Want to see dozens of plays but don’t have the time? Ulsan expats might find the solution in the Industrial Theater Troupe’s “A Lighter Shade of Black.”
Based on an idea by the Neo Futurists theater group in Chicago, the show features 30 plays in an hour.
The show is in its sixth edition now ― each one featuring new work ― and continues the tradition of combining light and dark in the title, but also indicated that the mix of plays in this show will be a little less black than the last.
“We have everything in this. We are doing a little Shakespeare in it with ‘Julius Cesar.’” There’s some really dark stuff about addiction and child abuse, but overall this show is a lot lighter than past shows. That’s why we have gone with a ‘Lighter Shade of Black,’” said Benjamin Slater, the show’s director.
 |
| A scene from Industrial Theater Troupe’s performance of 30 plays in 60 minutes last year. (Wynsum Foreman) |
The show is almost entirely written by members of the troupe ― the Shakespeare performance being somewhat abridged ― with additional contributions from a local writers group, friends and past members.
“Everything is completely original, there is nothing we have performed before,” Slater said.
The format features plays ranging in length from 10 seconds to four minutes, with the audience choosing which play they want to see performed next, this time from a faux menu of dramatic dishes. Slater says the unplanned element adds to the excitement.
“People like to be surprised by what they see. And some of the descriptions can be quite deceitful,” said Slater.
The group is also proud of the production’s level of audience participation.
“When we first started writing shows for this (project), we discovered that we didn’t have as much audience participation as we wanted, so we have changed a bit and now there is some pretty good audience participation in this one,” Slater said.
While it might be a little easier to learn your lines for a 10-second play, Slater said it the turnarounds were a technical challenge, and were even a little physically demanding.
“You are shaking like a racehorse the whole time, thinking, what’s going to be next?” he said.
“It’s terrible when they call five in a row that you are a main character in. Then again, you might not be called in anything until the very end.”
But reaching the end can be bittersweet.
“It (feels) kind of disappointing that we are not doing it again; it’s completely exhausting, but it’s worth it. It’s like running a marathon. Once you are done, it feels great.”
Elsewhere, the troupe has been performing more conventional theater. This has mostly been in short form, but the troupe hopes to do a full-length play this winter and keep the number of performances up.
“I would like to do more,” Slater said. “We have gone from doing two a year to doing four a year, and I would like to keep up that pace if we can.”
The shows run Saturday at 2, 5 and 8 p.m. at the Green Thorn Little Theater on Ulsan Culture Street, along the road from the Royal Anchor. Tickets are 5,000 won and can be bought in advance from JJ’s Bar or through theindustrialtheatertroupe@gmail.com.
By Paul Kerry (paulkerry@heraldcorp.com)
