Production History

Though the Right Brain Project has been working solidly as an ensemble since 2001, the company was officially incorporated in 2005 and has produced the following projects...

PRETTY PENNY
by Randall Colburn

2010 began with a bang with local playwright Randall Colburn's sexually charged story of identity and longing. PRETTY PENNY explores five individuals whose lives become intertwined, and subsequently deconstructed, through Penny - a fictitious character created by 19 year-old Victoria. Penny is Victoria's alter-ego when she picks up the telephone as a phone sex operator on a no-taboo line. What begins as an intriguing job and psychological experiment for young Victoria soon turns into a journey of self-discovery - not only for Victoria, but for Crystal, whose racy photos from the past serve as the face for Penny. Through the course of the play, the line between fantasy and reality becomes blurred, not only for Victoria and Crystal, but for the men in their lives as well, who are seeking a sense of emotional stability in the only ways they know how. PRETTY PENNY marked the first of three Colburn pieces that the RBP will be presenting in 2010, all exploring themes of identity, sexuality, and redemption. Directed by Nathan Robbel and featuring Katy Albert, Stephen Gawrit, Nick Mikula, Susan Myburgh, Josh Sumner, and Buck Zachary. Jamie Bragg served as dramaturg, and Elizabeth Bagby lent her talents as mime coach.

The actors crackle with un-self-conscious boldness... Its excellence is its matter-of-fact handling of such desperate and intimate material. Even if you guess a few twists before they come, you're unlikely to predict the pace and plainness with which they're presented, and plain is rarely so magnetic.
Benno Nelson, Time Out Chicago

It's not exploitative in any way--Colburn isn't rubbing our noses in depravity, just showing us real people in real situations. ...It's exceptionally strong, always fascinating to watch, and getting a first-rate production.  ...I highly recommend a trip to see it. But if you miss it, all is not lost--the company is doing another of Colburn's plays, Hesperia, come summer. I'll certainly be there.
- Zev Valancy, On Chicago Theatre

THE MODERN PROMETHEUS
by Brad Lawrence

The RBP presented their first Halloween show in October of 2009 at the RBP Rorschach. Brad Lawrence's THE MODERN PROMETHEUS was a variation on the FRANKENSTEIN tale that pitted science versus religion. Set during the Franco-Prussian war, Victor Frankenstein uses the corpses of soldiers to harness the secret of life. In this variation, Victor's fiance, Elizabeth, is the key to seeing the possible utopia that Frankenstein's work can usher in to a brave new world. Directed by Nathan Robbel and David Marcotte, featuring Emily Fritz, Katie Jordan, Tom McGrath, Dennis Newport, Erin Elizabeth Orr, Ned Record, Nathan Robbel, and Colby Sellers. Designed by Mark Hurni, Anthony Ingram, Amy Sokol, and Sarah Elizabeth Miller.

(The) RBP... confirms without a doubt, that they’re doing some of the most exciting, most courageous, most distinctive theater in the city.  Even greater things should be ahead... and in cocktail and dinner parties two years hence, I’m pretty sure the same self-styled culturatis will be talking about these theaters, and I can enthusiastically say I knew them when.
- Francis Sadac, From the Ledge

PUT MY FINGER IN YOUR MOUTH
by Bob Fisher

In the summer of 2009, the Right Brain Project collaborated with Bob Fisher of the Chicago Mammals to bring his adult fairy tale to life. The RBP's first late-night show, this production featured ten ensemble members who vividly brought to life a world of psychodelic drugs, club culture, and gothic punk. An incredibly unique animal, PUT MY FINGER IN YOUR MOUTH has been one of the best attended RBP productions yet. Directed by Nathan Robbel and featuring Christian Kain Blackburn, Morgan Christiansen, Stacie Hauenstein, Emily Mark, Jesse Neal, Erin Elizabeth Orr, Catherine Price, Amy Sokol, Neal Tucker, and Conor Woods. Designed by Sarah Elizabeth Miller, and choreographed by Morgan Christiansen.

