RAMONA ROTTEN
UPCOMING PROJECTS
Phèdre
November 8th-24th at 7pm
Tickets: $20
The Labyrinth Club ~ 3658 North Pulaski Rd
A searing tragedy in a world of gods, kings, forbidden love, and unraveling secrets.A woman, consumed by a treacherous devotion, must keep her lust buried or else ignite a catastrophic chain of events. What if love is the thing that destroys us all?Racine’s tale of obsession, honor, and the devastating cost of passion brought to sparkling new life. This fall at the Labyrinth Club.Produced by Ramona Rotten and the Meat Machine
Directed by Ryan Kenney
The Worm My Sister
The Meat Machine presents A Red Orchid Incubator production ofThe Worm My SisterConceived of and Directed by Ramona RottenDevised and Performed by the Meat MachineDecember 5, 2024 – December 15th, 2024 at A Red Orchid TheatreFeaturing Lynda Cortez, Sam Hurwitz, Kelsey Rich, John Francis Klingle, Quinn Leary, Melissa Jane Carlson, Paul Brennan, Lou Smith and Emily CobbEnter the fractured world of The Worm My Sister, a haunting experiment from Ramona Rotten and the Meat Machine, running December 5th-15th. Born from a fevered process of communal creation, this piece unveils a fog-bound island where reality dissolves, and two figures—Miranda and her clone, Not-Miranda—drift between presence and performance under the looming eye of Father Daddy. Inspired by The Tempest, the lives of the Dionne quintuplets, and Guy Debord’s critique of spectacle, The Worm My Sister is a ritual of voyeurism, exploitation, and transformation. Texts unravel nightly, bleeding new meanings with each performance.
ABOUT RAMONA ROTTEN
Ramona Rotten is multidisciplinary artist based in Chicago, IL where she is the artistic director of the Meat Machine Theatre. Her interest in avant-garde performance began at an early age, but crystallized while she was a student at the University of New Mexico. Fascinated by all that is obscure, obscene and strange , Rotten's work confronts our preconceived notions about respectability, history and good taste. She is an advocate against censorship, and she is currently staging plays that have been banned or censored from around the world.
PREVIOUS PROJECTS
Plague of Filth
October 18th - 20th at 7pm
Tickets: Pay What You Can
The Labyrinth Club ~ 3658 North Pulaski Rd
Plague of Filth is a visceral anthology of short plays that revel in confronting taboos, peeling back the layers of societal restraint to expose the grime we hide within. This collection luxuriates in the filth we suppress—grotesque humor collides with raw emotional exposure, creating a chaotic dance between the obscene and the suppressed. Each piece teeters on the edge of moral collapse, unearthing tensions between our primal desires and the boundaries of respectability. Blending tragedy, absurdity, and bold provocation, Plague of Filth challenges audiences to sit in their discomfort and unearth meaning within the crass, the obscene, and the deeply transgressive.
La Ronde
August 23rd ~ September 8th at 7pm
Tickets $20
The Labyrinth Club ~ 3658 North Pulaski Ave
"La Ronde" by Arthur Schnitzler is a provocative and satirical examination of sexual dynamics and social hierarchies. The play is structured as a series of ten interconnected scenes. As the characters move from one encounter to the next, their interactions expose the vulnerability, hypocrisy, and loneliness that underlie their seemingly confident pursuits of pleasure. With its witty dialogue and sharp insights, "La Ronde" challenges audiences to reflect on the complexities of relationships and the social mores that influence them, ultimately revealing the universal and timeless nature of human intimacy and connection. The cyclical structure of the play reinforces the notion that while specific desires may change, the human experience of love and lust remains an inextricable part of life.Approximate Run Time: 1hr 45min (with no intermission)Note: Labyrinth is a private club, rather than a public venue; visitors will be asked to sign a guestbook on entering, which confers a 24-hour membership at the club. There is no extra fee due at the time of ticket purchase or on arrival.Transportation Info: Street parking is usually possible nearby. The venue is 0.5 miles south of the Irving Park Blue Line station, and 0.2 miles west of the Addison Blue Line station.Accessibility Info: Labyrinth Arts is a first-floor space with an accessible entrance, no stairs, and one single-stall restroom; the restroom doorway is slightly smaller than ADA standard, and may be difficult for some wheelchairs to navigate.
Machinal
May 10th and 11th at 7pm
Tickets $20
906 North Ashland, Chicago, IL, 60622
Machinal is a play by Sophie Treadwell that portrays the life of a young woman in the 1920s who feels trapped in a mechanized society. Through the language of machinery and the relentless repetition of daily life, the play highlights the dehumanizing effects of conformity and the pressures to fit in as just another cog in the machine. As she struggles to break free from the societal expectations and constraints placed upon her, the consequences of not conforming become increasingly deadly. Machinal serves as a haunting reminder of the dangers of losing oneself in a world where individuality is crushed by the demands of modern life.
