| CHICKEN
SOUP FOR THE SCRAP METTLE SOUL
By Greg Rolnick
Understanding that this is anything but a typical theatre group,
I’m still not quite sure what to expect as I take my seat
on the metal bleachers of a tiny gymnasium in the neighborhood
of Uptown Chicago, prior to this evening’s open dress
rehearsal. A young actress with an angelic smile and the slightest
traces of Down’s syndrome winks at me and lets me know
that she’s glad I’ve arrived for the show.
Tomorrow is the opening night of “The Whole World Gets
Well,” and the normal last-minute theatrical chaos has
set in. The choreographer attempts to run through three dance
sequences in less than three minutes, and cast members attempt
to remember their lines as well as their blocking. Above the
stage, the lights flicker on and off as they struggle to pull
enough power from the overtaxed house circuits without blowing
any fuses.
The backdrop of the set is a vibrantly colored mural, depicting
various city scenes and people. But what catches my eye is the
illustration of a boy running down an alleyway flying a kite,
as a pair of nonplussed penguins looks the other way. The image
is nonsensical, imaginative and captivating, and in its own
way, it encapsulates the essence of the Scrap Mettle SOUL Community
Performance Ensemble.
Scrap Mettle SOUL [Stories Of Urban Living] was founded in 1994,
by Dr. Richard Owen Geer as a bastion of community theatre in
Chicago. Each play that is produced is based on stories gathered
from the surrounding neighborhood, and performed by members
of the community. The result is a multi-ethnic, mixed-gendered,
cross-generational bevy of actors with varying degrees of experience.
Although the youngest cast members, at around 6 or 7 years of
age, turned up the cute factor to 11, it was the oldest member
of the ensemble who stole the show. Ida Wolfson, a spry 94-years-old,
managed to upstage everyone in her only scene while reciting
one line of dialogue.
The SMS troop is also home to numerous actors who have various
mental, physical, and sociological handicaps, making it a haven
for those who may have been denied a creative outlet in the
past.
The play, “The Whole World Gets Well,” is a series
of vignettes dealing with the inadequacies of the American health
care system, as told through the eyes of those who live in the
Uptown neighborhood. Actors portray Appalachian storyteller,
Ray Hicks, and Chicago radio legend, Studs Terkel, who put a
dramatic spin on an often times, unsettling reality.
This innovative approach to assisting the mentally challenged
and disenfranchised has drawn worldwide attention. During rehearsals
for its upcoming performance, the SMS received a visit from
England's Health Minister, Hazel Blears. She came to observe
how the theatre program positively affected the lives of the
actors involved, and to see if she could implement a similar
program in her home country.
"The point here is to tell stories that heal rifts between
people, and to really build community as you do it," explained
the play's co-director, Christopher Wieland.
Wieland, an award-winning independent filmmaker, and his fiancée
Stephanie Glazer, a professional casting director, have donated
their time and services to the production because they say they
strongly believe in what can be accomplished by getting involved
with a theatre program at its most basic level.
Weiland explained to me how the theatre allows people to explore
their own possibilities. "I've seen women who are terrified
of the outside world get up on a Scrap Mettle stage and belt
out a solo," he said.
Melanie Decelles is a promising actress and extremely precocious
12-year old. In the midst of her third SMS performance, she
has obviously adapted well to her surroundings and cast members.
She exudes an air of confidence and maturity that belies her
age, but explains that she wants to remain with the ensemble
because “it’s too much fun to leave.”
In contrast, a magnetic woman named, “Stix” (for
the drumsticks she carries with her at all times), is a recovering
alcoholic, who also happens to be homeless. After this evening’s
rehearsal she informs me that she will be sleeping on the El.
Judging by the smell of her breath, Stix has lapsed a bit with
her recovery, but she appears confident and secure with herself,
and even offers a working pen when mine runs out of ink.
Despite her circumstances, and a few scant lines of dialogue,
Stix makes her way to the theatre each day to perform simply
because she needs to “find things to do.” Out there
she is shunned and avoided. In here she is accepted and appreciated.
And special.
To act is to become someone else, to lose yourself in your character.
Community theatre is the building block of the art form-- ground
zero. And here, in a tiny gymnasium in Uptown Chicago, you have
6-year-olds and 94-year-olds, the homeless and the sheltered,
professionals and neophytes, lifting their voices in song and
exiting the building with a smile and a flourish.
As I prepare to drive home, I notice the young actress who winked
at me, holding her mother’s hand and skipping through
the parking lot on her way home. She wears a grin from ear to
ear, and watching her exult in her new celebrity and confidence,
so do I.
*The Scrap Mettle SOUL Community Performance Ensemble will be
performing “Whole World Gets Well” from April 26
to May 5, 2002, at the Margate Park Fieldhouse in Chicago, IL.
Contact SMS at (773) 275-3999 for tickets/information. |