Gimmickry and gore: Chicago theaters sell it hard

For the unconverted, theater in general gets a pretty bad rap. It's perceived as needlessly intellectual, sermonizingly stuffy, and flat-out masturbatory. That said, there are some theaters in town that are attempting to meet audiences halfway and taking things down a peg or two, albeit through some pretty transparent gimmicks. The A.V. Club takes stock of some of the more notable theater hooks around town in plays both current and past.

These blisters were acquired in the name of art
Companies like Walkabout Theater (and their 2008 show War Garden) have audiences walk along with the play, setting each scene in a different area. In order to follow what’s going on, audiences must—literally—follow the action. Theatre-Hikes takes it one step further: They lead their audiences on two-mile hikes in large, outdoor spaces. When everyone reaches a new location, a new scene begins and the audience can sit down—but only if they’ve brought their own chair.

XXX peep show 2nite!!!
There are two types of naked shows in Chicago: those selling nudity and those selling art. Bailiwick’s Naked Boys Singing is the former. The play had an unprecedented five-year run in Chicago—a long time for a show whose main attraction was junk on display. The Living Canvas group uses the naked body as an art medium on which they display high-definition pattern projections. (Most recently, they used this method in Unsex Me Here, a retelling of Macbeth). It’s part graphic design, part love for the human form, so drag that mind out of the gutter. It's just nudity.

A play like you've never seen before, or will ever see again
The Neo-Futurists do the same thing every time, only different every time. The company's Too Much Light Makes The Baby Go Blind packs 30 plays into 60 minutes. The audience determines the order of the plays, and the roster changes weekly: A core group of writer-actor-directors compose new material each week to add into the mix and cycle others out. The Neos even leave ticket price up to chance. Admission fees are determined by the roll of a six-sided die, plus $7 ($8-$13, depending).

Not your daddy's fight choreography
The more buckets of red corn syrup the better, and having a splash zone is de rigueur. A Red Orchid Theatre put on the 2006 late-night production of Brett Neveu’s The Earl. Rife with the splatter of vital fluids, the production saw three brothers beating the crap out of each other as part of some bizarre game. Let the movies depict true-to-life shots of teeth getting knocked out—spitting out a mouthful of Tic Tacs can be just as effective.

You like TV? We got TV!
Theaters have been freaking out for the past decade about the alleged revenue dent from movies, television, and the Internet. Some theaters have responded with multimedia-packed shows. InFusion Theatre’s 2008 production of Intrigue With Faye features video screens that display real-time footage being shot by the characters. In Ira Gamerman’s short play, Dated: A Cautionary Tale For Facebook Users (in Collaboraction’s Sketchbook 8), the main character stresses over a breakup as tracked via Facebook (“Guy is no longer in a relationship”), MySpace, and LiveJournal. Projections of screenshots from the websites let the audience know when Guy has been blocked, un-friended, and technologically locked out of his ex’s life.

We don't need no stuffy the-a-tuh
Strange shows deserve unconventional spaces. Dog & Pony’s As Told By The Vivian Girls (about damaged artist Henry Darger’s fantasy life) took advantage of Theater on the Lake’s former status as a sanitarium (read: hospital) and staged their production in nearly every single room of the cavernous venue, including creepy bathrooms and a room filled with empty cots.