CDE presents:
The Wasteland
&
CIRCA Pintig presents:
Daryo’s All-American Diner
Gallery and Doors Open: 7:30pm
Performance: 8pm
Bar and Concessions remain open 30 minutes before and after the show
Performance: 8pm
Bar and Concessions remain open 30 minutes before and after the show
Take our feedback survey after the performance!
The Wasteland
About this production:
Ellyzabeth Adler returns in her iconic role as the “fortune teller” and ensemble member in the production that began Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble in 2001.
T.S. Eliot’s The Wasteland, has a cast of four illuminating “the lost generation” of post-WWI European society and the human soul’s search for redemption using Ellyzabeth Adler’s unique style of danztheatre that blends together dance, theatre, music and video imagery into a visceral theatre experience. Written in a stream of consciousness, it seeks out what humans are looking for, a constant connection in life. Once we accept our future, there is an inner calming that happens to our soul.
The Chicago Tribune wrote, “Adler gently joins artistic forces, even to the point of making the exposed-brick walls of the space speak with a wizened sense of melancholy. When the shadows of the four ensemble members unobtrusively get superimposed on, say an image of a dead tree facing a treacherous sea…conveys in a tactile, aesthetically gorgeous way, the mystical power of fragmented moments weaving through our minds.”
It Began with a Poem
To me, poetry is the essence of language, and dance communicates what the heart knows. Both poetry and dance speak to our hearts and from our hearts; they can bring people together who may not speak the same language to feel, understand and experience humanity. Poetry has been my muse ever since I can remember. It should be read out loud, for the ears to hear and the heart to process.
In undergrad I discovered T.S. Eliot’s poem The Wasteland, and the theater major in me read it as a Shakespearean drama, filled with contemplation, love, and longing, ending with hope for a better world. For a graduate school project, I adapted the first section for the stage. Two years later, on April 20, 2001, four performers took to the stage to perform my adaptation of this famous poem. Every time I hear the soundtrack and the words to this poem, I am taken back to this moment, when I truly did not know that this production was the start of my career and would lead me to form what would become Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble.
As part of our 20th anniversary archival project, we transferred several VHS tapes to an external hard drive. I was excited to see the original production of The Wasteland. I will forever be grateful for the artistic collaboration of Jim Contreras, Allison Farnum, Melissa Lawson and Blake Montgomery who helped make this poem come to life!
In 2014 we included an updated version of The Wasteland as part of our first performance series at Ebenezer Lutheran Church, with original drawings and media from David Sorello, adding another layer to this beautiful poem.
Today in 2023, I’ve decided to visit this poem again. My performance work continues to evolve, and I don’t know yet what the next version might look like. New technology, current events, personal experiences—all this will make a mark on what will be onstage in May 2023. I can’t wait to share it with you.
CDE Funders:
Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble is supported by The Illinois Arts Council, a state agency; The Gaylord & Dorothy Donnelley Foundation; The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation; The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; Innovation 80; smART Growth of the Chicago Community Trust; Farny Wurlitzer Foundation; Mardi Gras Fund and the annual support of individual donors.
Ellyzabeth Adler returns in her iconic role as the “fortune teller” and ensemble member in the production that began Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble in 2001.
T.S. Eliot’s The Wasteland, has a cast of four illuminating “the lost generation” of post-WWI European society and the human soul’s search for redemption using Ellyzabeth Adler’s unique style of danztheatre that blends together dance, theatre, music and video imagery into a visceral theatre experience. Written in a stream of consciousness, it seeks out what humans are looking for, a constant connection in life. Once we accept our future, there is an inner calming that happens to our soul.
The Chicago Tribune wrote, “Adler gently joins artistic forces, even to the point of making the exposed-brick walls of the space speak with a wizened sense of melancholy. When the shadows of the four ensemble members unobtrusively get superimposed on, say an image of a dead tree facing a treacherous sea…conveys in a tactile, aesthetically gorgeous way, the mystical power of fragmented moments weaving through our minds.”
It Began with a Poem
To me, poetry is the essence of language, and dance communicates what the heart knows. Both poetry and dance speak to our hearts and from our hearts; they can bring people together who may not speak the same language to feel, understand and experience humanity. Poetry has been my muse ever since I can remember. It should be read out loud, for the ears to hear and the heart to process.
In undergrad I discovered T.S. Eliot’s poem The Wasteland, and the theater major in me read it as a Shakespearean drama, filled with contemplation, love, and longing, ending with hope for a better world. For a graduate school project, I adapted the first section for the stage. Two years later, on April 20, 2001, four performers took to the stage to perform my adaptation of this famous poem. Every time I hear the soundtrack and the words to this poem, I am taken back to this moment, when I truly did not know that this production was the start of my career and would lead me to form what would become Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble.
