brilliantly written historical novel about the Everleigh Club. It made sense to choose the same age the most famous and luxurious house of prostitution existed. Finally, there is also a strong & supportive Steampunk community here who set a very high bar with their impeccable wardrobes (and of course, also an impeccable taste in poetry). We love seeing and interacting with them at our shows!

OT Nat, what’s the benefit of having poetry read in a one-on-one situation?
Nat Lowe When I was young, I wanted to be a poet, but I had this notion that poetry was something that people didn’t do anymore. Sure, we could marvel at the great poems of the past, but no one was writing anything new. I don’t know where I got this idea, but I find that many of my students share a similar idea. The Bordello shows them that poetry is alive and well. It also takes a lot of the bologna of poetry performance and brings it down to a very personal level without it having to be confessional. I find that my clients like to suggest topics or genres. For example, I’ve had clients ask for poems that are funny, or poems about zombies, or poems about stuff that really happened to me. When I get a more knowledgeable client, I sometimes get to have interesting discussions about poetry and poetics. It allows for a tailor-made experience, which for many people—like my students, who sometimes come to the events—can’t get anywhere else.

OT How do guests respond to the intimacy? 

NL Return customers know that the ultimate bordello experience is in the one-on-ones. It’s a little bit poetry, a little bit illicit affair and a lot of fun. For some of the new guests, I am sure it can be a tad daunting. When I get a guest to myself, I relax and try to give them what they want. They paid good money for me, after all. Mostly, I want to maintain the air of fun and debauchery and not turn it into class time. Poetry at the bordello can still be dangerous.

I hate myths. No matter Greek or Roman, ancient anything makes me barf. It’s my shortcoming, I know. Without the ancients we wouldn’t have the modern novel, concrete, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, all of which I can’t live without. Well, add Lookingglass Theatre Company's METAMORPHOSES to my ‘must have’ list. Thank Jupiter, a friend convinced me to see this riff on Ovid’s poem. Gorgeous. Innovative. Mesmerizing. Don’t even bother reading the rest of this blog, just get yourself a ticket to this much anticipated revival. Or fine, read it, but quickly. Our Town spoke with Lookingglass ensemble member Raymond Fox about this exceptional show.

Our Town Why bring back the show now?
Raymond Fox This is Lookingglass’ 25th anniversary season [so] we wanted to bring back a favorite.  Although METAMORPHOSES has enjoyed success across the country--productions both on and off Broadway, we have not presented it in Chicago in 14 years.  [Writer/director] Mary [Zimmerman] and her designers were intrigued by the opportunity to bring the play to our home in the Water Tower Water Works in a much more intimate venue than we’ve presented it in the past.   

OT As an actor, what is it like to revisit a play years later?
RF I was fortunate enough to appear in the first Lookingglass version and the two productions in New York as well as numerous regional productions of the play.  As a result I was in METAMORPHOSES on and off for six years from 1998 to 2004.  My wife (Anne Fogarty) and I start dating during the original run.  We’re back onstage together in this revival.  Our six year-old daughter is now able to see a production we thought we’d only have an opportunity to describe to her.  

OT What do you feel you bring to it now that perhaps you didn’t the first time?
RF Hopefully our work has deeper emotional resonance.  We’ve all experienced our own changes – both through joy and pain – over the years.  We try to bring that to these ancient tales.  As a result they feel richer to us.  We hope we can impart that to the audience.

Photo by Frank Ockenfels

For singer/songwriter Brandi Carlile, confidence is key.
“The level of rejection [you] experience [in] music can be devastating,” she says. “You need an underlying sense of self worth to persevere.”
And persevere Carlile has.
“I was passed on by every record label at least once - some three times,” she says.
In Chicago to play the Chicago Theatre last week, Carlile spoke with Our Town about touring, her new marriage, and tenacity in the face of rejection.

Our Town You convinced your bandmates to work with you by promising them you’d be signed and on the road within a year. What made you so certain?
Brandi Carlile What made me so certain was a completely unprecedented and underlying sense of cockiness. But at 19 years old I really believed that I could do whatever I put my mind to, plus the twins were so good, I knew it would be more like them getting me signed and on the road within a year!

OT How has your writing (both process and content) changed over the course of your career? 
BC Naturally, as one gets older, the content of a song is based a bit more on experience and less speculative than songs from your early twenties and late teens. The really challenging thing is performing these songs in light of a wiser outlook and trying to make sense of early opinions; retrospect definitely is 20/20.


OT Obviously at this point listeners pick and choose, downloading only certain songs. What does it mean to create at this point in history when people’s attention spans are shorter than ever?
BC My objective isn’t to acquire listeners in a cultish sense, my objective is only to be blessed with the opportunity to interrupt someone’s life for three and a half minutes at a time and make them happy or reflective. I don’t worry too much about the climate of the music industry, so to speak, because humans have needed music for much longer that we’ve known how to sell it. As far as live music goes, no device will ever be able to cheapen the connections between people in a room.


OT What’s your favorite song off your most recent record and why?
BC It’s ever-changing, but if I’m looking back at Bear Creek ten years from now and asking myself which song moves me the most, it would be “That Wasn’t Me.”



OT You recently got married. How do you juggle career and relationship?
BC With complete and utter co-dependence. No I’m just kidding, who really knows?

By now you’ve heard that Kinky Boots, en route to Broadway, has high-kicked its way into town. Our Town got a behind the scenes glimpse into the show’s workings when we spoke with Kinky Boots' Assistant Prop Manager Jacob White.

Our Town When did you realize you wanted to do tech professionally?
Jacob White I actually remember that moment clearly.  It was about half-way through my junior year of college. I was a computer science major but had always done work in our college theater. I worried a lot about falling behind in my studies because I spent all my time in the theater.  I was thinking this over in the shower one day and it just struck me that I was doing the wrong thing.  I literally got out of the shower, changed my major, and was totally excited to be on track to doing something I was passionate about.

OT What behind the scenes info would people be surprised to know about Broadway shows?
JW I hate to say it but there is no magic. It’s the same as a high school theater, a college theater, a regional theater--only with more resources.  Broadway is the collected efforts of a lot of very experienced people doing the same work that goes on in every other theater across America, or probably the world for that matter.

OT What's the best part of your job?
JW The job itself. It’s fun being backstage. It’s fun getting to meet and work with all sorts of creative people [and bringing] entertainment to a room full of people is exciting!

OT And the worst?
JW The hours. I've been in Chicago now since Labor Day and have had a total of 6 days off.

