Theatre for One™ (T41) is a mobile state-of-the-art performance space for one actor and one audience member. Designed by LOT/EK architects, T41 has commissioned over 100 new works by a diverse group of artists. Embracing serendipity, T41 is presented for free in public spaces. Audience members are invited to engage in an intimate theatrical performance which creates a reciprocal energy loop. – Christine Jones, Creator

This fall, in collaboration with the Chicago Architecture Biennial, The Poetry Foundation, Floating Museum, and Illinois Humanities, T41 is bringing to Chicago “Theatre for One: This Is A Rehearsal,” a poetic iteration of T41’s most intimate and compelling aspect—the exchange between human beings of meaning, beauty, work, and attention. “This Is A Rehearsal” will feature nine poets presenting newly commissioned works created for the booth, amplifying the power of poetry to dissolve the boundaries that might distance writers from readers, performers from audiences, human beings from human beings. Reading and listening to poems in the privacy of the T41 booth intensifies the intellectual and emotional connections poetry creates; it makes everything, including and especially language itself, shimmer and matter. “Theatre for One: This Is A Rehearsal” will activate poetry, connectivity, and our ability to hear one another in a space made at once for each of us and all of us. – Rachel DeWoskin, Curator

Installation is located in Randolph Square at the Chicago Cultural Center.

Featuring Premiere Commissions:

amerikan rehearsal by avery r. young, directed by Sasha Smith, performed by Sydney Charles
Ghost Q & A by Anne Carson, directed by Robert Currie, performed by Anne Carson & Shara Nova
Grateful by M’reld Green, directed by Mike Steele, performed by Maryam Abdi
invocation by kistiana rae colón, directed by Sasha Smith, performed by Sydney Charles
More and Better Song by Helene Achanzar, directed by Mike Steele, performed by Maryam Abdi
Switch/Gate by CM Burroughs, directed by Monty Cole, performed by Jessica Dean Turner
This is a Rehearsal by Tina Post, directed by Sasha Smith, performed by Tina Post
This is a Rehearsal: Poles by Rachel Dewoskin, directed by Mike Steele, performed by Rachel Dewoskin
U-N-I-T-Y Remixed by Nile Lansana, directed by Monty Cole, performed Jessica Dean Turner

Additional Audio Installation times to be added November 5 – February 11. Check back for details. 

November 1

12:30 PM – 4:30 PM – Live Performances of poems by avery r. young, kristiana rae colón, Rachel Dewoskin & Tina Post

November 2

11:00 AM – 12:30 PM – Audio Installation created by Andrew Schneider

12:30 PM – 4:30 PM – Live Performances of poems by avery r. young, CM Burroughs, Helene Achanzar, kristiana rae colón, M’reld Green, Nile Lansana & Rachel Dewoskin, 

November 3

10:00 AM – 1:00 PM – Open live technical rehearsal of poem by Anne Carson

2:30 PM – 4:30 PM – Live Performances of poems by avery r. young, CM Burroughs, Helene Achanzar, kristiana rae colón, M’reld Green & Nile Lansana

November 4

11:00 AM – 12:30 PM – Audio Installation created by Andrew Schneider

12:30 PM – 4:30 PM –Live Performances of poems by Anne Carson, CM Burroughs, Helene Achanzar, M’reld Green & Nile Lansana

Theatre For One: This Is A Rehearsal is presented by and made by many:
Andrew Schneider
Anne Carson
avery r. young
Bryan Hunt
Christine Jones
CM Burroughs
Helene Achanzar
JC Widman
Jessica Dean Turner
Kelsey Leigh Ervi
kristiana rae colón
M’Reld Green
Mara Isaacs
Maryam Abdi
Michael Francis
Mike Steele
Monty Cole
Nile Lansana
Nita Mendoza
Octopus Theatricals
Rachel Dewoskin
Robert Currie
Roy Kinsey
Sasha Smith
Shara Nova
SRĐA
Sydney Charles
Thomas Dixon
Tina Post
Ydalmi Noriega

Theatre for One: This is a Rehearsal poems were commissioned by the Poetry Foundation, and produced by Octopus Theatricals. The project was made possible with generous support from Jeanne Donovan and the Pritzker Pucker Family Foundation.