Strangeloop Examines The Future Of Social Media In A Telepathic World

CHICAGO - March 18, 2015 - PRLog -- Strangeloop Theatre closes out its seventh season with the world premiere of Thinking Caps, a new original work by Company Member Keith Gatchel. Welcome to an era in which keyboards and the internet are dead, and telepathy and headsites are the new reality.

Everyone who is anyone has a Thinking Cap and they live in a semi-virtual, semi-real world where imagination is the key to success. But how far is too far when it comes to technology?Relevant to the audiences of today who are grappling with new and ever-changing methods of interaction, Thinking Caps explores the upsides and downsides of social media set in the virtual reality technology of the near future.

Gatchel said he was inspired to write Thinking Caps after realizing technology increasingly has become what defines who we are and how we relate to previous and future generations.

“About a year and a half ago, Strangeloop put on R.U.R., Rossum's Universal Robots, which was essentially the first ‘robot uprising’ story that we now see in movies like The Terminator,” Gatchel said. “What I realized during the production was that future stories aren’t as much about predicting the future as they are about reflecting the present. They’re period pieces set in a world that’s yet to happen.”

Thinking Caps takes audiences on a journey through the lives – real and virtual – of the Cusick family, as they grapple with the predominance of the technology that brought them together and now threatens to tear them apart.

The cast of Thinking Caps is Drew Wancket (Charles Cusick), Laura Stratford (Maggie Cusick), Jaclyn Jensen (Kim Ayers), Casey Kells (David Scrab) and Ellen DeSitter (Emma Cusick).

Thinking Caps is the first play to be developed as part of Strangeloop Theatre's new internal development program. A 10-minute version of Thinking Caps initially appeared as part of the company’s short play and development series, Loopshop, in 2012. A series of readings and feedback followed, resulting in the script audiences will see in May.

Directed by Strangeloop Company Member Maria Burnham, Thinking Caps runs May 8 through May 31 at The Charnel House (3421 W Fullerton Ave.) in Chicago’s Logan Square neighborhood at 8 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. on Sundays.

Tickets are $18 for general admission and available online at Brown Paper Tickets: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/1347699. Discounts are available for students and senior citizens.

Strangeloop Theatre pursues the undiscovered. Our pursuit is guided by the following:

1. NEW WORK - Producing new or newly adapted work, we ensure that any Strangeloop show will be a unique experience for our audience and ourselves.
2. STORIES OF SCOPE - Focusing on work that is large in scope - whether sweeping tales or stories dealing with large ideas - we present plays of consequence.
3. COLLABORATION - Giving a strong role to each element of production, we emphasize processes that allow more voices to emerge.
4. IMMEDIACY - Using intimate spaces and excellent actors, we bring our audience a visceral understanding of story.