Act 3, 2011: Let's get serious.

Kimberly Van Ness and Elizabeth Finley as sisters in Returning from Madness.

Act 3: 2011

Winter. Wishbone kicked off 2011 by producing a world premiere of collective member Laurie Jones’ first full-length play Returning from Madness - a retelling of Alice in Wonderland which explores the relationship of two sisters through the lens of schizophrenia. Following Grace through the looking glass, Alice goes on a journey to find her and understand the world she now inhabits. The play ran at the Athenaeum Theatre and featured Kimberly Van Ness, Elizabeth Finley, Paul Vonasek, Natalie DiCristofano, Aaron Weiner, Tim Lane, Erin Lovelace and many amazing supporting actors. The highlight of this show was performing for an audience with schizophrenia who, in addition to opening the show with an original piece they had created, were able to tell us their own stories through a talk back session. 

Summer. Also at the Athenaeum Theatre, we produced Vigils, a quirky and beautiful play about grief by Noah Haidle. A young widow (Laurie Jones) keeps her husband’s dead soul (Brandon Little) in a box at the foot of her bed, but as she attempts to move on with a new suitor (John Mark Sawyer) she must confront the complicated feelings left behind by the abrupt ending of her marriage. This play was a long-time favorite of several Wishbone members and we were thrilled to be able to produce it. The combination of resolving deep and complex feelings to move forward was not only a good fit with the Wishbone mission, but a drama that also featured actors in their twenties was a perfect fit for where we were as a company. 

“The play mixes farce, drama, romance, and slapstick and yet keeps them all under control with even-handed direction by Katie Jones...All four actors are comic powerhouses...and Jones and Little are the standouts. Shout outs must go to John Mark Sawyer for designing an eerie set with a brilliant surprise at the end...For anyone who has loved and lost, Vigils is a powerful reminder of the pitfalls and the mercurial moments of ecstasy that love can yield.”

— Bryan Cohen, Build Creative Writing Ideas

Fall. For the 2011 Chicago Fringe Festival, Wishbone completed development of our first ensemble developed play with SPANDEX. Picking up from where we left off with the DCA Incubator series, Laurie Jones took us back into the world of superheroes, directing an ensemble of 6 actors in rounds of improvisation and conversation on topics ranging from creating superheroes we felt were missing in the modern world to how children and adults process topics like justice in different ways. What resulted was an hour-long show utilizing the classic long-form improv format, The Harold, to weave a dramatic story about justice and the death penalty with children’s superheroes coming to life. The ensemble consisted of Paul Vonasek, Zo Zosak, Mandy Sterz, Elizabeth Finley, Kim Van Ness, and Brandon Little. Katie Jones, then directed the staging of the show which was well-received at the Chi Fringe- and we were hooked! This ensemble storytelling moment, lead us to other new places (but we will tell you about that later!) 

Laurie is very happy about this photo. Paul made sure of it.