OT So, have you had any chance to experience Chicago?
JW Despite growing up in Milwaukee, my previous Chicago experiences were limited. I haven't had a lot of chances to explore, however as a cyclist, I've found the city very accommodating. I love the lakefront parks and trails, and have also been able to explore the nightlife from the Loop to Wicker Park to Lincoln Square, and found I really love it here. It will be bittersweet to return home to New York in a few weeks. One bright spot was a late night excursion to the Green Mill Lounge on Lawrence and Broadway which was amazing. I had such a great time there.

In junior high, I ran a thirteen minute mile. Not because I walked it and not because I twisted my ankle at lap three--although both of those things happened, but because being told to run in a circle so some national whatever could keep tabs on my fitness level pissed me off. At least that’s what I told my gym teacher. Accustomed to my insubordination, he responded with his usual expression of befuddled anger, eyebrows lifting as if to flee from his bulbous nose.

What I didn’t tell him was that running outside intimidated me.

Even after I began taking endless angsty teenage walks and pedaling to nowhere on my parent’s old exercise bike, even after I moved on to slow jogs on the treadmill I dragged to college with me, and years later spinning classes at Gold’s Gym in LA and finally a yoga practice facilitated by Chicago studios like Bloom, I was still afraid to run outside where people could see. As a spinning instructor, I sweat and screech daily in front of hordes of gym-goers, so self-consciousness couldn’t have been entirely to blame. Yet I kept grinding away on the treadmill despite longer runs and faster miles.

A girl never forgets her first gym.

Maybe my reluctance to run outdoors owes something to the more general anxiety I harbor: I’m afraid of getting lost. I’m afraid to be alone. I’m definitely afraid of squirrels. The Immense Outside brims with walkers and mockers and kamikaze drivers, with wind and sun, and sometimes even waves strong enough to knock a runner over. I was afraid of all of those things, and yet, once I finally made the decision to run outside, those are the things I embrace. They make each run different. They make me feel like I’m on an adventure. And running despite my fears makes me feel liberated, returned to myself, a new version of something very familiar. I never made a clearcut choice to become a runner; rather, years of incremental shifts became a sudden solid choice. Sometimes that’s how change works: one day, you simply try something new.

Chicago is a great place to have made that decision. And I’m not the only runner who knows it. This is the first in a new Our Town series highlighting one Chicago Runner a month. We’ll be asking runners of all levels for tips on music, routes, gadgets and more. You’ll hear firsthand what makes a runner, and maybe discover your own impulse to run (away from squirrels.)

October's Runner: Kathie Bergquist

Internationally renowned Italian author Claudio Magris is headed to Chicago next week, but first he took time to discuss his much lauded new novel with Our Town.

Our Town What was your inspiration for Blindly?
Claudio Magris The gestation period of Blindly might seem long to the point of absurdity, given that I first thought of it in 1988. I was in Antwerp to launch a translation of the Danube. I had seen some ships’ figureheads. I was struck by their open, dilated gaze, directed at the beyond as if perceiving calamities invisible to others. At that moment, in that Flemish square, the idea came to me to write something about those figureheads, even though I was uncertain as to what I wanted from them. However, in drafting my book I did not long pursue this trial of the figureheads. Far more pervasive was my years-old interest in the incredible story of Goli Otok. Soon after the second World War, when the moment of revenge had arrived for what Fascist Italy had inflicted upon the Slav peoples, some three hundred thousand Italians, having lost everything, left Istria and Fiume, Rijeka- by then part of Yugoslavia- for Italy, the west. At the same time from Monfalcone, a small town near Trieste, two thousand Italian workers-militant communists, many of whom had experience the Fascist galls, the German lagers and the Spanish Civil War-voluntarily left Italy for Yugoslavia, there to contribute, inspired by their faith in it, to the construction of communism in the nearest communist country: two intersecting counter-exoduses. But in ’48 Tito broke with Stalin, whereby these revolutionaries became, in Tito’s eyes, potentially dangerous Stalinist agents, while they regarded him as a traitor. They were deported to the beautiful, terrible, islets of the Upper Adriatic, Goli Otok (Bald Island) and Sveti Grur (St. Gregory), where they were subjected, as in the gulags and the lagers, to every kind of persecution. This they heroically and foolishly resisted in the name of Stalin- that is to say, in the name of one who, had he been victor, would have turned the entire world into a gulag for the likes of them; when, years later, the survivors returned to Italy, they were harassed by the Italian police as dangerous communists arriving the East. The Italian Communist party also opposed them as embarrassing witness to the Stalinist politics it had embraced years earlier and now wished to forget.
I had more than once, in previous books, referred to this story. It moved me profoundly because its protagonists always found themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time. They fought for a cause- Stalin- that I myself consider mistaken, but did so with a magnificent capacity for sacrificing their own individual destiny for a universal cause, for the good of humanity.
However, the book is not simply the story of Salvatore Cippico, the protagonist, deported to Goli Otok. It is also the story of Jorgen Jorgensen, the king-convict, which whom Salvatore often identifies, indeed confuses himself, to the point where he raves (hopes, fears, denies) that he is the same person, his double, his clone. The life of Jorgensen coincided with the birth of Australia and Tasmania by way of the penitentiaries (those terrible prisons, which in my novel, merge with the lagers and gulags they so closely resemble). Jorgen undertakes the same odyssey as those convicts who, between the end of the 18th and the 19th century, were transported from England to Australia and Tasmania to become the first population, apart the Aboriginals. Jorgen is an incredible character: a Dane in the service of England, a sailor who had crossed the seven seas, the founder of the Capital of Tasmania, Hobart Town. Many years later he would there, in the same Hobart Town, be sentenced to hard labor for life, as if Romulus had ended up as a Roman slave.

OT You write that “history is a spyglass held up to a blindfolded eye.” How do you grapple with fictionalizing historical events? Or are they fiction to begin with?
CM The essential point in the writing of that book, concerns the relationship between the contemporary novel and History, between writing History and writing stories, between narrating reality and inventing it. The destruction of the linear concept of time, and the eclipse of a central meaning capable of bestowing unity and rationality upon events both individual and collective, have made a violent assault on the way story-telling relates to the meaning of History.
Writing Blindly, I was grappling, on the one hand, with that form of truth, which the novel (if it wishes) can search for only through distortion, and other forms of truth, which in the ethical-political context, for example, can be reached only by trusting that very reason upon which the surging brackets of the epic regime seem to have dissipated.

