SALEM. THIS LAND IS.
Their first show, Salem. This Land Is., now playing at the Chicago Actors Ensemble, is a rich performance piece, combining transcripts from the Salem witch trials with dance generated by the ensemble and choreographer Peter Carpenter and original material by director Lee Anne Schmitt. The idea is to explore the modern equivalent of the hysteria in Salem in 1692, which led to the hanging of between 19 and 23 people (the counts vary) as witches and the jailing of over 100 others. Not content to simply present the trials as uninterpreted parable (needless to say, it’s been done), the Disillusion Theater Project treats them as a legacy that we’re destined to come to terms with at the turn of each century.
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That message is a fine one, and most of the images in this piece are striking; but the preaching we can do without.
