'Vagina Monologues' to stay off campus

Marquee PAGE 12THURSDAY,The Marquete TribuneMARCH 4, 2010Hinterlands experiment in MilwaukeeFirst show ‘one partsensual science experiment,one part rave’By Matthew Reddinmatthew.reddin@marquette.eduIf you’ve always wanted to see a playthat frantically combines Newton’s lawsof motion with romance, dance partiesand general mania, you’re probably not inthe majority.But, if now that you’ve heard of it,you’re more excited for a play than you’vebeen in a long time, it might be worthyour while to check out “Isaac Newton isour DJ,” the first show of the season fornew Milwaukee-based experimental theatergroup The Hinterlands.The group, founded by co-artistic directorsRichard Newman and Marquettealumnus Brian Moore, made its Milwaukeedebut with “Newton” in early Januaryat Moct Bar, 240 E. Pittsburgh Ave., andperformed to a sold-out crowd.The play, described promotionally as“one part sensual science experiment, onepart rave, and a couple slices of cake,”tells the story of two scientists battlingover different interpretations of Newton’slaws — one believes they pull peopleapart, while the other believes the lawspush people together.Over the course of the performance, thetwo scientists, through dance and experiments,try to win overthe audience. Mooresaid the play’s actionsurrounds the viewers,creating a vibrant, ravelikeatmosphere.“It’s not a straightforwardperformance, it’s aparty,” Moore said.However, since the show was only performedonce, Moore said the group decidedto offer two encore performances, bothtonight and March 11.“Because we only had one performance,lots of people didn’t get a chance to seethe show,” Moore said.He said the two performances will alsohelp bridge the gap between this showand their next, “The Dead Road,” whichwon’t open until early May.In addition, The Hinterlands will beoffering monthly theater workshops attheir practice space at Bucketworks, 706S. 5th St., where interested visitors canlearn improv and physical theater. Thethree-hour workshops are partly designedto help The Hinterlands create a two-wayinvestment with the people of Milwaukee,which Moore says is one of The Hinterlands’ultimate goals.“We want to be directly involved in acommunity,” Moore said.Moore said“It became really obviousreally quickly that this wasthe place to come back to. ...Milwaukee is our home.”Members of The Hinterlands performing their inaugural show, “Isaac Newton is our DJ,” at Moct Bar in January.it was this desire to create communitythrough theater that led him and The Hinterlandsback to Milwaukee. A 2004 graduateof Marquette’s theater departmentand former winner of the Chris FarleyBR I A N MO O R ECo-founder of The Hinterlandsscholarship, Moore saidhe stayed in Milwaukeeafter graduation andperformed with the nowclosedTheatre X groupbefore attending graduateschool in Blue Lake,Calif., at The Dell’ArteInternational School ofPhysical Theater.It was there he met Newman and someof the other members. Moore said he andNewman decided to put a company togetherafter Newman spent a year as anitinerant performer. The pair spent mostof a year looking for just the right place tostart The Hinterlands, a group which nowincludes six members, including Mooreand Newman.It turned outMilwaukee wasat the top oftheir list.“It becamereally obviousreally quicklythat this wasthe place tocome backto,” Mooresaid.Moore said The Hinterlands’ workwill be designed around the improvisationaland physical theater skills learnedat Dell’Arte. He said the group’s generalmethod for coming up with shows is tostart with a central image and then conductresearch to explore that idea.For example, for their next performance,“The Dead Road,” the ensemble is focusingon the central image of the western,and watching westerns like “The Good,the Bad, and the Ugly” and “El Topo”(The Mole) to get a sense of the concept.After that, the ensemble repeatedly performsimprov based on that topic to identifyrecurring themes.“Slowly but surely, things start to stick,”Moore said.Ironically, while The Hinterlands are inMilwaukee for the long haul, Moore saidthey have no interest in finding a permanentspace for performances. Currently,they practice at Bucketworks, a facilitythat offers creative organizations workspace,and plan to take their shows toother venues.Photo courtesy Brian Moore“We’d need a space that can transformas much as our performances do,” Mooresaid.Moore added that the other venues theyplan to travel to require trips outside Milwaukee.The troupe has plans to perform“The Dead Road” at Toronto’s CookingFire Festival in June, and to perform streettheater in Kosovo with Kosovar, Albanianand Roma youths in September.Regardless of where The Hinterlandstravel, Moore says Milwaukee will remaintheir point of origin.“Milwaukee is our home,” Moore said.The Hinterlands will be performing twoencores of “Isaac Newton is our DJ” atMoct Bar, tonight and Thursday, March11 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 to $15,and the show is 21+. The Hinterlands willalso be offering their monthly workshopat Bucketworks March 6 from 11 a.m. to2 p.m.The workshop costs $15, and the grouprecommends calling ahead to reserve aspot by phone at 1-414-208-4237 or via e-mail at info@thehinterlandsensemble.org.Photo courtesy Brian MooreThe characters of “Newton” make the audience part of the performance.