Redtwist Theatre may be small in size, but since 1994, they’ve broadcast impressive ambition, producing a cavalcade of notable shows. Now, the storefront theatre heads into fall with Arthur Miller’s Broken Glass, a gripping drama about a New York couple in Kristallnacht’s aftermath. Our Town spoke with founder and Artistic Director Michael Colucci and star Jacqueline Grandt.

Our Town Broken Glass is one of Arthur Miller’s later plays, not as frequently performed as earlier ones. Why did Redtwist chose to produce it not once but twice?
Michael Colucci Broken Glass was—and still is—a buried treasure by the master American dramatist, written in 1994 during his golden years of full wisdom at age 79. We chose to produce [the play] in 2004, our first full season in our Bryn Mawr space. At that time, we were a relatively unknown resident company and thus very few people saw Jacqueline [Grandt]'s compelling performance as Sylvia Gellburg. Since then, she has become Redtwist's leading lady and one of the finest actresses in town. And so we felt it was imperative for her to revisit the role. Now that Redtwist has a bit of a following, many more people will see her exciting interpretation of this passionate and uniquely intriguing character.

OT Jacqueline, what’s it like to revisit an old part?
Jacqueline Grandt It is truly amazing!  I didn't go back and review my previous script or look at the DVD. I wanted to allow a fresh perspective and take advantage of my added experience on stage, as well as my own personal life experiences, to create a new character, one which I believe is fuller and more complete than before. 

OT Obviously you’re playing a character pretty far removed from your experience. What are you doing to prepare?
JG I did a lot of research on the era itself, as well as research on hysterical paralysis, which Sylvia suffers from. I discovered that the author of a book she is reading in the play, Anthony Adverse, suffered from shell shock, which is very similar to hysterical paralysis.  It certainly isn't difficult to be frightened by the horrific articles and pictures of Germany at that time. 

OT How did the dramaturge serve in prepping all of the actors for the show?
JG The research on each and every part of the script is so necessary and our dramaturg, Cassandra Rose, did an excellent job. I worked with her on Bug last year and she is wonderful!  Thorough, thought provoking...it truly helps in shaping any character. 

OT Are there specific onstage moments you can point to over the course of your career during which you felt the way growing up you’d imagined an actor feeling?
JG Yes. I believe it's the times that I've been in a scene where you actually feel the audience holding their breath...where you can feel their eyes watching and feeling every emotion you put forth.  Those are the moments that I believe all actors live for. 

OT What are your feelings on Chicago’s theater scene?
JG I believe its reputation is well deserved.  We produce some of the very best live theatre in the country.  Redtwist is signature Chicago because it gives you the "up close and personal" theatre that you don't see very often.  I'm so very proud to be part of that!

Broken Glass runs through November 18th. Purchase tickets here.

A writer with an MFA in Creative Writing from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Sarah Terez Rosenblum freelances for a number of web sites and print publications. Her debut novel, “Herself When She’s Missing," (Soft Skull press) is available for pre-order here. She is also a figure model, Spinning instructor and teacher at Chicago’s StoryStudio. Inevitably one day she will find herself lecturing naked on a spinning bike. She's kind of looking forward to it actually.
IMPORTANT: the official Our Town site doesn't support comments. Join in the conversation by following facebook.com/OurTownBlog.ChicagoSunTimes and Sarah on Twitter: @SarahTerez and Facebook.

Back in 2001, JIP was a one man project, just Chicago musician James Gwynn and his vision. Over the last three years however, JIP had grown into a three piece rock band. James Gwynn had a quick chat with Our Town about his influences and the group’s style.

Our Town JIP started as a solo project and grew to a three piece band. How did that evolution work? 
James Gwynn Everything changed with the 2011 release JIP: Year X.  I took that record into the Million Yen Studios (home of my favorite band Local H).  After that record and a successful double acoustic tour I knew the band needed to be bigger and louder.  I met drummer, Mike Charbonneauvia, a friend and bassist Joe D'onofrio is my wife's cousin.  It came together to be a loving family. [We’re sharper] with every practice and show. 

OT Who are your influences and how do they inform your work? 
JG My influences run from Local H to Ben Folds to Tracy Bonham and Bush.  The nineties alternative rock scene really hit me--how different the same genre of music could be.  I didn't play cover songs until we started touring Year X so those influences [relate] to emotion and lyrics rather than song style. 

OT What inspires you as a songwriter? 
JG The pursuit of happiness and relaying a message in a simple form.  Music is great because you can talk over really serious topics in a fun way.  My mission as JIP has always been to make simple songs with a strong message.  So that inspires me and life experiences find their way to become themes.  For example Sparks,

OT How has your writing process evolved knowing you’re writing for a group rather than solo work? 
JG It's oddly similar.  I've always written lyrics first and pieced them together by singing and finding guitar [parts].   Now I'll bring that same process to the guys and they add their layers. It's important to me that the guys make these songs their own and we adjust until we are all happy.

OT What can audiences expect from your upcoming gig at Hard Rock Chicago? 
JG Fun.  A great set of new and old JIP songs.  We want you to have a great time and be part of our set.  We have a special guest set for the show and it's going to be a blast.  We understand how great of an opportunity we have to play Hard Rock and plan on making the most of it.

Check out JIP's show this Friday October 12th at Hard Rock Chicago.

A writer with an MFA in Creative Writing from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Sarah Terez Rosenblum freelances for a number of web sites and print publications. Her debut novel, “Herself When She’s Missing," (Soft Skull press) is available for pre-order here. She is also a figure model, Spinning instructor and teacher at Chicago’s StoryStudio. Inevitably one day she will find herself lecturing naked on a spinning bike. She's kind of looking forward to it actually.
IMPORTANT: the official Our Town site doesn't support comments. Join in the conversation by following facebook.com/OurTownBlog.ChicagoSunTimes and Sarah on Twitter: @SarahTerez and Facebook.

In a society where making art lands you in the unemployment line, artists face an uncomfortable choice. Work a nine to five job and come home too exhausted to create, or balance multiple jobs in hopes of carving out more time for art. Writer and visual artist Robin Hustle knows all about the latter, but she’s found an interesting, if controversial way to fund her art. Hustle first caught my attention after a piece she wrote for Jezebel on coming out as a prostitute to her parents received a slew of passionate comments. She spoke with Our Town about how her “day job” in sex work informs her art and vice versa.

