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Female Artists Fuel
Prologue Theatre Co.’s
Dream of a Common Language
Chicago, IL
–
Starting this fall, Prologue Theatre Co. will engage with a colorful and oftenunobserved community: female artists. The second season for this history-focusedcompany will explore the past exploits of women in the visual arts while collaborating withlocal artists to examine the role gender plays in the art world in Chicago.Our first play of the season,
Dream of a Common Language
by Heather McDonald, creates apicture of a dream deferred in a woman and her friends in 1870s France. Clovis is a painter
who hasn’t picked up a brush since a fiery accident a year ago. Her artist husband Victor is
preparing a dinner party at their country home to plan an exhibition for a new kind of art.But today, the return of some old friends, as well as an unexpected hitch in dinner party
plans, will shake Clovis out of her dreams and inspire her to turn her artists’ eye to a more
intimate subject. This lyrical and dream-like drama will be presented in the Oracle Theatre.
Dream of a Common Language,
a 1992 play last produced in Chicago more than a decade
ago, was inspired by Ms. McDonald’s research on the Impressionists; she saw a painting of
the meeting to plan the first Impressionist exhibition, and wondered where all the womenwere. In 1870s France, though painters such as Berthe Morisot and Mary Cassatt wereallowed to exhibit, they were excluded from the decision-making process. Societalrestrictions prevented women from socializing in establishments like the Café Guerbois,where the Impressionists met to discuss theory and technique, and from painting in publicplaces (such as cafes, the racetrack, even public parks) where Impressionists created someof their most famous work. Even today, Morisot and Cassatt are far less well known thantheir male counterparts, and artists such as Camille Claudel, who claimed to have donesome of the work credited to Auguste Rodin, are all but forgotten.In order to bring audiences a fuller picture of the work female artists are doing today,Prologue will feature the work of local artists for display and sale in the lobby during eachperformance of
Dream of a Common Language
. Audience members will be encouraged totry their own hand at painting; a new canvas in the lobby every night, supplied with a title
from the show’s
text, will invite audiences to participate in the communal creation of a workof art. To bring to life the artwork called for in the script, Prologue has commissionedpaintings from local artists Mercedes Inez Martinez and Michael Jeremy,as well as
promotional art from Susan Volk.
Throughout our season, Prologue will create events and activities to engage theatre
audiences with local artists. For example, we’re planning a series of salons in which local
artists will create a work of visual art from a theatrical prompt live in front of an audience.We will also organize a panel of female artists and female playwrights to discuss thesimilarities and differences in the challenges they face in getting their work recognized.Cast and designer bios and archive production photographs by requestto info@prologuetheatreco.org.
About Prologue Theatre Co.:
The past is prologue. We produce historical works fromunderrepresented voices. Our relevant and diverse stories empower our community toconsider where we go from here.
Prologue was incorporated in Chicago, IL in 2008, and is a registered 501(c)3 tax-exemptorganization. Our 2009-2010 season explored the influences of the 1920s on the modernworld, and included the Chicago premiere of
Sex
by Mae West, the world-premiere gender-bending musical romp
The Cat’s M
eow: a vaudeville,
and a mix of original work andforgotten work about the 1920s in our Landmark Festival. For more information pleasevisit prologuetheatreco.org or follow us on Twitter, @PrologueThtrCo.
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