The Columbia College Chicago Theatre Department and the Columbia College Chicago Business and Entrepreneurship Department are partnering for “The Third Mask: A Festival of New Devised Performance,” to be held May 2 through 4 at three different spaces on Columbia College’s South Loop campus. The Third Mask Festival is a platform for new performative works exploring the concepts of the poetic body, movement-based theatre, the personal as performative, and ensemble creation. This inaugural festival will showcase 10 thesis performances by students in the Columbia College Theatre Department’s first graduate-level program, the MA/MFA Program in European Devised Performance Practice. The festival is presented in collaboration with the Business and Entrepreneurship Department’s Master of Arts Management Program.
Performances in the Third Mask Festival will be held in two locations in Chicago’s South Loop neighborhood: the Sheldon Patinkin Theater of the Columbia College Getz Theater Center, 72 E. 11th, and the C33 Gallery at 33 E. Ida B. Wells Drive. All performances are free to the public. Space is limited. For more information and to reserve your seat, click here. Donations are welcome here. For more information please contact thirdmaskfestival@colum.edu.
The Columbia College Theatre Department’s European Devised Performance Practice program, launched in 2017, is offered in partnership with the Arthaus Berlin International School for Devised Theatre and Performance (formerly the London International School of Performing Arts). Drawing inspiration from dance, visual arts, and traditional theatre, the program’s MA and MFA tracks both emphasize collaboration as the main expressive tool for the creation of original work. The programs are inspired by the ideas of the famed French movement-theatre teacher Jacques Lecoq, a central figure in mid-20th-century European physical theatre training. The Third Mask Festival’s title is taken from Lecoq’s dictum:
PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE
The three-day festival’s performance schedule is as follows. All performances are world premieres:
This double bill is presented as part of the closing reception for Instructions for Living a Life, an exhibition by Hollingshead and Wilson. The reception begins at 4 PM.
Walking Home at Night
“We’re throwing a party! We’d like to show you how nice we are! . . . and that we really are good people. Really!” Join the La Vuelta Ensemble in an exploration of our pretensions and secrets through play, high physicality, and delightful absurdity. Created and directed by Raquel Torre. This piece will also be performed Friday through Sunday, May 23 through 25, at UrbanTheatre Company, : 2620 W. Division, Chicago.
Wild Women
In a dark, empty temple of unknown origins, three ancient goddesses are summoned to bestow their wisdom upon the city. Instead, the heavens send women that your mother hoped you would never become. These grotesque creatures take audiences through their hilarious (and offensive) version of history to challenge Western culture’s views on femininity. Created and directed by Brittany Price Anderson.
In the spirit of educational growth, The Third Mask Festival will also include several workshops and panels, meant to serve as a safe space to learn and discuss relevant themes presented throughout the festival. For more information, click here.