Our Town Artists tend to choose between working nine to five jobs and fitting in art where they can or putting together a hodgepodge of gigs in order to make time for their art. You seem to have chosen the latter. Pros and cons?
Robin Hustle The 40-hour work week was established in 1886. It's shameful that we haven't made any progress since then, that we're expected to take our work home with us, that we have to work overtime to stretch minimum wage into something closer to a living wage. It's a system I'd want to work outside of even if I wasn't an artist. Making a living as I do allows me to wake up early and write or stay up late and draw. It spares me the monotony of a full-time job. After a decade out of school, being self-employed has allowed me to start working toward a degree in a healthcare field without giving up writing and making art.

OT You recently wrote a piece for Jezebel discussing prostitution. What made you decide to write publicly about it?
RH Prostitution has been my primary source of income for about eight years, and I've been writing about it for nearly as long. My zine Mirror Tricks, about working as a prostitute, was also a slide show that I presented dozens of times around the country, and I've written critical essays on sex work, given talks about prostitutes' health issues, etc. Until recently, I'd planned to take a break from writing about sex work because I felt like I was getting too comfortable, limiting the scope of my writing and neglecting other ideas and projects. Then a friend asked me to write some pieces for a mainstream website on the subject, I did it, and I quickly became addicted to the idea of reaching a wide audience really, really fast—something that doesn't happen through self-publishing and small press. When that series ended, I pitched the idea of an ongoing column on sex work to Jezebel, and I'm thrilled that they were into it. There was never a question of whether I should write publicly about prostitution. It fascinates me from a personal and a conceptual angle; it forces tricky questions about sex and feminism and labor and public space. Essentially, it holds all the elements that excite me as a writer, and also happens to be my job, a job that's highly stigmatized and considered shameful, so how could I not write about it?

OT Commentators seemed angry at you for writing from your personal experience, that of a white woman who has chosen prostitution, but isn’t that the point of a personal essay? To write from your experience? Thoughts?
RH Many of the people who responded to my first piece on Jezebel wrote that they connected with it, as a coming out story, as an experience of growing up in a radical family, as a difficult part of being a sex worker, but the loudest voices were the raging ones. Frankly, I don't think those commentators read the piece: they skimmed to see if it said "I'm happy being a sex worker" so they could tell me that my experience is so rare that I have no right to write about it, or that I'm ignoring the plight of trafficked women by writing about myself. A few comments really stuck with me, and they weren't from either end of that spectrum. They were from readers who have mixed feelings about sex work, how it fits into feminism, the degree to which it is or isn't exploitative. They didn't get any answers from my piece but they thought hard about the questions. That's the kind of reader I'm hoping to reach by publishing in such a public forum.

OT Were you surprised by the negativity of peoples’ reactions?
RH I live in an incredible community that shields me, to some degree, from the nastiness of so many mainstream ideas about sex work, but even within that community I've been subject to scapegoating, tokenization, and other less vehement forms of bigotry than what turned up on Jezebel. I'm not oblivious to the gut reactions people have to sex work, or the misinformation they're fed. But it did catch me by surprise, because I thought I was publishing an uncontroversial, sappy piece about coming out to my parents.

Actor Sean Parris

If any theater knows its way around Edward Albee’s work, it’s Remy Bumppo. From 2011’s The Goat, to their current production of Seascape, the company and Albee have proved a perfect match. Our Town spoke with Artistic Director Nick Sandys about Seascape.

Our Town Seascape seems to be one of Albee's lesser produced works. What made you decide to stage it?
Nick Sandys The play includes everything Remy Bumppo looks for in a script: great, demanding language, complex ideas and arguments, wit and humanity, emotional depth.  It was only after we had chosen it to begin my first season as Artistic Director that I learned from James Bohnen, the founding director, that he had wanted to produce it in his first season but could not attain the rights. I actually think that there are numerous smaller productions of the play,  partly because its quirkily absurd surface is appealing, but it is actually very demanding physically--aside from the actors' physical movements, the costumes and the set need to be very detailed and essentially spectacular.

OT You've complimented Albee's ability to mix drama with humor. Is this somehow rare?
NS I don't necessarily believe that this combination is rare--tragicomedy is after all the 20th and 21st centuries' most common dramatic mode or genre.  But I do think that Albee uses humor in a unique way.  He is not afraid to include linguistically adroit and self-conscious characters who can punctuate an emotional scene with verbal wit or quibbling, a daring tactic that somehow allows humor into the darkest emotional scenes and never releases the tension, instead simply allowing the audience to feel safe and continue the ride.  

OT In the program, you write that Seascape is about our cultural moment. Can you expand on that?
NS Seascape was written in an eight-year stretch from 1967 to 1975, a period of particular turmoil for the American psyche: Vietnam, Watergate, environmental initiatives, the moon-landing, suburban white flight, etc.  And I feel that none of those issues have disappeared--in fact, as the play suggests, we seem destined to repeat our human behavioral errors over and over again, whether it be in the habits of a marriage or in our lack of historical knowledge.  We can all find contemporary versions of those same issues.  As the play states, "Is [evolution] for the better? I don't know. Progress is a set of assumptions."

OT With Remy Bumppo, this is Annabel Armour's second take on an Albee matriarch in two years. Is she a particularly good fit for Albee or why use her repeatedly in similar roles?
NS I have to say that there is very little in common between Stevie in The Goat and Nancy in Seascape.  They are world's apart as characters.  Annabel does have a unique rhythm as an actress, which makes her very watchable on stage, and her naturalism does fit Albee's linguistically quirky characters perfectly, as does her ability to suddenly access dangerous emotional depths.  

October's Hot Writer: Michael McCauley

My genre: I write short stories, or long jokes. I try to be funny and occasionally succeed; I don’t try to be bleak but typically succeed.

My literary influences: Nikolai Gogol, Kurt Vonnegut Jr., Evelyn Waugh, George Carlin, David Lynch, Diane Arbus

My favorite literary quote: "Literature should not disappear up its own asshole, so to speak.”—Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

My favorite book of all time: The Overcoat and Other Short Stories, by Nikolai Gogol. I’m referring to the Dover Thrift Editions publication that actually fits in your overcoat.

I’m currently reading: Revisiting Anton Chekhov’s Short Stories, Norton Critical Edition.

My guilty pleasure book: Whatever the person I’m standing over is reading on the train to work.

I can’t write without: Time, ear plugs, 40 mg of Vyvanse.

Worst line I ever wrote: My writing is usually terrible and sometimes good enough, so it’s not like I have to dig to find the worst line ever. Here is a line from the piece I’m revising now, highlighted for either revision or execution: “The chilly wind that breathed fire into the trees seemed to rekindle within Gary that terrible lust for the unknown he had successfully repressed over the summer.”
I feel awful now but I deserve it.

