Helping people understand why teaching matters lies at the heart of Charles Vanover’s latest play.
Vanover is an Education Professor at USF St. Petersburg who has written plays performed nationwide and in Canada. In “Chicago Butoh,” he evokes his own experience as well as the joys and sorrows of a teacher’s first year in Chicago Public Schools. Vanover worked for eight years as a teacher librarian in high poverty, Title I schools in Chicago, and every word in the performance comes from interviews he conducted with a first-year teacher.
Inquiry Theatre and the Studio @ 620 are presenting “Chicago Butoh” during two showings on October 29th at 6 p.m. and October 30th at 7 p.m. His play, through the acting of Lisa Powers Tricome, conveys powerful classroom lessons and relationships as well as moments of failures. Another actress, Jai Shanae, draws on Chicago Hip Hop and Japanese Butoh movement styles to evoke the lives of students spoken in the narrative.
“The music and the actors’ performances communicate the excitement and challenges of the classroom,” said Vanover.
The performance offers audience members opportunities for dialogue and discussion with the actors. The audience will be encouraged to ask questions about the events on stage and to discuss race, poverty and other issues the play raises in small groups and all together at the end of the show.
“Questions can matter more than answers and dialogue is the best form of learning,” Vanover said. “We hope people will come to the show and engage with important social justice issues.”
After the first performance, USFSP Education Professor AnnMarie Gunn and Community Liaison Harris Ambush will discuss the play in the context of their research on teaching in urban schools. After the second performance, Diane Baily Morton, Executive Director of the Warehouse Arts District Association, and Studio @ 620 artistic director Bob Devin Jones will highlight artistic issues connected to the performance.
The play is directed by Devin Jones, with original music by Adrian Anguiano and set design from Coralette Damme. The show will be presented at Studio @ 620, as part of their social justice series.
“Chicago Butho in my view is the most delicious kind of theatre. It gives voice to the seemingly voiceless, from narratives of real people,” said Devin Jones.
“Chicago Butoh” is supported by a USF Research & Innovation Creative Scholarship Grant. Admission is pay-what-you-can.
To learn more, visit: http://www.thestudioat620.org/events/chicago-butoh-1