The final performance of Spirits to Enforce, Saturday

December 20th, is SOLD OUT!

The Catastrophic Theatre

presents

the regional premiere of

SPIRITS TO ENFORCE

BY MICKLE MAHER 

AT BARNEVELDER MOVEMENT/ARTS COMPLEX

December 10-20

 Houston Chronicle: SPIRITS is "a triumph... awesome... inspired"

Directions to Barnevelder Movement/Arts Complex: 

Barnevelder is located at 2201 Preston Street, Houston, Texas, 77003, at the intersection of Preston and Hutchins, three blocks east of Minute Maid Park on theother side (east side) of Highway 59.

Directions if coming by I-10 or Highway 59:

• From I-10 --  take 59 South, take the very first exit (Hamilton St) and keep going straight  on the feeder road, turn L on Preston.
• From Highway 59 headed N -- after you pass underneath I-45, take the Polk St exit and keep going straight on the feeder road, turn R on Preston.
• From Highway 59 headed S --  take the Jackson St ("Downtown Destinations") exit, turn L on Franklin, R on Hamilton, L on Preston.

Coming some other way?

Below are some maps you can click on and print out for reference:

 More information about Spirits to Enforce:

Following directly on the heels of its critically lauded production of The Strangerer, Catastrophic’s back with another play from Chicago’s coolest playwright – Mickle Maher.  But instead of presidential politics and Camus, this time he’s dealing in superheroes and Shakespeare.  And telemarketing.

Twelve characters, twelve phones

Utilizing choral elements in both the theatrical and musical sense, Spirits to Enforce collides superheroes, telemarketing, and Shakespeare's The Tempest in a single rusting submarine. Onstage throughout, the cast relates the play’s action via telephone, their twelve voices intertwining a myriad of related storylines and themes to reveal a world both fantastic and familiar.

Mickle Maher, cofounder of Chicago's Theater Oobleck, has authored numerous plays, including An Apology for the Course and Outcome of Certain Events Delivered by Doctor John Faustus on This His Final Evening and The Hunchback Variations.  Recent plays include Cyrano (translator) and The Cabinet (Redmoon Theatre) and Lady Madeline (Steppenwolf).  He was the recipient of a Creative Capital grant for The Strangerer which ran off-Broadway this past summer at the Barrow Street Theatre. Redmoon Theatre's Hunchback, for which he wrote the spoken text, will play at New York's Victory Theatre this October. He is currently working on a libretto for an opera about Don Quixote. He is published by Hope and Nonthings (hopeandnonthings.com). 

According to Catastrophic artistic director Jason Nodler, “Working on Mickle’s plays is like peeling a magic onion.  He is a genius.  And his plays are a wonderful gift.”

“Only superheroes will perform the play, only superheroes will design the play and only superheroes will direct the play”

Dense, multilayered, many-storied, comic, melancholic, and sublimely mundane, Spirits to Enforce provides a perfect showcase for the remarkable actors of Catastrophic’s ensemble.

The cast features Wayne Barnhill (The Untangler), Noel Bowers (Fragrance Fellow), Tamarie Cooper (The Ocean), John Deloach (The Tune), Mikelle Johnson (The Intoxicator), Karina Montaño-Bowers (The Silhouette), Cathy Power (The Bad Map), Charlesanne Rabensburg (Memory Lass), Mike Switzer (The Snow Heavy Branch), Kyle Sturdivant (The Pleaser), Tek Wilson (The Page) and Walt Zipprian (Ariel).

Jason Nodler (whose own superhero play King Ubu is King was named “Best New Play” by The Houston Press in 1998) will direct.

Kevin Holden (set and lighting design) makes his Catastrophic debut.  Catastrophic veteran Chris Bakos handles sound design.

Tickets may be purchased though our website or by calling The Catastrophic Theatre Box Office at 713-880-5216.