In the age of the selfie, body dysmorphia is king. Then again — hating our physical containers dates back long before the invention of photography, let alone smartphones. Somewhere there’s probably a shard of ancient pottery with hieroglyphs giving 10 helpful hints for how to look your best — with the unspoken threat that if you don’t, you’ll pay a high price in loneliness.
Chicago Slam Works, a theatrical/spoken-word performance hybrid conceived in 2009 by Marc Smith, credited as the creator of the poetry slam genre, tackles that universal condition of self-loathing — aided and abetted by the vocal loathing of others. “Handsome Animals” offers a menagerie of monologues, songs, comedy sketches and group pieces that range from re-enactments of clueless insults (“No offense, but are you a tranny?” being among the milder examples) to heartfelt reminiscences about the physical freedom and fear unleashed by adolescent body changes.
Created by the six-member ensemble and directed by J.W. Basilo, the overall architecture of the 80-minute show attempts to weave together points of connection between how we feel about our bodies and how societal norms, particularly around gender and sexuality, affect that self-assessment. If that sounds like a slog, take heart: there are plenty of humorous interludes to keep the sociological underpinnings from collapsing into a pedantic rubble, and Basilo keeps it moving briskly. But perhaps paradoxically, the show works better in individual parts than as a unified whole body.
I think part of the issue is the show is still wrestling with its own mind/body divide, in a way. Simply put, there are too many issues put forth — from abortion to anorexia to bisexuality (the latter slyly portrayed by Rashaad Hall as a “rainbow unicorn” who visits a kindergarten classroom to prove his existence) for all the connections to hit home. And the fact that the cast is young and apparently able-bodied means that a huge chunk of body-centered political issues of aging and disability goes largely unmentioned. News flash: age and infirmity is where we’re all headed.
But those caveats aside, there are some startling moments of clear-eyed truth-telling. Teagan Walsh-Davis (also credited as head writer) and Samantha Dedian deliver side-by-side monologues about the ways older men reacted to their changing teenage bodies — in Walsh-Davis’ phrase, “your hips are parentheticals, and men want to be the sentence in between.” Shelley Elaine Geiszler’s piece about becoming anorexic after being prescribed a common migraine medication — and her delight in that condition, even as she knew how dangerous it was — illustrates the delicate balance in treating malfunctions in our physical machines and the pernicious preference for thin-at-all-costs in our culture.
Some of the pieces feel a bit far afield or off-note. Geiszler’s performance as Joyce McKinney, an American woman who kidnapped, restrained and raped a young Mormon in England in 1977, makes the case that men can be victims of sexual assault by women, but doesn’t go far enough into the psychological impact on McKinney’s victim. But sometimes the side journeys in the show are delightful, as in Dru Smith’s reminiscences about his march-to-his-own-drummer, sarong-wearing dad. An ensemble piece set at a party where two women (Dedian and Angela Oliver) recall incidences of acquaintance rape — and the dismissal of their stories by alleged friends — is chilling and sorrowful.
The intent behind the show is admirable, and though these stories don’t all seem to belong in the same genus, “Handsome Animals” is a solid and sometimes charming collage about the struggles to accept our corporeal reality — rather than the one imposed on us by others.
REVIEW: “Handsome Animals” by Chicago Slam Works
2.5 STARS
8:15 p.m. Fridays through Nov. 6 at Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont Ave., $20 at 773-327-5252 or chicagoslamworks.com
Kerry Reid is a freelance critic.
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