finding gräfenberg
written & directed by graham brown
Now – March 14
Wednesday - Saturday
@ The Hairpin Arts Center
2810 North Milwaukee Ave., 2nd Floor
Chicago
trip. is pleased to present the midwest premiere of finding gräfenberg written & directed by graham brown. assistant directed by jason m. hammond, stage management by adam gallegos. featuring rosa san marchi, becca savoy, dan wilson, cyra k. polizzi. joel behne, stephen mcclure, morgan crouch, mercedes rohlfs, tony st. clair, angela k. bend, erin o'brien, taylor lacourse & kelsey risher
Reviews -
The Chicago Reader -
We overhear Zen koans, hilariously aberrant self-destructive fantasies, and ballooning expressions of materialistically driven angst (the dialogue might sound a lot like sketch comedy, but it doubles as existential farce)...the play’s a kind of sexed-up Waiting for Godot
Newcity -
"Brown captures the uncertainty, urgency and conspicuousness common to budding relationships. Slipping effortlessly between nerve-wracking anxiety and blissful fantasy like a new lover, surrounded by strangers, awaiting a response to their emoji-filled text, “gräfenberg” captures something essential while operating under the guise of experimental theater.
The Fourth Walsh -
Writer and director Graham Brown creates a corporate setting for his talented ensemble to delve into office and sexual politics. The drama feels uncomfortably close, spontaneous, and personal but so does the humor.
Playlist HQ -
Want to know what a sexualized 9-5 office job is like? This immersive theatrical production is for you!
What audiences are saying -
"finding Gräfenberg" finds the truth in office love and politics, grabs it by the throat and won't let go. A must-see production if you've ever worked in an office -- or survived an office Christmas party.
As if "hilariously aberrant self-destructive fantasies, and ballooning expressions of materialistically driven angst" and "a kind of sexed-up Waiting for Godot" weren't enough "making the Christmas tree symbolize a clitoris" wraps it up with a big red bow. See. This. Play.
I really enjoyed it. Love the interaction between characters and audience set in very intimate setting. Everyone in it is seductive and funny!
Anchored by a talented ensemble of Chicago actors, this is a clever, sexy workplace comedy seen through the lens of a unique and exciting presentation style. I highly recommend that you head over to the Hairpin Arts Center for a most entertaining evening.
gräenberg explores the sexual, professional and political tensions in and out of the work place with clarity and unapologetic honesty. By placing the action of the play amongst the audience, emphasis is placed on the dissolution of barriers between actor and spectator, without truly entering the world of the “interactive”. With an intimate acting style and environment, trip. seeks to draw the audience into the action, rather than push them away with spectacle or pretension.
finding gräfenberg the play
Originally produced in 2001 in New York City as a workshop production at the Blue Heron Arts Center, finding gräfenberg was a recipient of a grant from The New York State Council on the Arts. In March of 2004 trip., presented a two-month run of the playat The Second Story Theatre in the Shoo neighborhood of New York City. trip.’s inaugural Chicago February 2014 production 4PLAY Sex in a Series was written and performed as a companion piece to finding gräfenberg and utilizes the same techniques.
trip. invites the audiences somewhere they haven’t been before. With it’s first production, A Clockwork Orange (1995), which was the second American production and third in the world, the action of the play was placed into a converted movie theatre/dance hall. Key projects include; Christopher Marlowe’s Edward II (1997), recipient of grant from The Museum of Modern Art, finding grafenberg (2001) recipient of developmental grant from New York City Council of Arts and …hope. (2012), recipient of developmental grant from the Gowanus Art Festival.
Gräfenberg & the Gspot
The term "G Spot" was first introduced to the public at large in the book, The G Spot and Other Recent Discoveries About Human Sexuality. It referred to a 1950 article in the International Journal of Sexology in which Dr. Ernest Gräfenberg wrote about erotic sensitivity along the anterior vaginal wall. While many people have read or heard about Gräfenberg, few have read his actual words. In reality, Gräfenberg only uses the word "spot" twice and he uses it to make the opposite point to the way it has been popularly used. He states "there is no spot in the female body, from which sexual desire could not be aroused . . .. Innumerable erotogenic spots are distributed all over the body, from where sexual satisfaction can be elicited; these are so many that we can almost say that there is no part of the female body which does not give sexual response, the partner has only to find the erotogenic zones."