Brief Bio: Michael McCauley is a graduate of the University of Alabama's MFA Program in Creative Writing. His stories have appeared in Eleven Eleven, The Clackamas Literary Review, DIAGRAM, and Painted Bride Quarterly.

A writer with an MFA in Creative Writing from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Sarah Terez Rosenblum freelances for a number of web sites and print publications. Her debut novel, “Herself When She’s Missing," (Soft Skull press) is available for pre-order here. She is also a figure model, Spinning instructor and teacher at Chicago’s StoryStudio. Inevitably one day she will find herself lecturing naked on a spinning bike. She's kind of looking forward to it actually.
IMPORTANT: the official Our Town site doesn't support comments. Join in the conversation by following facebook.com/OurTownBlog.ChicagoSunTimes and Sarah on Twitter: @SarahTerez and Facebook.

My Significant Other is painting the apartment. AGAIN. To clarify, she’s finishing the job she started before the temperature hit 100 degrees and stuck there for roughly 1.2 million weeks. The dog is having the worst day of her life, by the way. Every time SO climbs a ladder, she starts trembling. We think her former owners were abusive stilt-walkers. This has nothing to do with Ever Mainard and Rasa Gierstikas’ stand-up comedy showcase but have you ever tried to write a blog while a dog has an anxiety attack? Not to mention the paint fumes. I’m pretty sure they haven't affected my writing ability though. PINK RHINOCEROS LAP-DANCE HORCHATA. But back to Mainar and Gierstikas. Sh*t Show, their monthly comedy variety show is going gangbusters and they spoke with Our Town about the Chicago scene and more.

Our Town Why change format from traditional open mic to showcase?
Ever Mainard Numbers were low and Rasa and I knew we had to do something.
Rasa Gierstikas We wanted a fun atmosphere where new/seasoned comics felt welcome to perform without the fear of being judged and criticized.
EM We needed the change. We know people miss the open mic, but this is also such a fun, hip, unique show that people - comics and audiences- can be involved in. We have a grown man in a hot dog suit handing out Malort!! 

OT How did you get into stand-up?
RG I was always interested in it but had the worst stage phobia and relied on others to do comedy related things.  When I realized that people weren't always reliable, I decided it was time to suck it up and do stand up.
EM As a child, I really wanted to do something in comedy. When I set out, I wanted to be on SNL. Then as I got older, I started becoming more and more interested in stand up.

OT Ever, your ‘here’s your rape’ bit got a lot of attention. Can you talk about that?
RG Ever stole that from me.
EM I stole it from Rasa..... Well, the joke stemmed from an experience of being followed and being threatened. Of that bit that went viral, only a minute [was rehearsed]. The rest is just a riff.   
 
OT Obviously you think rape jokes have a place in stand-up. Are they always okay? Does it depend on the comedian? Their intention? 
EM Well, that joke started as a joke of being pursued and being threatened and then just morphed. I actually dislike rape jokes. Especially from men. Part of the reason why SH*T SHOW became a show is so we wouldn’t have to listen to poorly structured rape jokes time after time and then have the word "RAPE!" inserted for shock value. We get it. You're edgy.
 
OT What do you like/dislike about the Chicago comedy scene?
RG Like: Some of the people I've met.  Dislike:  Some of the people I've met.
EM I have to agree with Rasa.

OT Every single Chicago performer I’ve fallen for has left for Los Angeles. Are you going to abandon me too?
EM Sooner or later, but for now, I'll keep building here. 
OT That was cold, man.Tips for wannabe comedians? 
RG If this is really your passion, pursue it, but don't let other comics’ insecurities affect your confidence level.
EM Agreed. The first time I did ChUC (chicago underground comedy) a comic came up to me right before my set and said "You? How did YOU get this show?" I had a great set and then later became a cast member. You really just have to stick to what you're doing. It gets hard not to get sidetracked, but stick to it!

PINK RHINO OSTEOPOROSIS. I mean...go see their show at Shambles Bar. Last Friday of every month. 8 p.m.

A writer with an MFA in Creative Writing from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Sarah Terez Rosenblum freelances for a number of web sites and print publications. Her debut novel, “Herself When She’s Missing," (Soft Skull press) is available for pre-order here. She is also a figure model, Spinning instructor and teacher at Chicago’s StoryStudio. Inevitably one day she will find herself lecturing naked on a spinning bike. She's kind of looking forward to it actually.
IMPORTANT: the official Our Town site doesn't support comments. Join in the conversation by following facebook.com/OurTownBlog.ChicagoSunTimes and Sarah on Twitter: @SarahTerez and Facebook.

Anne Elizabeth Moore wants to you to see Cambodia through her eyes, or at least through her camera’s lens. A Fulbright scholar, UN Press Fellow and award winning author, Moore has “spent much of the last five years in and thinking about Cambodia.” Now she’s ready to tell an image-driven story that celebrates a country rife with contradictions.

OT Your book is called Hip Hop Apsara: Ghosts Past and Present. Can you talk a little bout the title?
AEM Well, Hip Hop Apsara was what I'd always called these public dances down on the riverside, because they really do combine blasting hip hop music (and other kinds, too) with intricate Apsara dance moves. The dance scenes I photographed—it's sort of becoming standard now, for films shot in or about Cambodia in any way, to show these big dance parties. They're very tourist-friendly, and they do make for some amazing images. But it is an extremely odd mix of very traditional Khmer ballet with a deliberately janky, clunky, hip-hop sound and fashion aesthetic, especially when, earlier in the evening, you see it's mostly survivors of mass killing and genocide out busting a move. The subtitle, Ghosts Past and Present, is equally important. Between 1.7 and 2.2 million people were killed in Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge, and before that American bombings killed hundreds of thousands of people and livestock, which some estimate eventually killed about as many as under the brutal regime. Then after that, there were 20 years of civil war and poverty. A lot of people died. Its important to remember why and how, even if you're getting over the loss.

