Mudlark Theater Presents ‘I’m Alice,’ 'Comedy of Errors,' & more

EVANSTON — With the popularity of Doctor Strange and Everything, Everywhere and All At Once, the concept of multiverses are all the rage these days, and Mudlark Theater, a youth theater is Evanston, is bring the multiverse concept to the world of Alice in Wonderland in “I’m Alice,” running May 19 to 28 at Mudlark’s Red Curtain Theater, 1417 Hinman Ave. in Evanston. Tickets are $20.

Written and directed by Mudlark Artistic Director Andrew Biliter, this adaptation foregrounds the identity crises Alice experiences in Lewis Carroll’s novel by separating her out into 15 different kids.

The play will begin with several different actors all playing Alice at the same time on stage. One actor will be playing the traditional role of Alice sitting by her sister on the riverbank, while another actor will be playing Alice, but will be bored in a car, or playing on a tablet. Then the actors will all have different versions of going down the rabbit hole and into Wonderland, where Alice will meet the typical cast of characters from the book.

But here, the multiverse will expand again, as various characters have the chance to take on the Alice role, the person who feels curious or out of place in the situation. After each interaction with a Wonderland creature—say, the Blue Caterpillar or the Mad Hatter—Alice touches hands with that character and they become the new Alice, shedding their absurd confidence in exchange for vulnerability and introspection. Brief monologues drawn from the actors’ real lives will further illuminate the ways in which Carroll’s fantastical story reflects our own lived experience.

“We all feel like Alice sometimes, dropped into a world where the rules are arbitrary and always changing,” Biliter says. “The idea here is to show how universal it is to feel out of place by exploring all these conflicting aspects of ourselves.”

In addition to the “I’m Alice” show, Mudlark will also be presenting a brand new show called “Love, Loss, and What I Ate,” running April 14 to 22, about how food can invoke memories of childhood or remind us of our unique cultural identity.

Inspired by Nora Ephron’s 2008 play, “Love, Loss & What I Wore,” which is made up of a series of monologues about women and their relationships, “Love, Loss, and What I Ate” also features a series of short scenes about how food intersects with our lives.

To create the show, Rebecca Rose Schilsky, Mudlark Theater’s new artistic producer, asked the actors in the cast to bring in a family recipe to help inspire them to explore their relationship to food as a source of connection and culture, creating scenes both bitter and sweet. And at each performance, audience members will be able to download a cookbook of all of the recipes that are featured in the show.

Complimentary coffee and tea will also be served before and after the show to bring good smells into the theater, and the audience will be invited to enjoy a piece of food during the show, such as a small piece of candy, to give the show an even more visceral sensory experience.

A canned food drive will be held at each performance to help provide food for those in need.

Schilsky said the idea for the show was inspired by her 8th grade teacher, Ms. Drake, who gave the class an assignment to bring in a recipe from their family as a way to learn more about each classmate’s family heritage. And because she comes from a family that is half Ashkenazi Jew and half Puerto Rican and Italian, Schilsky said food was always a big part of her family’s celebrations, so she thought that creating a play based on cooking seemed like a natural way to explore identity.

Plus, during the pandemic, Schilsky said she began cooking more, making her realize how much of a creative outlet cooking can be. “I started using cooking food as another kind of art for myself,” she said.

In addition to these two plays, Mudlark will also be presenting two comedies this spring.

The first will be an original sketch show, directed by veteran Mudlark teachers/directors Brian Tochterman and Allison Cochrane, running March 23 to 26.

Then in May, Mudlark actors will be presenting Shakespeare’s “The Comedy of Errors,” directed by Hannah Blau of Chicago Youth Shakespeare, and adapted into modern verse by Biliter. In this beloved comedy, a young man and his servant have been searching the world for their long-lost identical twins. When they finally arrive in the right town where their brothers live, they keep missing each other, spreading chaos and confusion through the community. “The Comedy of Errors” runs from May 4 to 7.

Tickets are available at https://mudlarktheater.org.

Mudlark Theater’s Spring 2023 Season

Spring Sketch Show — March 23-26

Performance Times: March 23 at 7 p.m., March 24 at 7 p.m., March 25 at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m., March 26 at 3 p.m.

Synopsis: Comedy titans Brian Tochterman and Allison Cochrane lead a group of young comedians in creating a sketch show that dares to address tough questions like “Who are these outrageous kids?” “How’d they come up with all these brilliant sketches?” and “How can these sketches be this funny, and at the same time, provide such thought-provoking examinations of identity?” It’s a show you won’t want to miss!

Tickets: $20

Love, Loss, and What I Ate — April 14-16 and April 21-22

Performance Times: April 14 at 7 p.m., April 15 at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m., April 16 at 3 p.m., April 21 at 7 p.m., April 22 at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m.

Synopsis: Every time something big happens in our lives, food is never far away. In this new play, written by the actors themselves, the actors used their own family’s recipes to inspire them to explore their relationship to food as a source of connection and culture, creating scenes both bitter and sweet. At the final production, audience members will enjoy a small taste of food, and a canned food drive will also be held on each performance night. Directed by Mudlark Artistic Producer Rebecca Rose Schilsky.

Tickets: $20

The Comedy of Errors — May 4-7

Performance Times: May 4 at 7 p.m., May 5 at 7 p.m., May 6 at 3 p.m. & 7 p.m., May 7 at 3 p.m.

Synopsis: Shakespeare’s classic tale of mistaken identity comes to the Mudlark stage in an engaging new adaptation that everyone can follow! For years, young Antipholus and his servant, Dromio, have been searching the world for their long-lost identical twins. The good news is, they’ve come to the right town. The bad news is, the brother pairs keep missing each other, spreading chaos and confusion through the community. Adapted by Andrew Biliter. Directed by Hannah Blau.

Tickets: $20

I’m Alice — May 19-21 and May 26-28

Performance Times: May 19 at 7 p.m., May 20 at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m., May 21 at 3 p.m.

Synopsis: We all feel like Alice sometimes, dropped into a world where the rules are arbitrary and always changing. Other times we are the Queen of Hearts, insisting that the world bend to our will. Or maybe we’re the grinning Cheshire Cat, watching the circus unfold. In Mudlark’s bold new take on Alice’s adventure, we’ll explore all these conflicting aspects of ourselves: everyone is Alice; everyone is Wonderland. Written and directed by Mudlark Artistic Director Andrew Biliter.

Tickets: $20

About Mudlark

Mudlark Theater collaborates with kids to tell youth-centered stories. By taking kids seriously as artists and individuals, we create space for transformative experiences accessible to all.