Laughing Stock Theatre Presents OVER MY DEAD BODY; OR, HOW TO DISTRIBUTE GENERATIONAL WEALTH At Athenaeum Center

A show for all ages and eras, Renaissance Italy comes to 21st Century Chicago in this modern interpretation of the classical Commedia Dell'arte titled Over My Dead Body; Or, How To Distribute Generational Wealth.

Directed by acclaimed Italian director and educator Antonio Fava (from Scuola Internazionale dell'Attore Comico -International School of the Comic Actor in Reggio Emilia, Italy), Laughing Stock Theatre's skilled Commedia actors take on family dynamics and the challenges of capitalism in their newly devised show.

Tomorrow is the wedding of Flaminia and Fulgenzio, but that can wait because today is Pantalone's birthday. His family and friends plan a surprise to celebrate, but Pantalone mistakes their actions as a plot to kill him! He decides to fake his own death and leave everything to himself... but his family and friends have other ideas. His friends, family, and even a dashing stranger squabble over the various "true" wills they produce, all while being "haunted" by the ghost of Pantalone. Hijinks ensue, but their hilarious and dramatic antics will return to the status quo in the end.

Director Fava, who traveled from Italy to direct this American show, finds something anachronistic and relatable in the modern conundrums the plot produces, saying that the show is "an original, timeless, yet concretely human comedy. In Comedy there is no struggle between Good and Evil, there is instead the struggle for survival, between people...the urgency of a problem... love, money, hunger, or fear. In short, normal people...and the aim is to make the public spend two pleasant hours. Comedy has been doing this for five centuries."

Producer Aaron Quick says "Laughing Stock is excited to bring one of the world's foremost scholars and practitioners of Commedia, our own dear friend and educator, to direct this show straddling the line between classic and modern, comic and dramatic, European and American."

Quick describes the enduring significance of Commedia dell'Arte framing in their storytelling,"Commedia dell'Arte is often taught as a stepping stone to 'serious theatre', but Laughing Stock has dedicated itself to showcasing the modernity it encompasses." They do this, says Quick, by highlighting the connection between Commedia's rise in popularity right along with modern capitalism's influence on society, demonstrating the allure and the absurdity of the enduring eco-system and archetypes remaining the same after all of these years. As a result, Quick says, "Commedia never died but keeps being relevant."

Join Laughing Stock Theatre in November for this living demonstration of a theatre form that is as hilarious as it is timeless.

Doors open 30 minutes before show with a 2 hour run time plus a 15-minute intermission.

In Chicago's Belmont Theater District, at Athenaeum Center for Thought & Culture Studio B, 2936 N. Southport Avenue, Chicago, IL. Tickets on sale through Athenaeum Theater Box Office.

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