OT How does one unite words and images? Were the photos and essay done independently? Did you write essays to compliment chosen photos? Did you snap pictures that related to already written pieces?
AEM After five years of traveling in Southeast Asia, I had all these images, experimental things I would do with my camera when we were out at these big aerobics gatherings—the young women I was living with, and who are still my friends, who took me there—they were not terribly impressed by my dancing ability. So I photographed. Almost every night I could, actually: I loved being out in public that way with Cambodians enjoying themselves, taking up space, being loud. I did end up with several thousands images, though. Once the images were edited down, I sat down and was like, OK, my publisher says I have to write something. I'd wanted to create an interesting and complex enough narrative from the images alone, but she kept saying, I think a little bit of explication would be nice. So when I sat down to write, I didn't let myself get caught up in, is this factual? Will I be able to get permission to quote this? Am I saying it in a way that will damage the people I know there?—These are all the dangers of journalism in Cambodia: that the people you write about will be prosecuted for saying the things you have written down. It's pretty nerve-wracking. A journalist, covering the illegal logging trade, was just discovered dead last week; another one was shot a few weeks before that. So loosening the stories from this journalistic directive and letting them stand as solitary narratives that maybe aren't hinged in traceable location—it let me tell a different kind of story. A deeper story, and one that's maybe more true than anything else I've been able to write about Cambodia before. But it's not journalism.

OT Cambodia seems in flux at this point. What have your experiences been like relative to the rapidly changing culture?
AEM That's actually the subject of my next book, which is a follow-up to Cambodian Grrrl: Self-Publishing in Phnom Penh—which just won a SATW Foundation Lowell Thomas Award for Travel Journalism! It's called New Girl Law, and it looks at the impact of neoliberalism and globalization—like the kind Nick Kristof espouses in Half the Sky—on the women I've worked with over the last five years. Although it's great that fewer people are in poverty, women are still paid about half of living wage to work in the garment factories there—70% of which export clothing to the US. Even if we pay attention to someone like Kristof and focus on education, we see loss: young people's traditional values are being replaced with a very Western set of desires, which directly benefits global media and disadvantages folks there who might have something to say. And that's really just the good side, still: Press freedom doesn't exist, corruption is still out of control, domestic violence common. This White Savior Industrial Complex business is, in even the medium run, going to be very, very damaging—I mean, I've already seen it. If we can foster critical thinking and support communities of resistance there—local folks, like the Messenger Band that show up toward the end of Hip Hop Apsara—who have a good idea of how to make international support useful—at least we can mitigate some of the negative effects of globalization.

All Photos by Patty Michels

I first found out about cake artist Michele McAtee through a friend, appropriate, because that’s also how McAtee began her business: word of mouth from friend to enthusiastic friend. As the owner of Maddiebird Bakery, McAtee works out of Metropolis Coffee Company, designing cakes and cupcakes for all manner of occasion. Not only did she speak with Our Town about her company’s origin and possible future, but she also gave me four cupcakes. I will never be the same.

Our Town Actor to baker--logical trajectory?
Michele McAtee Well, no. But what both careers did and do for me was to provide me with an artistic outlet. I wanted to be a visual artist when I was a little girl, but right around high school, around that time when I really started to grapple with tough emotional growing-up stuff--identity stuff--I was drawn into the theatre world. I loved pretending to be someone else. It was a great escape. It was never a question that I would major in Theatre and after graduating from Northwestern, go into theatre as a profession. For fifteen years after graduation, I was fortunate [to] work professionally here in Chicago and regionally. However, my priorities and perspective changed steadily and significantly, and by the time I became pregnant with my daughter, I pretty much knew I was done. I finally decided after all the years of trying to pursue roles and portray characters and tell stories written, directed, and cast by other people for other people, I wanted to tell my own story and just be myself, whoever that was. It was during that first year of new motherhood that I went through this total identity crisis and eventually reconnected to the visual artist inside.

OT What makes baking a creative outlet?
MM I find baking very scientific, and mathematical. It's basically chemistry--tasty chemistry. The designing and decorating is where my creativity thrives. I remember when I first started seriously doing this I told my husband, “I just don’t really feel like a baker, though, you know?” And he said, “You’re not a baker. You’re a “cake artist.” You bake your canvases. And they just happen to taste real good.”

OT The first cake you baked was for your daughter. Can you talk about that experience?
MM As Maddie's first birthday approached in May of 2010, I decided I was going to make Maddie’s cake myself. I’d never decorated a cake in my life. I didn't even own a mixer; I borrowed my friend’s KitchenAid by dragging it in a big red wagon down the block to my house. I started looking online for recipes, and then decorating ideas, and that’s how I discovered what fondant was, where to get it, and how to work with it. It became a real project, and I loved it. The best part was that it really ended up being as lovely, adorable and spirited as Maddie herself. And it tasted pretty good, too. Our friends who were at the party were impressed, if not totally perplexed, that I’d made the cake myself, and started asking me to do their cakes. Word got around and soon enough, total strangers were contacting me, asking if I could do a cake for them. I was just as surprised as anyone else that I had any kind of talent or skill at baking or decorating cakes.  

OT So you learned on the fly. What was that like for you?
MM When I started making cakes for friends, they’d tell me what they wanted, and I just said “yes.” Then, I’d totally freak out because I had no idea how I was going to pull it off! Eventually, after some experimentation, I’d figure it out and make it happen for them. There’s a small sense of pride I feel in that learning process, but I wish I’d had a mentor or been someone’s apprentice because it would have saved me a lot of anxiety, grief and self-doubt. The only baker in my family was my grandmother Virginia, for whom Madeline is named. I never got to know Virginia, she died when I was six months old. I like to think that whatever talent I have for baking is a gift from her.

Ever wonder if Bill Pullman’s romantic comedy career has taken a toll on the actor? Does he resent Tom Hanks? Get tired of losing the girl? Playwright Brian Work did so he created Once Upon a Rom Com: A Bill Pullman Story. But one fictionalized famous guy wasn’t enough for work. Says director Neal Fischer, “with the backdrop of a fairy tale, [Work] needed a good Fairy Godmother, or in this case, Godfather. He decided to pick one of his favorite actors, and someone who he knew would be a terrific and neurotic narrator. That man is of course Jeff Goldblum.” Fischer immediately warmed to Work’s script and he thinks audiences will too.

Our Town The show seems to both gently mock rom coms yet fit within the genre. How does that work?
Neal Fischer When I approached the script, I had one thing on my mind: Story. Whether it's film, TV, stage, poetry, books-- the most important element is always the story. You can have all the effects, bells and whistles, big name actors, but with no story it won't work. At the center of this play is a love story [about] a guy down on his luck, who is misunderstood and always pushed aside. I think most guys have felt that at one point or another and I knew that's what I wanted to build from. So as far as mocking rom coms, but fitting in, it was a delicate balance I was always cautious of. There are some pretty slapstick moments, and funny one-liners, but there are also some very sweet moments. Some of that was in the script, but with my direction I wanted to capitalize on the chemistry between Bill Pullman (Philip Platakis) and Karen (Madalyn Mattsey). I needed to make sure that their arc was strong enough to stand on its own. If their relationship wasn't believable, even with all the crazy antics, then no one would buy the show or the story.

