500 CLOWN ELEPHANT DEAL Plays At The Steppenwolf 6/20 Thru 7/11

500 Clown presents 500 CLOWN AND THE ELEPHANT DEAL, a Visiting Company Initiative by 500 Clown and John Fournier, directed by Leslie Buxbaum Danzig, June 20 through July 11.

Don't miss this Chicago premiere of an original Music-Theater production (for adults) co-created with composer/lyricist John Fournier and featuring 500 Clown's signature style of clown-theater: high-energy playfulness, rough-style acrobatics, humor, tragedy, intellect, and courage.

A rocking three-piece band, an alluring Mistress of Ceremonies, and a daring stage crew have everything they need for a fabulous evening of cabaret. But soon they find themselves on a collision course with a fierce runaway tale, riddled with spontaneous characters and dangerous stunts. Inspired by Bertolt Brecht's Man is Man, this subversive cabaret gone awry promises to be a thrilling evening of theater fueled by the power of imagination.

500 Clown uses action-based performance, improvisation, and circus arts to tell long-form dramatic stories that catapult the performers into extreme physical and emotional risk. Their mission is to shift the audience from passive to active observers and create a charged environment that celebrates the unpredictable power of the moment.

Over years of making shows (since 2000), 500 Clown noticed that they had stumbled into Brechtian theatrical territory. Their clown-theater form had a popular and thought-provoking fluidity between the real world of the theater (occupied by audience members and actors) and the fictional world on stage. This made them curious to stage a Brecht play.

500 Clown chose Man is Man to be their launch pad and inspiration, though the group quickly departed from the play and instead created an original production for Steppenwolf's Visiting Company Initiative.

LIFE IS WORTH THE RISK.
www.500clown.com
Begins June 20, 2009
In the Steppenwolf Upstairs Theatre

Photo: Adrian Danzig

Photo Credit: Mark Campbell