As part of our 20th anniversary archival project, we transferred several VHS tapes to an external hard drive. I was excited to see the original production of The Wasteland. I will forever be grateful for the artistic collaboration of Jim Contreras, Allison Farnum, Melissa Lawson and Blake Montgomery who helped make this poem come to life!
In 2014 we included an updated version of The Wasteland as part of our first performance series at Ebenezer Lutheran Church, with original drawings and media from David Sorello, adding another layer to this beautiful poem.
Today in 2023, I’ve decided to visit this poem again. My performance work continues to evolve, and I don’t know yet what the next version might look like. New technology, current events, personal experiences—all this will make a mark on what will be onstage in May 2023. I can’t wait to share it with you.
CDE Funders:
Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble is supported by The Illinois Arts Council, a state agency; The Gaylord & Dorothy Donnelley Foundation; The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation; The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; Innovation 80; smART Growth of the Chicago Community Trust; Farny Wurlitzer Foundation; Mardi Gras Fund and the annual support of individual donors.
The Wasteland Direction & Production
Adapted, Directed & Choreographed:
Ellyzabeth Adler
Lighting Design:
Sounds Design:
Photography:
Stage Management:
Ellyzabeth Adler
Lighting Design:
Sounds Design:
Photography:
Stage Management:
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Ellyzabeth Adler (CDE Founder/Executive Artistic Director)
Director, Adaptor, and Choreographer for The Wasteland Ellyzabeth Adler (she/her) is a multidisciplinary artist working in the genre of "Tanztheatre," weaving together theatre, dance, film, spoken word, and music. As founder of Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble (CDE) she has dedicated herself to forming partnerships with artists of all genres and generations to create unique, dynamic, engaging, and meaningful ensemble performances. She also teaches and mentors the next generation of performers who, in turn, serve as visiting artists and teachers in schools and community centers through CDE’s Books Alive and Poetry Alive to enhance literacy, numeracy, and arts awareness for thousands of underserved children in the Chicago area, as well as teaching traditional dance, theatre and visual art in the schools. Ellyzabeth studied dance at William Reilly Academy of Ballet and danced with the Springfield Ballet Company before earning a BFA in Performing Arts, with a minor in Broadcast Journalism at Roosevelt University. In 2000 she earned a Masters of Arts in Directing and Movement; as her thesis she developed CDE’s techniques for creating multidisciplined, kinesthetic, and socially engaging theatre. She has created and/or collaboratively adapted, directed and choreographed 10 full-length works including: T.S Eliot’s The Wasteland; Ever Your Own; Edgar; The Yellow Wallpaper; This Is Not A Pipe; Bindis and Bruises; and Touch and Mirrors - one-act plays based on the work of the Persian poet, Rumi. She has also created and choreographed over a dozen concert-length works focused on women’s issues, the female body, the human condition, and pathways to enlightenment. Among these works include HOPE based off the letters of incarcerated men, Unraveling Bill about her friend Theresa Blake who's brother Bill committed suicide after returning from Iraq. While these topic might appear heavy, there is alway a ray of hope and healing in every work that Ellyzabeth created. In 2017, she teamed up with long time colleague, Lucy Vurusic Rhiner of RE Dance to create Ethereal Abandonment based on the photography of Chicagoan Candace Casey about a group of friends who explore an abandoned theater and item they find tells a story of long ago. Ellyzabeth is also a published author with her short stories Full Moon Soulmate and Last Chapter. As a domestic abuse survivor, she has spoken at several conferences and activism events including for Between Friends, Light Up The Lakefront, Muslim Women's Association and Columbia College. Ellyzabeth has one very simple goal in life: to change in the world for the better, one person at a time. |
The Wasteland Cast:
Performed through text, physical theatre, dance & media.
Ellyzabeth Adler, Courtney Reid Harris, Joshua Hogan, and Peyton Hooks.
Ellyzabeth Adler, Courtney Reid Harris, Joshua Hogan, and Peyton Hooks.
