Free Street Theater presents WASTED, a new youth-made show that draws on house, disco, and ballroom cultures to present a joyful and cheeky look at Chicago’s relationship to waste.
The Journey
In March 2020, the youth ensemble at Free Street was preparing to go into tech for a show called… WASTED, a play they had spent months researching and devising. As the world went into quarantine, they pivoted to a digital production cleverly designed to recreate the stage version using puppets, professional editing, and a tech team that taught them to use found objects to create theatrical effects at home.
This year’s WASTED draws on the original’s themes and the ensemble’s partnerships with Neighbors for Environmental Justice and the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization to present an entirely new production. The show revisits events like the Hilco implosion to explore the ways in which communities on the South and West sides are disproportionately impacted by environmental hazards. “I often witness conversations about climate change & environmental concerns as if the worst of it is a future problem,” says Producing Artistic Director Katrina Dion, “but for Chicago’s South and West side communities these environmental harms are already an everyday reality. Communities are getting ill and often dying because the city is placing its biggest environmental offenders right next to their homes, parks and schools. It’s a reality that needs to be known to all Chicagoans, disrupted, and stopped.”
Though WASTED explores serious issues facing Chicago, the youth ensemble tackles their work with Free Street’s trademark commitment to joy and justice, couching the show’s aesthetics in house, disco, and ballroom and using dance, humor, and warmth to invite the audience to join the movement for a healthier, happier, more sustainable future.
WASTED
Created by the Free Street Youth Ensemble
Directed by Katrina Dion, Marilyn Carteno, and Xitlali Celesté
May 5th – May 20th
Thursday & Fridays at 7pm, Saturday 3pm
Tickets are available for advance purchase on a sliding scale at https://wasted2023.eventbrite.com or pay-what-you-can at the door.
WASTED features 7 youth and 3 understudies (all aged 14-22), and is directed by Free Street’s Producing Artistic Director Katrina Dion (The Wizards, 57 Blocks), Marilyn Carteno (57 Blocks) and Xitlali Celeste (57 Blocks) also known as the drag diva Cindy Nero. The design team features Eleanor Kahn (scenic), Liz Gomez (lighting) Florence Borowski (sound), Ellie Terrell (props), Anais Ortiz (original music), Peter Wilde (technical direction), Quinn Chisenhall (production electrician), Sal Yvat (costumes).