It's finally Friday. How about ushering in the weekend by going to see a play? Let me guess, not a big theater fan, it's boring, right? Rather go to a bar or a party? Well, why not all three? Chicago theater company, New Colony, has you covered with their hit comedy, "Frat". A combination of partying, pledging, and fraternity fun that smashes the rules of conventional theater to pieces.
Not only does the show stray from traditional theater by being held in the Apartment Lounge, a bar in Lincoln Park, but it's also an interactive performance where the audience gets to decide how involved they want to be. Don't like being in front of a crowd? You don't have to. There's seating along the bar and throughout the lounge for those who want to sit back relax and watch a frat party get out of hand. Want to jump up and shout along with the cast? Go for it. The performance is geared around audience interaction and they welcome it. "It's interactive the whole evening," Director Andrew Hobgood said. "We've had actual fraternities come in and chant along, groups of people shouting and drinking with the brothers [in the show] during scenes."
"Frat" was written by Evan Linder, a former fraternity member from the College of Charleston in South Carolina, as a realistic look into the secret lives of frat brothers, their parties, hazing and everything else you've always wondered about, but maybe didn't know. "We created the show to answer the question, what do fraternities really do?," Hobgood said. The play doesn't necessarily bash frats, but it doesn't hold back either. "It ["Frat"] looks at what's good and what's more, curious, about fraternities and it also asks the question what's the nature of friendship?," said "Frat" producer John Olson.
The show transforms The Apartment bar and lounge, which already looks strikingly similar to a male college dorm, into a full on frat house. "We got really lucky with The Apartment and we're adding more elements to it. We're hoping the audience gets the full feeling," Olson said. To keep the frat feel going, there is a "rush" party 30 minutes before the show starts where the audience can get drinks, kick back and fraternize, no pun intended, with the brothers of artificial fraternity, Theta Pi Psi. Once that's over, the party really gets going. "The characters are aware of the audience," Hobgood said, "there's no line between theater and reality." Which no longer means you're just a Chicago theater goer, gasp! "The audience sees it [the play] through the eyes of the pledges," Olson said.
Not convinced? Still think theater may not be able to hold your attention? The creative crew of "Frat" certainly disagrees. "A lot of theater isn't written for younger people, and younger people don't go to the theater as much because the material isn't written for them," Olson said. "In this, you can feel the electricity. It's in a night club, the bar's open, it's funny, it's well written and acted, but it's also really fun." In summation, "It's 85 minutes of non-stop action," Hobgood said.
An evening spent watching a play may have been thought of as "dated" or "dull" to younger audiences before, but with companies like New Colony creating interactive and innovative shows, like "Frat", those words will be soon forgotten, like oh so many of your craziest college nights.
"Frat" runs Fridays and Saturdays from September 16th- October 22nd. Tickets can be purchased online at The New Colony's website, or through the Greenhouse Theater Center online, by phone at: 773-404-7336 or in person at 2257 N Lincoln Avenue for $28.50.
Not only does the show stray from traditional theater by being held in the Apartment Lounge, a bar in Lincoln Park, but it's also an interactive performance where the audience gets to decide how involved they want to be. Don't like being in front of a crowd? You don't have to. There's seating along the bar and throughout the lounge for those who want to sit back relax and watch a frat party get out of hand. Want to jump up and shout along with the cast? Go for it. The performance is geared around audience interaction and they welcome it. "It's interactive the whole evening," Director Andrew Hobgood said. "We've had actual fraternities come in and chant along, groups of people shouting and drinking with the brothers [in the show] during scenes."
"Frat" was written by Evan Linder, a former fraternity member from the College of Charleston in South Carolina, as a realistic look into the secret lives of frat brothers, their parties, hazing and everything else you've always wondered about, but maybe didn't know. "We created the show to answer the question, what do fraternities really do?," Hobgood said. The play doesn't necessarily bash frats, but it doesn't hold back either. "It ["Frat"] looks at what's good and what's more, curious, about fraternities and it also asks the question what's the nature of friendship?," said "Frat" producer John Olson.
The show transforms The Apartment bar and lounge, which already looks strikingly similar to a male college dorm, into a full on frat house. "We got really lucky with The Apartment and we're adding more elements to it. We're hoping the audience gets the full feeling," Olson said. To keep the frat feel going, there is a "rush" party 30 minutes before the show starts where the audience can get drinks, kick back and fraternize, no pun intended, with the brothers of artificial fraternity, Theta Pi Psi. Once that's over, the party really gets going. "The characters are aware of the audience," Hobgood said, "there's no line between theater and reality." Which no longer means you're just a Chicago theater goer, gasp! "The audience sees it [the play] through the eyes of the pledges," Olson said.
Not convinced? Still think theater may not be able to hold your attention? The creative crew of "Frat" certainly disagrees. "A lot of theater isn't written for younger people, and younger people don't go to the theater as much because the material isn't written for them," Olson said. "In this, you can feel the electricity. It's in a night club, the bar's open, it's funny, it's well written and acted, but it's also really fun." In summation, "It's 85 minutes of non-stop action," Hobgood said.
An evening spent watching a play may have been thought of as "dated" or "dull" to younger audiences before, but with companies like New Colony creating interactive and innovative shows, like "Frat", those words will be soon forgotten, like oh so many of your craziest college nights.
"Frat" runs Fridays and Saturdays from September 16th- October 22nd. Tickets can be purchased online at The New Colony's website, or through the Greenhouse Theater Center online, by phone at: 773-404-7336 or in person at 2257 N Lincoln Avenue for $28.50.
