Jeff Award for Best Supporting Actor

“Thank you to my parents,” said Peter Oyloe, winner in the category of best supporting actor in a play for his work in “The Pillowman” at Red Twist Theatre,”for believing that you don’t have to have money to be successful.”

James T. Scott, winner for his work on Quest Theatre Ensemble’s “Evolution/Creation” thanked “the residents of Andersonville” for allowing the contents of their dumpsters to be recycled into Jeff Award-winning puppets.

Other major acting awards presented at Monday night’s event at the Park West nighterie went to Kendra Thulin, who played the title role in Steep Theatre Company’s hit production of “Harper Reagan,” Courtney Crouse of “Chess” and Darrell Cox of “Killer Joe.” The much-coveted award for ensemble was awarded to the Raven Theatre’s company for “Twelve Angry Men.” New-plays kudos were shared by Ellen Fairey (for “Graceland”) and Michael Rohd and Phillip C. Klapperich (for “Wilson Wants it All” at the House Theatre). And the Jeff committee presented a special award to Circle Theatre, which has been producing theater in Forest Park for 25 years.

“Our companies,” said Glen Z. Herring, chair of the Jeff Awards Committee, introducing Circle Theatre as emblematic of the entire Chicago theater, “are both fierce and fearless.”

David Cromer, who has two shows in Chicago this season and two shows on Broadway next season, presented the two Jeff awards for best play and musical. The theater-loving Ald. Joe Moore was present supporting Theo Ubique, located in his Rogers Park ward.

Hosts Kevin Bellie and Frances Limoncelli had many droll tricks up their sleeves, including a medley poking fun at the popularity of musicals by adding songs to plays (“The Pillowman can…”) that ended with the hosts leading the crowd at Park West, lighters in hand, singing “all we are saying, is give plays a chance.”

2010 NON-EQUITY JEFF AWARD RECIPIENTS

PRODUCTION / PLAY
“Killer Joe” – Profiles Theatre

PRODUCTION / MUSICAL
“Chess” – Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre with Michael James

DIRECTOR / PLAY
Rick Snyder for “Killer Joe” – Profiles Theatre

DIRECTOR / MUSICAL
Fred Anzevino and Brenda Didier for “Chess” – Theo Ubique with Michael James

ENSEMBLE
“Twelve Angry Men” – Raven Theatre

ACTOR IN A PRINCIPAL ROLE / PLAY
Darrell W. Cox in “Killer Joe” – Profiles Theatre

ACTOR IN A PRINCIPAL ROLE / MUSICAL
Courtney Crouse in “Chess” – Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre with Michael James

ACTRESS IN A PRINCIPAL ROLE / PLAY
Kendra Thulin in “Harper Regan” – Steep Theatre Company

ACTRESS IN A PRINCIPAL ROLE / MUSICAL
Maggie Portman in “Chess” – Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre with Michael James

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE / PLAY
Peter Oyloe in “The Pillowman” – Redtwist Theatre

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE / MUSICAL
John B. Leen in “Chess” – Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre with Michael James

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTNG ROLE / PLAY
Nancy Friedrich in “The Crucible” – Infamous Commonwealth
Vanessa Greenway in “The Night Season” – Vitalist Theatre with Premiere Theatre

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE / MUSICAL OR REVUE
Kate Garassino in “Bombs Away!” – Bailiwick Repertory Theatre

NEW WORK
Ellen Fairey for “Graceland” – Profiles Theatre
Michael Rohd and Phillip C. Klapperich for “Wilson Wants It All” – House Theatre of Chicago

NEW ADAPTATION
Frances Limoncelli for “Busman’s Honeymoon” – Lifeline Theatre

CHOREOGRAPHY
Brenda Didier for “Chess” – Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre with Michael James

ORIGINAL INCIDENTAL MUSIC
Trevor Watkin for “The Black Duckling” – Dream Theatre Company

MUSIC DIRECTION
Ryan Brewster for “Chess” – Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre with Michael James

SCENIC DESIGN
John Zuiker for “I Am My Own Wife” – Bohemian Theatre Ensemble

LIGHTING DESIGN
Sean Mallary for “St. Crispin’s Day” – Strawdog Theatre Company

COSTUME DESIGN
Theresa Ham for “The Glorious Ones” – Bohemian Theatre Ensemble
Joanna Melville for “St. Crispin’s Day” – Strawdog Theatre Company