As inviting yet elusive as "a slice of ghost meringue pie," the sinister Snail's delectable finger obsesses young Birdy. So, too, Bob Fisher's new work for the Right Brain Project haunts and compels without any discernible substance. Birdy's straitlaced sister Turtle struggles to save her from Snail's club-kid minions, who swirl in a tightening orbit around the girls' fragile relationship, beckoning Birdy with their goth-burlesque fashion sense and discerning taste in electropop. Nathan Robbel's direction and a strong ensemble cast embellish this mythpunk fairy tale's flat plot with a lush visual absurdity and surreality that leave the mouth watering for just one more taste.
- Keith Griffith, The Chicago Reader

AND THEY PUT HANDCUFFS ON THE FLOWERS
by Fernando Arrabal

February 2009 saw the Right Brain Project's first production in their new home, the RBP Rorschach. Arrabal's cermonial play proved to be the RBP's most acclaimed productions thus far. Four prisoners dream and hope for an age of tollerance in this unique piece of theatre. Directed by Nathan Robbel and featuring Chad Fess, Rosy Gonzalez, Stacie Hauestein, Tracy Kraatz, Dennis Newport, Erin Elizabeth Orr, Joseph Stearns, and Bries Vannon. Designed by Anthony Ingram and Sarah Elizabeth Miller, and Stage Managed by Anya Clingman.

What you might not expect are the solid performance..., the excellent space design, the highly creative lighting effects, awesome sound design, and the imaginative and inspired staging choices... The ensemble, under Robbel's almost Living Theater aesthetic, is uniformly strong.
- Don Hall, An Angry White Guy in Chicago

For me, this production is what makes the Chicago storefront scene explosive... comprised of innovative, can-do directorial fervor, bravely naked (both literally and emotionally) acting, and yes, challenging material that will provoke a variety of reactions from the audience, from repulsion attractive, discomfort, admiration, inspiration... I'm now a new fan of the Right Brain Prjoect and I really look forward to seeing some more of their work, and Robbel's work in particular. This is the kind of Chicago storefront production that I, as a theater-savvy, culturally-broadminded audience member, would like to champion and advocate for for...
- Francis Sadac, From the Ledge

CHALK
by Brad Lawrence

Mounted in November 2007, this world premiere was seen at the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs' studio stage. This crime noir, drenched in blood, bullets and booze echoed the story of Oedipus, as told on the streets of Prohibition Chicago. Directed by Nathan Robbel and featuring Elizabeth Bagby, Cyd Blakewell, Jim Farrell, Dan Granata, Eddie Jordan III, Erin Elizabeth Orr, Colby Sellers, Joseph Stearns, and Christopher M. Walsh. Designed by Anthony Ingram, Sarah Elizabeth Miller, and James Vertovec and Stage Managed by Mark Hurni.

Holding it all together is a masterful performance by Joseph Stearns as Eddie, the world-weary detective wading through constant deception and self-disappointment from his alcohol-fueled past mistakes. Director Nathan Robbel makes skilled use of the limited Studio Theater space by working with lighting designer James Vertovec to incorporate a number of great back-lit silhouettes to dress up the scenes... these silhouettes are ingeniously worked into the fabric of CHALK and evoke that characteristic film noir look... Chalk is an entertaining and action-packed stage homage to the imaginary black-and-white underworld of film noir Chicago.
- Scott C. Morgan, Windy City Times

THE DESIGNATED MOURNER
by Wallace Shawn

The emotional lives of three individuals living through a literal culture war were put on display in August 2007 at the Side Studio. This powerful Shawn play, while quiet in its execution, seeks a connection to the audience like few plays can. Directed by Anthony Ingram, and featuring Elizabeth Bagby, Charles Bernstein, and Ted Huerl. Desinged by Anthony Ingram, and Sarah Elizabeth Miller, and Stage Managed by Nathan Robbel.

This is an important, thinking person's play. It is well acted and nicely engaging. Jack lives in the moment enjoying each simple thing life offers. We quietly cheer for Jack to survive, his ultimate goal. Desipte his loathsomeness, Jack is us.
-Tom Williams, chicagocritic.com

FRANZ KAFKA'S THE CASTLE
by Max Brod, translated by David Fishelson and Aaron Leichter

May 2007 saw the RBP's most ambitious project come to fruition at the Trap Door Theatre. Based on Kafka's unfinished novel, the RBP's production marked the mid-west premiere of the English translation. Kafka's story is one of beaurocracy gone awry, and the spiritual journey we all face as we seek acceptence. Directed by Nathan Robbel and featuring Elizabeth Bagby, Delia Baseman, Rob Biesenbach, Anthony Ingram, Lennie Johnson, Tom McGrath, Chris Meister, Jeremy Menekseoglu, Bil Gaines, Colby Sellers, Joel Vinning, and Richard Wehbe. Designed by Mark Hurni, Anthony Ingram, David Marcotte, and Sarah Elizabeth Miller, and Stage Managed by Nicole Lemery.

