72 Knives in Hens by David Harrower dir Kimberly Senior for Strawdog Theatre. I used to have so many beautiful photos from this show. Sadly they went down with dying computers and I somehow misplaced the disc they were on in one of several moves. Which is a shame because it was a beautifully designed show. AND MY FACIAL HAIR WAS GLORIOUS. Both John Ferrick and myself stopped shaving they day after Caesar closed (10/27/02) and we didn’t shave again until closing night (3/8/03). The play tells the story of Young Woman and her husband, Pony William and her interactions with the Miller, in a rural community sometime in the past. It ends with the Miller and Young Woman consummating their relationship while Pony William dies slowly from being crushed to death by a millstone. Julie Stanton was our live violinist throughout the show. This was a dark time for the rebellion folks. We were in the middle of getting our PPA license so we could be street legal. For those of you not here or too young to remember, in February of 2003 a nightclub called E2 which had over 80 code violations and was operating illegally, had an incident where a stampede to avoid pepper spray used by the bouncers killed 21 people. The city’s response to this was to go after every non-equity storefront theatre in town. Since we were in the process of getting our license and still performing, they came and fined us. On top of that, Strawdog had literal pornographers living upstairs, who in the middle of our run decided to have a “fundraiser” so we actually had to cancel a performance because it would have been pointless with several hundred people overhead. Next day I show up early, two people ring the bell, I let them in, they say “You in charge?” I say “Can I help you?” They flash badges. I say “how can I help you officers?” Turns out the “fundraiser” got raided the night before for not securing any licenses and selling alcohol to minors and they are here to shut us down because THE PORNOGRPHER BASTARDS CLAIMED THEY WERE STRAWDOG THEATRE. #retrospective #2003 #knivesinhens #davidharrower #kimberlysenior #strawdog #ponywilliam #beards #nicdimond #millstone #ppa #upstairpornographers (at Chicago, Illinois) https://www.instagram.com/p/B6n4KwOJLEU/?igshid=19vmkepvan96t
