Chicago Reader
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Closing (Theater and Galleries) Member's Pick Recommended The Short List (Theater)
Frat 

When: Thursdays-Saturdays. Continues through April 4 2009
Phone: 800-838-3006
Price: $20 suggested donation
thenewcolony.org
The press materials on Evan Linder's play say he based it on his own experiences as "a brother of one of the oldest fraternities in the south," and promise it will immerse us "in the secret world" of Greek life. So there's an element of the expose here. But you'll only be disappointed if you see this New Colony premiere on that account. Any secrets divulged in the course of following four pledges through "hell week" are banal, and an initiation scene comes across as sweetly, childishly silly rather than shocking. Instead, see Frat for (a) a robust environmental staging, with nothing but sharp performances; (b) an insight into the group-think, psychological cruelty, and desperate need to belong that make frat life possible; and (c) the beer, of course, available from a bar in the performance area. --Tony Adler

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Caught a preview performance - a really surprising and distinct show. It definitely veers away from the typical, but almost always in a good (and still very real) way. Definitely a worth while shake-up if you see alot of theater (like I do).

Posted by ghostplanet on March 9, 2009 at 8:53 AM | Report this comment

Really well done. Completely unlike anything else I've seen lately (and like ghostplanet, I see a lot). Entertaining but still dramatic. The couches are pretty comfy too, but it's in promenade so be prepared to stand and move about a bit to see all the scenes. Also, that room in the Dank Haus DOES look *exactly* like a frat house basement.

Posted by InsaneEddie on March 10, 2009 at 11:29 AM | Report this comment

Thanks for the reviews! It's always nice to see people making an effort to spread the word. And Insane Eddie obviously didn't sit on the ugly brown couch in the brothers' room! The ensemble will attest to its extreme discomfort. (It used to be a hide-a-bed - and when the bed was removed, the owner put plywood in its place!) So if you do join us for the show - we recommend the other couches. They really are quite comfy.

- Andy/The New Colony

Posted by andrewhobgood on March 11, 2009 at 6:43 AM | Report this comment

The scenes of abuse in hell week seem more fitting in Abu Ghraib than a Southern college. Frat boys stripped to their underwear, blindfolded, spat on, screamed at, and eventually beaten -- you know, mere child's play.

Are there jokes? Yeah. "Did you like that? I was channeling my father." But it's not "silly", it's uncomfortable. You're set immediately on edge. Perhaps what's silly is that we're so desensitized to violence that the protrayal of these abuses can ever come across as such.

Posted by dukeedude on March 18, 2009 at 9:00 AM | Report this comment

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