SOUND DESIGN
Miles Polaski for “Mouse in a Jar” – Red Tape Theatre

ARTISTIC SPECIALIZATION
Lucas Merino: Video design for “Wilson Wants It All” – House Theatre of Chicago
James T. Scott: Puppets for “Evolution/Creation” – Quest Theatre Ensemble

FIGHT CHOREOGRAPHY
Geoff Coates for “Treasure Island” – Lifeline Theatre

SPECIAL AWARD
Circle Theatre

A spellbinding drama with pitch dark humor about a writer accused of perpetrating the very acts depicted in his murderous stories. The Pillowman is a vicious whirlpool of dazzling storytelling at the hysterical edge of creepy and encroaching, despair and doom.

The Pillowman

By Martin McDonagh
Directed by Kimberly Senior

Now Extended Through May 14th 2010

Rising-star director, Kimberly Senior, guides a stellar cast of company members and guest artists on a fearless journey thru the fascinating mind of the world’s preeminent playwright, Martin McDonagh. Redtwist’s leading young men, Associate Artistic Director, Andrew Jessop, and award-winning actor, Peter Oyloe, blaze a trail across lush landscapes of sound and fury as white-hot terror and pitch-black humor collide in a ball of flames amidst the fragility and hope of the human soul. When it comes to thriller, there’s everything else, and then there’s…The Pillowman.

Buy tickets online available now! Shows sell out!

Regular Ticket Prices:
Thu 8pm – $22, Fri 8pm – $27, Sat 8pm – $30, Sun 3pm – $27 Seniors/Students – $5 off

CHICAGO TRIBUNE REVIEW OF THE PILLOWMAN AT REDTWIST THEATRE

*** ½
“unforgettable production”
Nina Metz Special to the Tribune, Nov. 25, 2009

Certain things can only be revealed in close-up. It’s a tool well-suited to cinema but not often practical in theater unless the space is small and the director exceptionally clever.

Which brings us to Kimberly Senior’s unforgettable production of “The Pillowman” for Redtwist Theatre, which opened over the weekend and nails what far too few off-Loop theater companies (and their directors) are willing to go after. I’m speaking of intimacy that nearly goes too far.

Considering the material at hand — a black hole of grisly doings and spirited dark comedy from playwright Martin McDonagh — the tactic is a gamble. A writer of short fiction named Katurian is under interrogation, accused of crimes that mimic his stories of torture and murder (played expertly by Andrew Jessop as a man whose vanity gets the better of him).

What unfolds is a bonanza of grim campfire tales tucked inside a police procedural, wherein brotherly bonds are poked and prodded, and the lingering effects of abusive parents are splayed out for all to see.

A hefty chunk of McDonagh’s reputation as a dramatist (his works include “The Lieutenant of Inishmore,” seen at Northlight last season) is based on his knack for heightening human depravity and daring audiences to look away.

And yet, in one hell of a gutsy move, Senior takes all that instinct for recoil, gives it the heave-ho and places her actors within inches of the audience, which flanks two sides of the theater like a jury.

The blocking is tight and cramped. The cast has barely enough room to maneuver, and when they tussle they almost go splat right on your shoes. Sometimes you’re watching a scene from over an actor’s shoulder. Any false moves, and the effect — the jokes and the drama — would be blown, but the ensemble is up to the task and then some. Senior has assembled a crackerjack design team as well (Christopher Burpee’s lighting is especially focused) who have created a ripe, eavesdropping environment.

It’s dire stuff, but McDonagh wants to have fun, too. The interrogation borders on the inane half the time, at turns hilarious and appalling. The dialogue, with its Mamet-esque flavor, is a cacophony of interrupted utterances and overblown egos forever explaining their side of things.

It’s a rip-roaring experience, and one that I think McDonagh would appreciate quite a lot, for “The Pillowman” is full of claustrophobic moments and large-scale exaggerations.

But above all, the play is an excuse to talk about storytelling itself, which in this case is done best in small, precise increments, preferably in a room with a low ceiling, better to trap all those emotions before they dissipate in the air.

There is an object lesson here, I think. Three years ago Steppenwolf staged this play in a production that was good (and a good bit roomier) if not exactly special. Something about the expansive dimensions of that show allowed audiences to sit back and ponder the work from afar, whereas the shrunken confines at Redtwist force you to admire it from within. There is no escape. In theater, this is a very good thing.

Read some more reviews HERE