A story where nothing happens, and happens repeatedly, might not sound like edge-of-your-seat theater, but Robbel's vivid staging is one of the most inventive and exhilarating things we've seen onstage in ages. K's struggle to make sense of the seemingly arbitrary rules and mores of the village and bust through suffocating bureaucracy is brought to life in golly-gee-whiz fashion by an outstanding ensemble that pulls double duty creating David Marcotte's live percussive sound design. Who knew a cerebral portrait of alienation and xenophobia could be so damn thrilling?
- Kris Vire, Time Out Chicago

THE BEST RIGHT BRAIN PROJECT X-MAS PAGEANT EVER!
by Colby Sellers

After producing THE COMPLETE WORKS OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (ABRIDGED) at St. Mary's College in South Bend, IN, the RBP were asked back that December. The RBP were more than happy to bring a little holiday charm to the young women of St. Mary's... Directed by Nathan Robbel, featuring Anthony Ingram, Nick Maroon, and Colby Sellers.

A DEVIL INSIDE
by David Lindsay-Abaire

Produced in June 2006 at the Breadline Theater, Linsay-Abaire's chaotic dark comedy focuses on six individuals whose obsessions lead them to each other, and ultimately to their tragic end. Directed by Anthony Ingram, featuring Veronica Lynn, Roxanne Sayler, Colby Sellers, Aaron Snook, Joseph Stearns, and Jennifer Wilson-Hicks. Designed by Melania Lancy, Devon McGreggor, Lee Peters, and Nathan Robbel, Stage Managed by Mark Hurni.

The Right Brain Project personnel retain their footing admirably while careening like stunt-jumpers through their madcap text's hi-jinks - in particular, Colby Sellers' body language in the scene where he struggles against an invisible demon dragging him by one ankle. Joseph Stearns, on loan from the Signal Ensemble, generates a flash or two of sympathy in his portrayal of the nutty professor. And the tech F/X - among them, a man spun to death in an automatic dryer - are ingeniously executed.
- Mary Shen Barnidge, Windy City Times

ONE FOR THE ROAD
by Harold Pinter

In January 2006, the Right Brain Project mounted Harold Pinter's intensely relevant short play. Staged at both the Town Hall Pub and The Uncommon Ground, the focus was on raising awareness of torture and human rights violations around the world. Directed by Anthony Ingram, featuring Erik Ingram, Colby Sellers, and Anthony Tournis. Designed by Nathan Robbel and Sarah Elizabeth Miller.

THE COMPLETE WORKS OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (ABRIDGED)
by Jess Borgeson, Adam Long, and Daniel Singer

This new classic comic crowd-pleaser has been a staple of the RBP since the inception. With a revolving cast, including Colby Sellers, Anthony Tournis, Nick Vianne, Peter Digilio, and Anthony Ingram, the RBP has produced this irreverant work on four seperate occassions. Produced in 2001, 2002, 2005, and 2006.

THE EMPIRE BUILDERS
by Boris Vian

Mounted at the Bailiwick Reperatory Theater in August 2005, Vian's classic absurdist tale presents a family whose fear leads to their inevitable destruction. Directed by Nathan Robbel, featuring Nicole Cardano, David Marcotte, Erin Rietz, Colby Sellers, Anthony Tournis, and Jennifer Wilson-Hicks. Designed by Bryan Falcon, Anthony Ingram, and Sarah Elizabeth Miller.

Sometimes a new company makes exactly the right choice to announce its presence. Such is the case with the Right Brain Project, which is producting a solid version of a seldom-seen play by Boris Vian, THE EMPIRE BUILDERS, directed with a sure hand by Nathan Robbel.
- Kerry Reid, Chicago Tribune