There's only one place in town where you can tie up a complete stranger, let out
a primal scream and pretend you are a bag lady who thinks she's found buried treasures.
Welcome to the Hat @ CCA, a monthly evening of spontaneous
acts of theater
performed by thespians and musicians who have the gumption
to risk looking
foolish in front of friends and strangers.
The performance begins every third Thursday of the month.
Participants throw
their names into a hat and host Danielle Reddick picks out duos, trios, quartets
and quintets to take center stage. There's a supply of props near by-high-heeled
shoes, funny hats, ropes, gloves and paper sacks, to name a few. Grab what you
like and let the fun begin.
During the March get-together, Andy Kirkpatrick picked up a shoe and began talking
into it about covert Air Force activities while his acting partner for the sketch,
Kate Marks, grabbed a rope, tied him up and called him "daddy" in a childish voice. In
another sketch, Reddick played the Jew's
harp while Kirkpatrick accompanied her with
a whiny set of vocalizations that sounded as if he was
in distress.
"Sometimes it's confusing, and I don't
quite, know what to do," said Kirkpatrick, who
waits
tables for a living. "But it's fun, and I like the
interactive experience."
Hat @ CCA was founded by actors Chris Jonas and Molly Sturges
two years ago as
a way of creating performance art.
Reddick was part of the group from the start and
an original
member who has stayed with it through thick and thin. An
actor since
childhood, she spent four years on tour with
the musical/theater troupe STOMP
before moving to Santa Fe and working with Theater Grottesco
and Shakespeare
in Santa Fe.
When CCA's new gallery space went through
recent remodeling, performers used
uncluttered corners
of the room or went outside if the weather was good. Now
that
the gallery space is finished, "mad
hatters," as Reddick calls the regulars, gather in
the spacious room on performance night, and no one knows
who'll show up on
any given evening. Sometimes professional
actors like Reddick decide to let loose
and have some improvisational
fun. People who've never taken a theater or music
class
in their lives but want to see what it's like to perform
in front of an audience
stop by and put their names in the hat. Reddick's husband,
producer and
videographer Giuseppe Quinn, interjects recorded musical
clips between acts.
"Newcomers often ask me how they'll
know when a sketch is done," said Reddick.
"Everyone
seems to know when it's over. It becomes apprent to
the performers
and audience."
Not every improvisational sketch works
out just like the performers wish it
did, but occationally
there are magical moments when the energy and dynamics
flow easily between everyone on stage. Half the fun is
seeing what happens.
"When I'm on stage, I make a point just
to be there and keep my mind fresh and
open," Reddick
explained. "It can feel like a fight-or-flight type thing,
but I've
learned not to worry about making
a fool of myself. I know that something will
come out of
my body or voice."
