Chicago Theater Review: 15 BREATHS (About Face Youth Theatre Ensemble)

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by Lawrence Bommer on July 25, 2015

in Theater-Chicago

STILL BREATHING

15 years ago a new show called First Breath launched the About Face Youth Theatre Ensemble. Appropriately, the current showcase 15 Breaths is presented by the next generation (more or less) and looks back as much as forward. Interestingly, the concerns these GLBT teens address persist like unanswered questions–the generation gap, gender identity, homophobia, coming out, commitment issues, continuity in the civil rights crusade.

Kyla Norton (center) with the cast of in About Face Youth Theatre Ensemble’s world premiere of 15 BREATHS, directed by Ali Hoefnagel.  Photo by Emily Schwartz.

Just 65 minutes, the current offering is sponsored by the Chicago Park District as well as About Face Theatre. During its brief run at the Greenhouse Center, it will be performed, as it’s set, in North Side parks–Humboldt Park Boathouse (7/30 and 7/31) and Chase Park (8/6 and 8/7).

(center, left to right) Jimbo Pestano and Nikki R. Veit with the cast of About Face Youth Theatre Ensemble’s world premiere of 15 BREATHS, directed by Ali Hoefnagel.  Photo by Emily Schwartz.

Spooling out like a fusion of slam poetry and true-life confessions, this fluid tale, developed by the ensemble and staged by Ali Hoefnagel, focuses on an evolving relationship between a fashionable queen who stands for gay activists and the young gay lover he/she meets in a park feeding the ducks. Whether wearing pearls or punking out, both feel marginal to their minority (even their own “queerness”). But strategic and poignant encounters show how little age can mess with truth as they “forge a space they can call their own.”

(front, left to right) Liam Camarillo and Donny Acosta with (back, left to right) Jac Spertus, Elena Maria Cohen, Sandy Nguyen, Amira Epshetsky, Jasmine Smith and Elliot Hobaugh in About Face Youth Theatre Ensemble’s world premiere of 15 BREATHS, directed by Ali Hoefnagel.  Photo by Emily Schwartz.

Alternately played by half the ensemble, these composite characters share life lessons about how to handle refractory parents, bitch fights, stares from strangers, rudeness on the el train, and once and future challenges to love and growth. Questions emerge both big (does sex divide as much as connect?) and small (how can you date someone without $5 for a cover charge?).

Liam Camarillo, Kyla Norton and Nikki R. Veit in About Face Youth Theatre Ensemble’s world premiere of 15 BREATHS, directed by Ali Hoefnagel.  Photo by Emily Schwartz.

It’s a mixed–but never boring–bag of revelation and attitude. There’s always a degree of difficulty when young actors play older characters, but here no one condescends to stereotyping or satire. As if to prove the absurdity of fools who prate about a “post-gay” perspective, the conversations launched on this stage are meant to continue. They exist to trigger more–including post-show discussions in Lincoln, Humboldt and Chase parks.

Donny Acosta, Jimbo Pestano and Isis Mendoza in About Face Youth Theatre Ensemble’s world premiere of 15 BREATHS, directed by Ali Hoefnagel.  Photo by Emily Schwartz.

photos by Emily Schwartz

(front to back) Kyla Norton, Nikki R. Veit and Liam Camarillo in About Face Youth Theatre Ensemble’s world premiere of 15 BREATHS, directed by Ali Hoefnagel.  Photo by Emily Schwartz.15 Breaths
About Face Youth Theatre Ensemble
Greenhouse Theater Center, 2257 N. Lincoln
for tickets, call 773.404.7336 or visit
www.aboutfacetheatre.org
ends on July 26, 2015

then plays as Chicago Park District’s
Night Out in the Parks series
July 30-31, 2015 at Humbolt Park
(1440 N. Humboldt Dr.)
August 6-7, 2015 at Chase Park
(4701 N. Ashland Ave.)
for free tickets, make reservations at
www.aboutfacetheatre.org

for more info on Chicago Theater, visit www.TheatreinChicago.com

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