Directed and Designed by Ramona RottenAssistant Directed by Asa WallaceProduced by Ramona Rotten and Alan LewisStarring Tori Delaney, Caleb Ryan Jones, Ryan Kenney, John Francis Klingle, Michael Oakes, Janey Elliott, Lexy Weixel, Paul Brennan, Angie Milton, Quinn Leary and Nolan Rice
THE CLOSET
The Closet is a mini-festival of staged readings that offers a fresh perspectie on classic closet dramas written by women. It actively seeks to highlight the often overlooked voices of femme playwrights and creators within the genre of closet drama, shedding light on their unique perspectives and experiences.Each reading invites audiences to delve into the rich and complex worlds created by these women playwrights, exploring themes of hidden desires, societal expectations and the struggle for self-actualization. Incorporating the queer perspective adds a new layer of depth and nuance to these already powerful works, offering an interpretation that challenges traditional notions of gender and sexuality.Featuring the following plays:
Armgart by George Eliot
Canute the Great by Michael Field
The Convent of Pleasure by Margaret Cavendish
March 14th-16th at 7:30pm
Free
The Labyrinth Club
3658 North Pulaski
A theatrical
SMORGASBORD
"I am running towards happiness
I am burning in the eyes of passing days
I swallow jewels"
~Tristan Tzara
March 1st-3rd at 8pm
Tickets $15
The Labyrinth Club
3658 North Pulaski
Embark on a chilling descent into the shadows with a theatrical smorgasbord that unravels the twisted threads of early avant-garde plays. Peer into the abyss of loneliness, confront the death of god, and test the limits of your own understanding in a nightmarish production that leaves no soul untouched. Featuring short plays by Valerii Briusov, Maurice Maeterlinck and Tristan Tzara, this limited theatrical experience will be presented on March 1st, 2nd and 3rd at The Labyrinth Club. Some viewers might find the contents of this show to be disturbing.
Directed and Designed by Ramona RottenProduced by Ramona Rotten and Alan LewisStarring John Francis Klingle, Caleb Ryan Jones, Steak Richardson, Michael Oakes, Ryan Kenney, Ian Mason and Asa Wallace
JOHN LYLY'S
GALLATHEA
"A heat full of coldness, a sweet full of bitterness, a pain full
of pleasantness, which maketh thoughts have eyes and hearts
ears, bred by desire, nursed by delight, weaned by jealousy,
killed by dissembling, buried by ingratitude; and this is love"
~John Lyly
February 8th at 7:30
Free
Open Space Arts
1411 W. Wilson
Gallathea is an Elizabethan comedy written by John Lyly, which explores a sapphic romance between two young women, Gallatha and Phillida. These women dress as men to avoid becoming sacrificial offerings to Neptune, God of the Sea. Escaping to the forest, they fall deeply in love with eachother. There, they are forced to nagivate their bureoning desire while evading a dark fate. Lyly’s work beautifully combines fantasy, wit and comedy to create a queer storyline that is capitvating and unique to its era.This is a staged reading, directed by Ramona Rotten as part of the development process for a full production of the play later this year.Starring Hannah Blau, Caitlin Dooks, Tori Delaney, Greta Mae Geiser, Laura Smith, Katya Mazon, Cella Marz, Leah Huskey, Perry Le Tourneau, Caleb Ryan Jones, Ryan Kenney, and Ramona Rotten
THE MECHANICAL MESSIAH
December 8th-16th 2023
At Trap Door Theatre
As Part of the Trap Open Series
The Mechanical Messiah tells the story of John Murray Spear, a 19th-century radical, who attempted to usher in a Utopian future using the powers of the spirit world and modern technology.In this existential farce, a pair of clairsentient eccentrics struggle against the vagaries of ushering in Utopia. Created by Ramona Rotten and Denver Hoffman, this new and exciting work examines “the trials borne in the secret chambers of the soul” through physicality, comedy and tenderness.
Written by Ramona Rotten and Denver Hoffman
Directed and Designed by Ramona Rotten
Produced by Ramona Rotten and Alan Lewis
Starring John Francis Klingle and Tori Delaney
YELLOW
June 9th-30th 2023
At Labyrinth Theatre
As Part of Rhinofest 2023
"It’s as if it knows how insidious it is. The way it lolls like a broken neck with two bulbous eyes that stare at you upside down. The everlastingness of its gaze is impossible to bear. Up and down. Sideways it crawls. Those absurd, unblinking eyes are everywhere"
A near-monodrama based on Charlotte Perkins Gilman's The Yellow Wallpaper
Adapted, Directed and Designed by Ramona Rotten
Stage Management by Denver Hoffman
Starring Tori Delaney
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