THEATRE Y LEADS CHICAGO INTO A WALKING DREAM
"The spirit of George W. Johnson lives again in Laughing Song: A Walking Dream, a participatory, promenade-style theater experience written and performed by Chicago's own multi-disciplinary artist and performance poet Marvin Tate and the artists of Theatre Y. A native of North Lawndale, Tate will channel Johnson’s dreamlike presence and his own childhood as he leads us through his home streets in search of true laughter. During a four-hour journey combining street comedy, happenings, humor rituals, poetry, dance, and--yes!--a meal, audiences will have the chance to listen to the music of laughter from the past even as they help create a Laughing Song for the future."
Performances run July 30 through August 28, 2022, Sat-Sun, 3 PM-7 PM (including dinner)
The show begins and ends at the YMEN Center at 1241 S. Pulaski, Chicago, 60623.
www.theatre-y.com -- [email protected]
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In 1890, a New York busker named George W. Johnson was “discovered” by phonograph company representatives looking for talent and became the world’s first Black recording artist. Johnson was initially known for his whistling, but his greatest hit turned out to be a novelty number called “The Laughing Song”. The lyrics were as racially ugly as the times, but the chorus was delightful—and maybe a little defiant. “And then I laughed,” Johnson sang,
“Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!
I could not help from laughing,
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha…”
Johnson rode the laughter for about 15 years, recording his song on as many as 50,000 individual wax cylinders, until the advent of technology that made it possible to press an infinite number of copies from a single master recording. Neither necessary nor as popular as he’d once been, Johnson spent some of his last years as a doorman at a theater. He died of pneumonia and was buried in an unmarked grave along with his story.
Until now.
The spirit of George W. Johnson lives again in Laughing Song: A Walking Dream, a participatory, promenade-style theater experience written and performed by multi-disciplinary artist and performance poet Marvin Tate under the aegis of Theatre Y. A native of North Lawndale, Tate will channel Johnson’s dreamlike presence and his own childhood as he leads us through his home streets in search of true laughter. During a four-hour journey combining street comedy, happenings, humor rituals, poetry, dance, and--yes!--a meal, audiences will have the chance to listen to the music of laughter from the past even as they help create a Laughing Song for the future.
Laughing Song is also a playful investigation into the nature, and even the science, of laughter itself, exploring techniques to decrease stress, improve blood flow, and change our brainwaves. Laughing Song opens the imagination to a big idea: that we can use humor as a tool for community building, enhancing our own psychological well-being, and improving our quality of life.
Directed by Melissa Lorraine, co-written by poet/artist Marvin Tate and dramaturg Evan Hill, the production team includes Serbian choreographers Dénes Döbrei and Heni Varga, experimental sound artist and composer Kimberly Sutton, set designer Henry Wilkinson—and nothing short of a dream team of performers (TBA).
This production is supported by the MacArthur International Connections Fund and Theatre Y’s Members. Performances run July 30-August 28, 2022, each Saturday and Sunday, from 3-7pm, the performance will begin and end at YMEN (1241 S. Pulaski). More Information at www.theatre-y.com -- [email protected]
BIOS
Writer and Star Performer Marvin Tate is a multidisciplinary artist and educator. He has been active in the Chicago music scene since 1993. He has collaborated with visual artist Theaster Gates Jr.; the Black Monks of Mississippi; video artist Jefferson Pinder; a motley crew of musical talents that include Leroy Bach, Angel Olsen, Bill MacKay, Tim Kinsella; jazz artists Ben LaMar Gay, Angel Bat Dawid, Mike Reed; french experimentalist The Bridge; composer Ernest Dawkins; and soundscape artist Joseph C. Mills.
Marvin's art is exhibited in many galleries and museums, including The Intuit Museum in Chicago, one of the world's premier museums dedicated to presenting self-taught “outsider” art. Tate is represented by The Hana Pietri Gallery in Chicago.
Director and Theatre Y Co-Founding Artistic Director Melissa Lorraine - Graduating from Northern Illinois University with a B.F.A. in acting, Lorraine became a company member of Studio K in Budapest, Hungary. Co-founding Theatre Y with now deceased Director Christopher Markle. Premiering the English language version of Transylvanian writer András Visky’s JULIET with over two hundred performances worldwide. Starring in Visky’s I KILLED MY MOTHER, earning a Chicago’s Best Actress Orgie Award. Lauded by The Chicago Reader for turning even an “overwritten” and “implausible script” into “probing, harrowing, hallucinogenic truth,” for her Directorial work on VINCENT RIVER. In 2013 Lorraine directed the world premiere of THE BINDING, a collaboration between Theatre Y and two acclaimed Serbian/Hungarian choreographers, which was a cover feature of the Chicago Reader. Collaborating with Georges Bigot for one year (2015-16), Lorraine developed the Theatre Y Ensemble of 12 actors, according to the traditions of the Theatre du Soleil. She now leads this ensemble to discover a common language and a new way to work, searching for a way to make theater without the “dictator”. In 2018 she began to research Movement Therapy for Trauma Rehabilitation, and works with both harmed and responsible parties at Stateville Correctional Center.
Dramaturg Evan Hill—Evan is a dramaturg, critic, educator, and writer. His work moves between academic and artistic contexts, and his current research focuses on the history and theory of experimental comedy. He is the associate editor of Yale’s Theater, an academic journal devoted to contemporary theater and performance practices, and has served as teaching fellow at Yale School of Drama and Boston University. He’s the conceiver of Theatre Y’s Camino Project, and has worked as a playwright, dramaturg, and sometimes actor for the company over the last decade. He holds an MFA in Dramaturgy and Dramatic Criticism from Yale School of Drama, where he is currently a DFA candidate.
