Oracle Productions Announces 2009-2010 Season; New Staff, Team And More

Chicago will see a different Oracle this season. The staff has changed, the ensemble has workshopped, the marketing team has re-branded, and Oracle is proud to announce its 2009-2010 program of physically compelling and conceptually innovative productions. Opening on October 10 with the most progressively haunting installment of DISTURBED yet, Oracle's new theatrical vision will delight audiences personally and intellectually all season long as it presents THE CASTLE by Howard Barker, January 23-March 6, and Strindberg's THE GHOST SONATA, May 8-June 19. One thing is certain: Chicago will see theatre reborn in a Lakeview store front.

So many aspects changed, in fact, that the Board of Directors will host an Open House Party to introduce patrons and members of the press to the unique brand of live performance being developed by the imaginative ensemble. Evening activities will include a special preview of coming attractions through video pieces and live performance. Invitations will arrive prior to the event, slated for early October.

The critically popular DISTURBED series officially opens Oracle's season on October 10, just in time for Halloween. Originally conceived in 2006 as an 'inverted haunted house', this 15-minute performance piece is devised each year to create "crap-your-pants scary" theatre performed continually throughout a performance night. As many as 375 thrill-seeking patrons move through the normally 40-seat black-box in a single evening. This year, Artistic Director Ben Fuchsen and company member Max Truax create a horrifying spectacle transposed from the beginning cantos of Dante's Inferno. Grotesque, trancelike performance and shocking special effects lead audiences through a nightmare world on a journey to The Edge of hell. DISTURBED is going further than it's ever been. Previews October 9, Opens October 10, running through November 1. 15-minute shows run every half-hour beginning at 8 p.m. More detailed performance schedule to follow. Tickets $10 suggested donations at oracletheatre.org.

Following this exciting opening, Mr. Fuchsen and company member Justin Warren team up to present Howard Barker's THE CASTLE on January 23. Upon returning from the Crusades (one of them, anyway), a pious Knight, his ribald Squire, and a cunning Captured Servant behold lush, natural overgrowth where once there was an industrious kingdom. Is this what happens when the women are left in charge? Absurd carnage ensues as the Knight restores order by building walls. Barker's 1985 play is a catastrophic, repulsive, and hysterical examination of the orthodox institution's reaction to social progress. It also contains more nauseating tripe than Monty Python crammed in a clown-car. Come watch Oracle build a castle 13 walls thick. Previews January 22, Opens January 23, running through March 6. Performances every Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday at 7 p.m. $20 suggested donation. Visit oracletheatre.org for more information.

As a finale, Mr. Truax follows up his Oracle debut - 2008's stunning conceptual TERMEN VOX MACHINA - with an elegant, haunting interpretation of Strindberg's classic chamber play THE GHOST SONATA opening May 15. This mesmerizing and complex narrative portrays a world where two families are imprisoned in their legacy of greed, duplicity and manipulation. Truax's vision highlights the play's depiction of the destructive force of truth. There are things in life much more frightening than death. Previews May 7, Opens May 8, running through June 19. Performances every Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday at 7 p.m. $20 suggested donation. Visit oracletheatre.org for more information.

This exciting season can only be described as a rebirth for Oracle. Jacques Lecoq said, "Interpretation is an extension of the act of creation." After reinterpreting their creative process, Oracle conceptualizes the theatre-going experience to insistently involve audiences on a personal and intellectual level that is both inviting and enlightening. Helmed by the artistic direction of Ben Fuchsen, developed with a group of ambitious and visionary company members, and represented through the graphic artistry of company member Angela Glyda and co-designer Lisa Liebelt, every aspect of the Oracle experience is newly invigorated. At Oracle, theatre is reborn.

Season Subscriptions are available for $35 donation at oracletheatre.org. Regular tickets are $20 donation, $10 for DISTURBED. Oracle will also launch a community service initiative to both open its doors to Chicago artists, as well as extend the Oracle experience into the community. More information will be presented at the Open House Party scheduled for early October. 

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