OT Any qualms about working with a fictionalization of an actual person?
NF When I read the title for the first time I was excited but cautious. I'm a big movie buff, and film is my passion. I knew before reading it that I couldn't sign on to direct it if just made fun of the actors. Luckily Brian had that figured out, and I directed it in a way where I hope Bill and Jeff would be proud and flattered. I think in any situation like this your first thought is, "Will Bill Pullman be mad at me?" "If Jeff Goldblum sees this, will he punch me, or Brian?" After that initial thought, I completely forgot about it. Brian's script doesn't make fun of Bill Pullman, or Jeff Goldblum, but really celebrates them and the characters they played.

OT As a director, did you encourage your actors to emulate the real people they represent? How did you guard against caricature? 
NF That's a great question. I was very conscious of that; in the audition posting for Bill and Jeff, I put "mannerisms and vocal impression welcomed but not mandatory." I didn't want this to be an hour long impression show, with some dialogue in between. I had a lengthy conversation with Phil when he asked if he should study Pullman and get him down exactly. I told him that above all else, people need to relate to him, to feel for him, and that must come first for the story. So Phil did his research, and we worked on a few minor character traits that Pullman possesses and Phil got them down to a point where if you know Pullman, you get it right away. If not, Phil is just a very real guy.
Jeremy Eden on the other hand. Wow. He has Jeff Goldblum down. With Phil as the straight man, I basically let Jeremy loose with his Goldblum.

What if men wore makeup and earned less than women? What if they clicked around in heels and were afraid to walk alone at night? Chicago writer/performer Vincent Truman asks these questions in his new play Venus Envy. He spoke with Our Town about directing, feminism and “Glen Steinem.”

Our Town Stereotypically, one might expect a play like Venus Envy to have been written by a woman. Thoughts?
Vincent Truman I think that's a marvelous idea.  I wish one would have.  

OT What was your original inspiration for the play?
VT The year 1920.  That was the year that women, after a 40+ year struggle, finally got the right to vote.  Although this was pretty common knowledge amongst my peers when I grew up, I have been appalled to discover that the majority of my younger female friends had no idea of this date or the importance of it.  Perhaps it is because there are not enough monuments for women's history - there are few Martin Luther King Drives or Stonewalls for women - but I do not see the ignorance (not stupidity) of their own history to be a primary cause for the erosion of women's rights, especially recently.  That bothered me intensely.  I knew I could not write a play about women's history, but I could do a "flip," make it a woman's world in which women deride men for not knowing their history.  That way, I could get the point across without being too aggressive or preachy.
 
OT The concept you're working with is one seen before--in 1986 Gloria Steinem wrote an essay imagining the sort of world you’ve set up--how do you move beyond a clever idea to create the depth needed to fuel a full show?
VT Indeed!  And before that, Norman Lear concepted a short-lived show called 'All That Glitters' which had the same conceit.  What I did with Venus Envy was gave lip service to the surface issues - men wear make-up in the play while the women do not - and did a great deal of research into how society and civilization evolved thousands of years ago.  Prior to the emergence of the three major monotheisms that are so prevalent, many theologies were based on and around woman.  The three monotheisms have, for millennia, made a concentrated effort to keep women in their place (making them, literally, chattel, along with cows, pigs, homes and other things owned by men).  For Venus, I stripped those out of history altogether (replacing them with a female version of Christianity), which affected the majority of the writing, attitudes and performance.  The hunter/gatherers in Venus are errand boys, not claimants of power.

On that score, there was much discussion about the word 'empowered.'  Most of the female actors responded favorably to the concept when we first started discussing the piece.  I then asked them, 'what would the world be like if you weren't empowered at all... but you simply had the power to begin with?'  There were so many eye-opening moments in the rehearsal process for everyone, but that was a big one.  Everyone's performance changed.

Incidentally, Gloria Steinem is namechecked in the play, but is remarked on as 'Glen Steinem.'  There are so many references that have been flipped - the three main characters meet at a restaurant on Coretta Scott Boulevard, there's discussion of how many children President Rodham has - that I don't think I can count them all.

September's Hot Writer: Brendan Detzner

My genre: Kind of all over the place- I tend to submit stories to horror magazines and get told they're not horror enough. The novel I'm working on is set in a maximum security prison for teenage girls and is only a little speculative, while the novel I'm shopping around is a dark fantasy "Young John Constantine adventures" type deal.
 
My literary influences: Also kind of all over the place, and very dependent on what I'm working on. For the novel I'm working on right now, Andrew Vachss, Richard Price, George Pelecanos, Edward Limonov. For short stories, I always end up circling back around to Kafka, and as far as contemporaries are concerned I look up to Neil Gaiman and Caitlin R. Kiernan quite a bit.

My favorite literary quote: "Writing is like sex. It's only fun for the amateurs." --Hunter S. Thompson

My favorite book of all time: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
I’m currently reading: The Magician King by Lev Grossman

My guilty pleasure book: Not that guilty, but any Order of the Stick collection.

I can’t write without: A variety of low-key distractions.

Worst line I ever wrote: "Someone had to be the bitch." Not that it's that bad, but it was meant to be a lot less dirty in context, only to be made about ten times more dirty sounding by the very British actress who did the audio production of the story. Totally worth it, even if it wasn't the plan.

Brief Bio: Brendan Detzner is a Chicago horror-and-other-stuff writer whose work has been featured in Chizine, Pseudopod, Edge of Propinquity, Ruthless Peoples, Gothic.net, and the Twilight Tales anthology "Book of Dead Things". He has been a featured reader at Reading Under the Influence and Twilight Tales, and was a part of the late lamented Cult Fiction quarterly performance series. You can read and listen to his work at brendandetzner.com, where you can also purchase his short story collection "Scarce Resources" (a fantastic way to fill a stocking if you're so inclined). He also runs Bad Grammar Theater, a reading series that takes place every second Friday of the month. New stories start every hour and half hour, come in any time you want!

A writer with an MFA in Creative Writing from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Sarah Terez Rosenblum freelances for a number of web sites and print publications. Her debut novel, “Herself When She’s Missing," (Soft Skull press) is available for pre-order here. She is also a figure model, Spinning instructor and teacher at Chicago’s StoryStudio. Inevitably one day she will find herself lecturing naked on a spinning bike. She's kind of looking forward to it actually.
IMPORTANT: the official Our Town site doesn't support comments. Join in the conversation by following facebook.com/OurTownBlog.ChicagoSunTimes and Sarah on Twitter: @SarahTerez and Facebook.

