The Conspirators Announce The World Premiere Of COMMEDIA DIVINA: IT'S WORSE THAN THAT At Otherworld Theatre

The Conspirators present COMMEDIA DIVINA: It's Worse Than That, written by Sid Feldman and directed by Wm. Bullion, at the Otherworld Theatre, 3914 N. Clark St.

This high energy production begins with one preview Thursday, Nov. 9 and runs through Sunday, Nov. 19. Tickets are $25 and may be purchased online at otherworldtheatre.org with student and senior discounts available. The running time is 80 minutes with no intermission. 

A suburban business heiress from northern Georgia (*ahem*) is escorted through Dante's (heavily updated) Nine Circles of Hell by holy man, Fr. Virgil. Will she learn the right lessons and mend her ways? Or, more likely, will Washington never be the same? In either case, Hell awaits! The Conspirators employ their firebrand neo-Commedia performance style to bring the audience laughs, tears and gut-punches.

The cast of COMMEDIA DIVINA: It's Worse Than That includes: Eva Andrews (she/her); Travis Barnhart(he/him), Dane Brandon (he/they), Julia Hope Budd (she/her), Donaldson Cardenas (he/they), Alex George (they/them), Jailine Hernandez (she/her), Megan Lynam (she/her), Kelly Opalko (she/her), Mary Spencer (she/her), Devin Sugerik (he/him), Tess Vincent (she/her) and Christine Watt (she/her), with Trace Davidson (he/him) and Hayden Marshall (he/him) alternating on percussion.

The production crew includes: Wm. Bullion (he/him, director); Sid Feldman (he/him, author, technical director and style coach);  Elena Avila (she/they, assistant director); Madison Rivers (she/they, dramaturg); Eric Luchen (he/him, scenic consultant); Mike McShane (he/him, lighting design); Elizabeth Monti (she/her, costumes); Sebby Woldt (they/he, sound and audio visual); Libby Beyreis (she/her, violence), Matthew Bonaccorso (he/him, production manager); John Ramirez (they/them, stage manager) and Alexis Vaselopulos (she/her, assistant stage manager).

Wm. Bullion is a veteran tragicomedian, director and actor on the fringe of the Chicago theater fringe and beyond. Bullion is a recent Emeritus member of The Factory Theater, for whom he directed Prophet$ and Born Ready. He started Sliced Bread Productions in 1988 and put up some solid work before it folded in 2008. He co-founded The Conspirators in 2016 and has proudly directed their four big pieces: The Conspirators 125th Anniversary Jubilee, Feat. “The Ineptidemic”; Accidental Death of a Black Motorist; The Deckchairs, or Make the Titanic Great Again and The Resistible Rise of Herr Helmut Drumpf; but he was a fool to think starting another theater group in Chicago is a viable, sustainable idea. Yet, here we are, getting grants and making stuff for YOU.

Sid Feldman co-founded The Conspirators and has written plays, adaptations, screenplays, reviews and essays. He has produced plays, concerts and events for numerous organizations including New Crime and Sliced Bread Productions (also with Wm. Bullion).

The Conspirators are a (still relatively new) theater and performance collective in Chicago dedicated to provoking thought and action through dynamic, immediate theater art. The Conspirators work exclusively in a style of neo-Commedia called “The Style”—a highly theatrical performance mode developed by movie stars Tim Robbins and John Cusack from the techniques of Ariane Mnouchkine, Commedia dell'Arte, Bugs Bunny cartoons and punk rock, as historically performed by New Crime Prod. (R.I.P.) and The Actors' Gang. The company also offers Style workshops to interested performers of all calibers.

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