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Ellyzabeth Adler See bio above. |
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Peyton Hooks Peyton (he/him) is thrilled to be making his debut with Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble! Previous credits include: "Ismene" (Webster Conservatory), "Deadly" (Webster Conservatory), and "Krugozor!" (Theatre Evolve). Peyton is a proud graduate of the Sargent Conservatory of Theatre Arts at Webster University. IG: @p.hooksy |
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Courtney Reid Harris Courtney Reid Harris (she/they) is delighted to work with Chicago DanzTheatre again after appearing in This is Not a Pipe last fall. After spending the last couple of years as an elementary educator, she is so jazzed to prance around a stage again! When she is not doing arts and crafts with her cat, you can see her around town doing stand up, sketch comedy, or watching films at the Music Box. Much thanks to her loving partner in crime, Kerry, and to the Chicago DanzTheatre Ensemble for this wonderful opportunity to create |
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Joshua Hogan Josh Hogan (he/him) is a recent Indiana University graduate. This is part of Josh’s Chicago debut with this production and since moving here has been on tour with Alphabet Soup Productions’ Charlotte’s Web (Homer/ Sheep). University credits include Lonely Planet (Carl), Rabbit Hole (Howe), The Goat, or who is Sylvia? (Billy), Universal Robots (Radius/ Radosh), She Kills Monsters (Orcus), Body Awareness (Jared), Playing on the Periphery (Robert), The Weir (Finbar Mack), Sueño (U/S Segismundo, Clotaldo), and The 39 Steps (U/S Male). Outside of performing Josh is an active playwright, painter, acting teacher, lighting designer, and environmental activist. Josh is a proud member of Phi Kappa Beta. |
Featuring the illustrations of David Sarallo
Daryo’s All-American Diner
Directed by Luis Pascasio, the play finds its strength through a multiracial assembly of
characters creating a montage on which to view the ongoing anti-Asian hate from a perspective
that engages cross-cultural healing and understanding.
About this production:
The pandemic brought the entire world to its knees and the challenges that it poses after a two-year wrath unravels the delicate fabric upon which our moral and cultural values find its true humanity. For its 32nd theater season, CIRCA Pintig, the Filipino American community arts organization, brings to the stage the story of the Daryo family in the fictional town of Lakeside, Illinois and how a tragic incident transforms their sense of humanity and community.
Written by Conrad A. Panganiban, Daryo’s All-American Diner is a new play about resilience seen through the lens of a Filipino family who struggles to keep a family business open at the height of the pandemic. May, the 40-year old daughter who manages the diner is torn between keeping the business afloat despite mounting expenses or sell the business altogether. As she tiptoes on navigating these choices, her mother April and her African American surrogate aunt Alberta suffer the brunt of racial hatred. May is forced to revisit her decision as family and friends redefine what binds them together as a community. The play sets the tone for how a traumatic act of violence can lead to an act of grace when Daryo family and friends find new joy in honoring the legacy of Augusto Daryo, the late father whose culinary prowess makes Daryo’s All American Diner ‘all American’.
CIRCA Pintig Funders:
This production of CIRCA Pintig is supported in part by Asian Giving Circle, Crossroads Fund, DCASE City Arts Grant, Illinois Arts Council, an agency of the National Endowment for the Arts and RESIST.
characters creating a montage on which to view the ongoing anti-Asian hate from a perspective
that engages cross-cultural healing and understanding.
About this production:
The pandemic brought the entire world to its knees and the challenges that it poses after a two-year wrath unravels the delicate fabric upon which our moral and cultural values find its true humanity. For its 32nd theater season, CIRCA Pintig, the Filipino American community arts organization, brings to the stage the story of the Daryo family in the fictional town of Lakeside, Illinois and how a tragic incident transforms their sense of humanity and community.
Written by Conrad A. Panganiban, Daryo’s All-American Diner is a new play about resilience seen through the lens of a Filipino family who struggles to keep a family business open at the height of the pandemic. May, the 40-year old daughter who manages the diner is torn between keeping the business afloat despite mounting expenses or sell the business altogether. As she tiptoes on navigating these choices, her mother April and her African American surrogate aunt Alberta suffer the brunt of racial hatred. May is forced to revisit her decision as family and friends redefine what binds them together as a community. The play sets the tone for how a traumatic act of violence can lead to an act of grace when Daryo family and friends find new joy in honoring the legacy of Augusto Daryo, the late father whose culinary prowess makes Daryo’s All American Diner ‘all American’.
CIRCA Pintig Funders:
This production of CIRCA Pintig is supported in part by Asian Giving Circle, Crossroads Fund, DCASE City Arts Grant, Illinois Arts Council, an agency of the National Endowment for the Arts and RESIST.
Daryo's All American Diner Direction & Production
Playwright:
Conrad A. Panganiban
Director:
Louie Pascasio
Music & Sound Design:
Demetrio Maguigad
Set Design:
Larry Leopoldo
Graphic Design:
RJ Silva
Conrad A. Panganiban
Director:
Louie Pascasio
Music & Sound Design:
Demetrio Maguigad
Set Design:
Larry Leopoldo
Graphic Design:
RJ Silva
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Conrad A. Panganiban
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Louie Pascasio
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Demetrio Maguigad
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Larry Leopoldo
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RJ Silva
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Daryo’s All American Diner Cast:
Heather Jencks, Ginger Leopoldo, RJ Silva, Cary Shoda, Amanda Payne, and KC Khan
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Heather Jencks
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Ginger Leopoldo
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RJ Silva
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Cary Shoda
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Amanda Payne
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KC Khan
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