No Danger of the Spiritual Thing: Short Works by Samuel Beckett

Coproduced by Curious Theatre Branch

Including performances by several of Chicago's most exciting artists, this series celebrates the 100th birthday of Samuel Beckett, the prolific Nobel Prize–winning Irish playwright, novelist, and poet. This intimate event features a multiplicity of kinetic site-specific performances in the hidden corners of the MCA, including the galleries, stairwells, and even the freight elevator. Each evening a series of four of Beckett's works can be seen including Play, performed by The Curious Theatre Branch; Footfalls, performed by Greasy Joan & Co.; Rough for Theater One, performed by Prop Thtr; and Fizzle 4, an adaptation of a prose-poem, directed by Jessica Thebus.

In addition to these plays, on Friday, January 13, Lucky Plush perform Come and Go, and on Saturday, January 14, The Hypocrites perform Not I. Setting the contemplative atmosphere for the evening, audiences are assigned to small groups and are led by performing docents to each play.

• Texts for Nothing

Sunday, January 15, 2006, 3 pm

On Sunday, January 15, there is a separate matinee performance of Texts for Nothing, a collection of 13 prose fragments, adapted into first-person monologues and performed by Chicago artists. The performances run in conjunction with Not I, an exhibition of artists' books and films by artists who have been influenced by Beckett.