“Come Undone” explores intense themes including suicide, self-harm and sexual abuse. It’s a play Ella Spoelstra relishes directing and thinks is important for people to see.
Written by playwright Louis Arata and intended for mature audiences, “Come Undone” opens at Three Brothers Theatre March 4. It runs Fridays and Saturdays through March 26.
Spoelstra, who has a degree in theater performance from Carthage College in Wisconsin, said when she read the play, she was immediately drawn to directing it.
The Chicago resident, who also works as marketing director for BoHo Theatre in Chicago, said she prefers new plays like “Come Undone,” written by a playwright-in-residence at Three Brothers Theatre.
“Three Brothers Theatre is so dedicated to new plays and new voices and I think that’s not necessarily standard for all theaters,” she said.
She enjoys acting in and directing new plays because they “are often about topics that are super important and yet don’t get a lot of light shed on them.
“This play is about sexual abuse, and particularly about a man. I don’t think you hear that story often, or you don’t hear it with the same gravity as when you hear stories of women survivors,” she said.
Spoelstra met with the playwright to discuss the show’s direction. “He adapted it from a novel he wrote,” she said. “It’s about Kenny, a college student, dealing with the aftermath of his mother’s death, coming to terms with the abuse he endured by the hand of his mother, the process of healing for him and how that doesn’t always take a linear path.”
Researching the issue, Arata learned of existing attitudes toward abused men that ring true today, Spoelstra said. Several scenes explore those attitudes. In one scene, a character ask what others think about males getting sexually abused. A male character responds, “That’s called getting lucky.”
One of the most interesting aspects of the play is a character that is faceless and called The Shape.
“That character is supposed to be many things, a manifestation of Kenny’s memories, the ghost of his mother, the light and the dark in him. It’s all of these things,” Spoelstra said.
“Sometimes Kenny finds comfort in The Shape. Then there’s one scene they scream at each other until they run out of breath. The Shape can’t talk, but it can make noises.”
“We’re in this black box theater, and have to work at how to make it clear that Kenny always sees it, and that it messes with the other characters, but they can’t see it,” she said.
In the cast of nine, two women play the role of The Shape, which carries the brunt of the trauma of the show.
Spoelstra said she’s glad Three Brothers hired an intimacy director for the show. “That’s pretty rare for small theaters,” she said.
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“In this play, there are so many levels of intimacy, there’s a scene between him and his girlfriend Karen, and it’s very physical. He also has intimate moments with The Shape. We have to choreograph these reiterations of abuse without it being fully traumatic. It was so important to make the actors feel safe while staying true to the story.”
Intimacy Director Claire Wilcher told the cast if there’s any physical touching that made them hesitate, then they weren’t going to do it, Spoelstra said. “Claire gave them an array of different things they could do.”
In one scene, The Shape is supposed to grope the main character. Wilcher helped the cast stylize the scene so that intimate physical contact could be avoided.
Spoelstra said the audience will experience healing in the play. “There could be one scene where the main character is joking around and the next scene, he’s at his breaking point. That’ doesn’t mean he’s not processing. Healing is a marathon. It’s not a sprint,” she said.
“Almost the very last moment is the ray of hope, where he finds ways to gain control over the shape and in a sense gain control over his life again,” she said.
All patrons need to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Vaccination cards will be checked at the door before entry.
‘Come Undone’
When: 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, March 4-26
Where: Three Brothers Theatre Stage 115, 115 Genesee St., Waukegan
Tickets: $15-$20
Information: 224-419-4325; threebrotherstheatre.com
Sheryl DeVore is a freelance reporter for the News-Sun.