In an unnamed midwestern city sometime in the early 90s, an elderly white
woman lives out her days entirely through her television, while a young
black woman struggles to get by in a faltering economy. Their stories echo
and intertwine in The End of TV, Manual Cinema’s transfixing new
multimedia show, which is receiving its Chicago premiere at the Chopin
Theatre. It’s a beautiful thing to look at and listen to, with enough real
empathy for our country’s living conditions to give it contemporary
resonance.
The soullessness of factory work and television are contrasted repeatedly
with the nurturing qualities of growing plants in the soil, the implication
being that industrial society has alienated humanity from nature both
literally and figuratively. The older woman has withdrawn entirely into the
shadow play of her TV screen, while the younger one has gone about her life
like an automaton since losing her father, from home to work and back.
Through 8/5: Thu-Sat 7 PM, Sun 3 PM; aftershow Sat 9:15 PM, Chopin Theatre, 1543 W. Division, manualcinema.com, $30, $20 students and seniors.
