Content (c) 2023 Sideshow Theatre Company

"It's lonesome in this house."

It’s Christmas, 1975, and the crawlspace is open in suburban Chicago. John Wayne Gacy, Jr. is a man with secrets beneath his floor, but when his wife and friends start asking questions, he withdraws into his own world and his late-night conversations with the smoking, swaggering Duke who shares his name. As ghosts begin crowding the household, the divide between dream and reality vanishes, and the smell just keeps on getting worse. Sideshow Theatre Company and playwright Calamity West delve deep into the mind of one of America’s most notorious killers in this World Premiere production and unearth an otherworldly meditation on masculinity and violence that hits all too close to home, even now.

 

Approximate run time: 90 minutes, without intermission

 

June 23 - July 29, 2012

Theater Wit

1229 West Belmont Avenue

 

This program is partially supported by a grant

from the Illinois Arts Council Agency.

​

CAST

PRODUCTION TEAM

PHOTOS

PRESS

"Rich and well-crafted... a truly fascinating performance."

Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune

 

"Compellingly creepy."

Kris Vire, Time Out Chicago

 

"A creepily compelling performance... well-acted, inventively designed."

Albert Williams, Chicago Reader

 

Recommended!

"Luther's intensely haunting portrayal will stick with you!"

Zach Freeman, New City

 

"Cleverly written to go deeper than the sensationalized character that was plastered across the front page of the Tribune."

Janna Dons, Gapers Block

 

"A thoughtful, occasionally gripping meditation on the banality of evil."

Rory Leahy, Centerstage

 

"Navigates this convoluted and frightful territory with psychological dexterity and olympian empathy."

Johnny Oleksinski, Podunk Critic

SUPPORT

CONTACT

ABOUT

GET INVOLVED

WHAT'S ON

by Calamity West

directed by Jonathan L. Green

 

June 23 - July 29, 2012

Theater Wit

1229 W Belmont Avenue

 

Run time: 90 minutes, without intermission

It’s Christmas, 1975, and the crawlspace is open in suburban Chicago. John Wayne Gacy, Jr. is a man with secrets beneath his floor, but when his wife and friends start asking questions, he withdraws into his own world and his late-night conversations with the smoking, swaggering Duke who shares his name. As ghosts begin crowding the household, the divide between dream and reality vanishes, and the smell just keeps on getting worse. Sideshow Theatre Company and playwright Calamity West delve deep into the mind of one of America’s most notorious killers in this World Premiere production and unearth an otherworldly meditation on masculinity and violence that hits all too close to home, even now.

 

​

This program is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency.

​