Baal

Critic’s Choice, Albert Williams, Chicago Reader 5/26/10 – “Bertolt Brecht’s first full-length play is the raw, sprawling chronicle of a womanizing, binge-drinking young poet whose fame derives as much from his wanton lifestyle as from his art. Written in 1918, when Brecht was a 20-year-old university student, Baal explores the primal link between creation and destruction embodied in the title character, named for a pagan god. With the help of a first-rate cast, Keith Parham’s expressionistic lighting, and Josh Schmidt’s fine folk-rock settings ofBrecht poems, TUTA Theatre artistic director Zeljko Djukic creates a vivid, dreamlike work of stage poetry”

Highly Recommended – Kris Vire, TimeOut Chicago 5/27-6/2/10 – “Brecht’s first is undoubtedly problematic. The dramatist reportedly wrote the first draft of Baal, his response to German Expressionism, as a 20-year-old student but kept returning to it throughout his career, never satisfied; it’s remained relatively obscure. Yet TUTA’s is the second Chicago production of Baal this season. As I sat transfixed by director Djukic’s stunning interpretation of the text, I wondered if I’d be as impressed if this were my first exposure. If I hadn’t carefully read the script after seeing EP Theater’s inscrutable production last September, would I be able to follow this one?

Djukic’s mesmerizing production, however, succeeds in every needed way at tying together Brecht’s stilted narrative about a self-destructive, nihilistic, hedonistic poet on a rampage of emotional abuse. From its use of Peter Tegel’s poetic translation, to Brandon Wardell’s gorgeously dilapidated set and Keith Parham’s precise lighting, to the interpolation of new Weill-worthy cabaret settings by composer Josh Schmidt (Adding Machine, A Minister’s Wife) accompanied by a multitalented cast, Djukic’s choices unify and elevate the material. Perhaps most vital is Ian Westerfer’s presence in the title role. Westerfer conveys the electromagnetic charisma that has men and women drawn to him to their peril”

Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune 5/24/10  – The very early plays of a very young Bertolt Brecht have proved to be quite a tonic for TUTA. Lovers of the Eurocentric avant-garde found artistic director Zeljko Djukic and his ensemble-driven Chicago company years ago, but these embryonic Brechts seem to have awakened something more intense inside this hitherto over-earnest company — like lusty humor, an earthy sexuality and some primal song.

So it went with TUTA’s excellent winter production of “The Wedding,” the 1919 depiction of the nuptials from hell penned by Brecht before he became Mr. Alienation. And so it surely goes with “Baal,” a sexually charged Brecht play from 1918 that introduces us to the maverick titular poet, an artsy outsider who uses and throws away his enthusiastic lovers with spectacular abandon.

You may or may not care to see a play wherein an attractive but wholly amoral young man abuses those he holds in his sexual (and sexist) thrall. And there are certainly those who might object to this lingerie-heavy show from a gender-politics point of view. (One recent New York production tried to get around this conundrum by casting an actress as Baal.) But unlike, say, “Nine,” which follows a similarly desirable but questionable hero, “Baal” is not about a jerk turning the romance on and off. It’s an intensely evocative show — carrying you in its sleazy arms from the outer lobby of the Chopin Theatre basement into its creative subterranean crucible. You find yourself pondering how Baal may have been a prototypical version of the edgy rock star, hopelessly drunk on the marketability of his own mind and body. Although Brecht found his first play politically naive in his later years, he may well have been more prescient as to the global cultural trajectory than he first realized.

Djukic has a variety of beautiful young woman oscillating around the play’s hero, including actresses Lindsey Gavel, Stacie Beth Green and Rachel Rizzuto. And in Ian Westerfer, he has a Baal who can pull off the excessive rock star routine rather well. Westerfer’s magnet for sexual favors reminded me of those guys I knew at the end of high school; kids who’d break hearts only to be rewarded by a bevy of readily available whole ones, craving further predictable destruction.

Not only does this show send one spiraling off in that direction, it contains a superb original score by Joshua Schmidt. Schmidt, who composed “Adding Machine: A Musical,” is one of those remarkable artists who is quite happy unleashing world-class work from a Wicker Park basement. Schmidt’s little clutch of songs are wholly in the right guttural gestalt, and several of these melodies are now rooted in my skull. Especially the stirring music that bookends the show.

“Baal” is still a rather confounding piece that certainly resists any linear trajectory, and it will wear out its welcome for some. An intermission would have been a good idea. But with the helps of designer Brandon Wardell’s hemmed-in, daylight-free world and Peter Tegel’s clear translation, this feels to me like a strikingly powerful vista of so much that was to come and wreak such havoc on our bodies and souls”.

From the Director – Brecht’s first full-length play follows the turbulent and exhilarating life of Baal, a revered poet, musician, and lover, as he rises to fame and power.  As his stardom and freedom eventually fall, Baal is faced with the universal question, “Is it better to stick to one’s beliefs or sell out?” 

TUTA presents the World premiere of a new adaptation loosely based on Brecht’s Baal, directed by Zeljko Djukic, with music by Josh Schmidt (Adding Machine – A Musical) and libretto/book by Ugljesa Sajtinac (author of the critically acclaimed play Huddersfield). Featuring a new original score performed live by the cast, Baal focuses on the rhythm, harmony, and sounds of the words.  Developed through company workshops, this collaboration is full of surprises that explore the topical subject of the arts and its legends in times of economic crisis.

Tix $25/20 (except May 21st’s gala performance with reception $40)