THE HAIRY APE (2016)

by Eugene O’Neill
Directed by Monty Cole
Original Run: January 23 – March 12, 2016, Remount: July 6 – July 17, 2016
Oracle Productions

Director Monty Cole makes his Oracle debut with an ensemble of six African-American actors portraying multiple roles to tackle O’Neill’s harrowing, expressionistic critique of class stratification. Yank is the master of his world, shoveling coal on an ocean liner. But when a wealthy woman descends to see life on the lower decks, their encounter propels Yank from the close confines of the engine room and onto the streets of New York City, where he seeks validation, belonging and revenge. Cole’s charged staging will capture the caged mind of a young black man yearning to belong. Oracle’s production examines O’Neill’s work through the lens of America’s ugly legacy of racism and oppression, asking the audience to engage in a conversation that is deeply connected to recent events in Chicago and across the country.

Cole notes, “I think what I related to the most in re-visiting APE was seeing Yank as a Black man who doesn’t belong even as a hard-working, functioning cog in society. It isn’t enough – Yank is squeezed out of existence. He feels as though he’s one of the best of his species until he’s told he’s barely human. He is feared and misunderstood and thus barely worthy of living.”

ENSEMBLE: Breon Arzell, Rashaad Hall, Julian Parker, Tony Santiago, Bradford Stevens, Michael Turrentine; Remount: Rasell Holt, Johnard Washington

PRODUCTION TEAM
Scenic Design: Eleanor Kahn
Lighting Design: John Kelly
Sound Design: Jeffrey Levin
Costume Design: Joan Pritchard
Mask Design: DeChantel Kosmatka*
Fight Choreographer: Zach Livingston
Choreographer: Breon Arzell

Stage Manager: Adia Alli
Stage Manager (Theater On the Lake): Stacey Klingberg
Dramaturg: Isaac Gomez
Assistant Director: Micheal Trzos

PRESS AND RECOGNITION

“Taut and imaginative. Cole's decision to use an ensemble of six black men for all the roles in O'Neill's Expressionist one-act play doubtless made those parallels easier for me to see. Cole's production works so well because it walks a smart balancing line between the O'Neill original and his own original vision.” - Kerry Reid, The Chicago Tribune (3.5/4 stars)

“Another incendiary offering from Oracle Productions, Monty Cole's bold take on Eugene O'Neill's The Hairy Ape is pugilistic and powerful. In his athletic tour-de-force, a vibrant sextet stomp, leap, clamber, dangle, and swing like the title from stage-wide scaffolding.” - Lawrence Bommer

Jeff Awards
winner - Best Actor - Julian Park (Yank)
winner - Artistic Specialization - Breon Arzell (choreography)
winner - Best Sound Design - Jeffrey Levin
nominated - Best Director - Monty Cole
nominated - Best Ensemble

Time Out Chicago Theatre Awards
winner - Best Director - Monty Cole
winner - Best Production of an Existing Play
winner - Best Ensemble
winner - Best Actor - Julian Parker.