Last year writer/performer Kate Healy was a Chicago Fringe Fest newbie but this year she’s back with a rave from Time Out Chicago under her belt and Lie Light, a new show which uses literal bindings to illuminate the repercussions of small, daily lies. Healy spoke with Our Town about the purpose of lying and the ethics of using real people as inspiration.

Our Town Is lying necessary?
Kate Healy It is if you want to be liked by all, never get in trouble, and never change. We say we like the truth but we tell and accept lies because we don’t want to own our mistakes and deficiencies. In some cases our pride is more important than someone else’s feelings, in some cases hiding evil is more important than watching innocence suffer, in some cases pumping someone full of faith is necessary to get the opportunity you’re after. But that choice, because it is a choice, alters you permanently.

OT What inspired your new show?
KH At the end of a relationship, I was feeling particularly vulnerable and started protecting myself with little lies. They felt harmless, but I was anxiety-ridden and impossible to get to know. My play is not autobiographical, but it comes from the feeling I had of wanting to appear in control.

OT As a writer what are your responsibilities when you write about other people?
KH I think they have a right to know. If you write about others it's not fully your story. I think it’s important to know why you’re writing, why you’re compelled to record and share the selected events and people. Lately it seems I only learn from true stories.
 
OT What are the ethics of using another person's experience in your art?
KH There is no need for apology. I don’t know if a true artist ever apologizes [but] you have to be brave enough to state the source, approach the source, and honor the source. It is humbling to admit that you learned from others, that who you are is a constant work of progress with contributions from anyone you’ve ever met or read or listened to. I believe it says something beautiful about art, that one might live and work in the voices of others to eventually arrive at what they want to express and find their own form of communication.

OT Your show uses actual bindings to represent lies. Employing a visual metaphor, how do you avoid being heavy handed, yet also get your point across?
KH I wanted to show in a physical and material way, how we guard our feelings. The visual of a rope being attached to each character gives the audience a complicated agency. It allows them to discern a character’s strength, see the insecurities that the lies are coming from, and watch how that spirals out of control or gets reeled back. It will be clear who is lying, but very difficult to decide who is right, who is good, and if the truth should even come out. The world of this play is set up by a narrator who is experimenting. I play Gracie, and she builds this thought-machine that allows her to see when she is being lied to, but as soon as hears truths about herself the world starts to break down. To me it is a symbol that if you’ve been lied to, the bigger problem is that you can’t believe again.  

'Lie Light' shows at the Chicago Art Department Shows are August 31 at 8:30 p.m., September 1 at 7 p.m., September 7 at 10 p.m., September 8 at 5:30 p.m. and September 9 at
2:30 p.m.

A writer with an MFA in Creative Writing from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Sarah Terez Rosenblum freelances for a number of web sites and print publications. Her debut novel, “Herself When She’s Missing," (Soft Skull press) is available for pre-order here. She is also a figure model, Spinning instructor and teacher at Chicago’s StoryStudio. Inevitably one day she will find herself lecturing naked on a spinning bike. She's kind of looking forward to it actually.
IMPORTANT: the official Our Town site doesn't support comments. Join in the conversation by following facebook.com/OurTownBlog.ChicagoSunTimes and Sarah on Twitter: @SarahTerez and Facebook.

Want to know what your therapist is really thinking? Yeah, me neither. Writer/performer and yep, therapist Jude Treder-Wolff is here to tell you though. Her one woman show Crazytown: My First Psychopath hits the Chicago Fringe Fest this week. A comic take on an over-eager therapist's wake up call, Crazytown evolved over years of solo performance work. Treder-Wolff spoke with Our Town about the relationship between art and therapy and how to nurture a heckler.

Our Town How do performance, therapy and writing relate?
Jude Treder-Wolff From my perspective, an effective performance, therapeutic process or piece of writing deals with some kind of transformation. A person who begins in one circumstance or state of mind, faces obstacles, tries various ways to overcome the obstacles and is changed by the process. It may not be the change one envisioned or even wanted at the start of the process, but that is often because in facing down the obstacles we discover things – inner strengths, hidden connections between events or people, secrets or truths that redefine the problem - that could not be discovered without those obstacles. The role of performer and therapist are linked in the sense that an effective performance takes an audience through some kind of emotional experience, but entirely different in every other way. As a psychotherapist, my opinions, feelings, and concerns have to be put to the side so I can give my full attention and connect as deeply as possible to the person or group in front of me. The role is about good listening, good timing and creative guidance to help a person discover their own strength, creative capacities and path out of the problems they face. The performer role is me with my big opinions and big mouth out in front of people sharing what I really think about things. Being a performer made me a more effective therapist because I had this outlet to express ideas and work through my own perfectionism, fear of being judged, negativity, desire for control and disappointments which continue to flare up all the time in the process of creating or writing anything. Working through those issues has the side effect of expanding awareness about other people and their stories, which translates into being a more effective therapist.

OT Molding real life events into a story with a compelling narrative arc can be tough. How did you go about deciding what was interesting to you vs what might interest an audience?
JTW This is a great question. Just because something interesting or dramatic happened in real life does not make it viable as an entertaining story onstage. Because I started writing monologues exploring an idea or a theme and I often use vignettes or experiences from my own life when doing training or shows on these themes, I have lots of opportunity to see how a story lands on an audience. For example, I run a Smoking Cessation Program for a very large company on Long Island, and most of the participants are pretty cranky about having to be in the program. If I can get a laugh from a group in an 8 a.m. workplace smoking cessation group or staff meeting, I know I can get that laugh from an audience in a theater. So I have a great deal of real-time opportunities to try out and sharpen the stories of real experiences from my own life that make the point I want to make. The evolution of Crazytown has been almost an 18-month process of improvisation. Every performance was different, because I was trying out different ways to tell the overall story. The audience response is immediate and shows me clearly what works, what should be changed, and what needs to be cut.

OT I’m curious about what sort of moral quandaries might have resulted from using real-life clients to create entertainment.
JTW I’ll clarify right away that although until about two years ago I was seeing psychotherapy clients, I never used any of their stories in my shows. While the material and the characters created for my shows are rooted in real-life dilemmas common to many people who show up for psychotherapy, they are about my failures, flaws, and flops. It would be a terrible violation of the therapist/client relationship – not to mention of their ethically-enforced right to confidentiality - to use what I heard in sessions onstage. That said, in Crazytown I am telling a story about my struggle, my fear and my obstacles through a real event with a real person in a real place. Details of everyone involved are completely disguised.