Brikenbrak Theatre’s “The Samaritan Syndrome”

In the Wicker Park/Bucktown neighborhood, Gorilla Tango Theatre is running the Brikenbrak Theatre Project performance of "The Samaritan Syndrome". The Gorilla Tango Theatre is a live theatrical venue that presents a wide variety of performances by a diverse group of talented producers, directors, actors, and writers. According to Gorilla Tango the space exists to provide artists and organizations of all sizes and genres the opportunity to produce their work in a professional environment.

The minimalist stage, raw brick and close quarters with the audience is a great place to see an intense play such as the Brikenbrak Theatre Project making its Chicago debut with the psychological drama "The Samaritan Syndrome" by Jeremy Menekseoglu, directed by Paul Cosca.

This premier play takes you "deep inside the women's ward of an insane asylum where the doors open to a select group of clientele. Men who wish to save these girls are free to act upon their most secret desires. But one girl is different. And one man will risk his sanity and even his life to find the girl that haunts his dreams."

Paul Cosca, Artistic Director, explains that the "Brikenbrak Theatre Project is a theatre company devoted to engaging people, but more importantly, engaging their brains. We are devoted to challenging your brain in a vital and visceral way. The theatre's audience program claims, "The Samaritan Syndrome's performance is about the viewer's experience."

A central theme in the play, saving another from their problems, is intended to draw the viewer in through their own personal experiences of trying to save another. As the director Paul Cosca commented during the talkback after May 11^th's performance, "we have all tried to save someone in our own personal relationships."

Paul's experiences start with his upbringing in California where he started doing theatre when he was in middle school. By the time he graduated high school he had already been in several dozen productions and won a directing award from Sacramento State University.

Paul said he "moved to Chicago in 2005 to attend Roosevelt University and began the thought process for creating a theatre company that was focused on engaging the audience on a psychological and intellectual level."

In the summer of 2006 in Indiana, Paul put up the first production that carried the name Brikenbrak Theatre Project. He refers to his first show as "a very esoteric production of "Waiting for Godot" for a very small, but appreciative audience in Crawfordsville, Indiana." The next summer he followed up with "a very well received production of "Bash" by Neil Labute in the same small theatre."

May 11^th's talkback proceeding The Samaritan Syndrome developed a lively conversation about feminism that engaged multiple members of the cast and audience.

"The Samaritan Syndrome" runs every Tuesday in May at 8:00pm at Gorilla Tango Theatre, 1919 N. Milwaukee Ave. Each performance is followed by a talkback with the entire cast and crew.