What’s old is new for Fools for Tragedy

Jordan Gwiazdowski didn’t set out to start a theater company. But when he missed an audition, the Hamlet monologue within him raged to get out.

“It was trapped inside,” he said. “It was a fire-under-the-seat-of-your-pants kind of thing.”

That drive led Gwiazdowski to find a collection of like-minded actors, eventually molding them into Fools for Tragedy. The company made its debut in August with In My Mind’s Eye, a re-imagined Hamlet Gwiazdowski crafted to focus on the Prince’s fractured personalities. That set the tone; Fools for Tragedy has dedicated itself to classics redesigned for new generations of theatergoers.

A lofty goal, but Gwiazdowski sees it as fitting his everyday life, where he’s not always surrounded by actors and other theater professionals.

“My life’s not deeply saturated with theatrical people,” Gwiazdowski said. “I’m around a younger generation who may not have been exposed to theater as an option.”

Gwiazdowski brings that exposure — he’s also performed in shows at local theaters including Greendale Community Theater, Carte Blanche Studios and Soulstice Theater — along with his own passion and vision, which he hopes to fit into the greater Milwaukee theater scene.

“(Theater’s) about being together,” Gwiazdowski said. “You can be active and involved without trying to impress and show off.” He added that proceeds and donations from In My Mind’s Eye went to benefit Soulstice Theatre.

The Fools’ next show, Waiting came about as an indirect result of their community approach. After In My Mind’s Eye closed at the Alchemist Theatre, Alchemist’s Aaron Kopec approached Gwiazdowski about filling a series of weekends in February. Gwiazdowski quickly signed on for the dates, then came up with Waiting as a quick show that didn’t require an extensive set or costumes.

“I’m all about minimalism, because I’m not that rich,” Gwiazdowski said. The classic in question for Waiting is Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, an absurdist play centered on two men waiting for a third (Godot) who never comes. Waiting translates that premise to a theater, where actors wait for the first rehearsal of a production of Godot.

The production gets more meta quickly. Gwiazdowski said much of the play features two actors discussing the meaning of Waiting for Godot, and chairs have been placed onstage at the Alchemist so the audience is watching what’s going on in the seats, instead of the other way around. “It’s a much grander set than I could have built,” Gwiazdowski said. “It looks like a theater because it is a theater.”

Adding a further twist is the Fools’ decision to shuffle the main roles for every performance. While six actors are on tap for the majority of the shows, they pull names from a hat to decide who plays whom on a given night. So every show is different.

“It could be brother/sister, business partners, two lovers,” Gwiazdowski said. “It’s all in the actors.”

Waiting runs from tonight (Feb. 9) to Feb. 18 at the Alchemist Theatre, and then moves to Villa Terrace Feb. 24, 25 and 26. Villa Terrace will also house Fools for Tragedy’s next show, Medea. Gwiazdowski said the show is a collaboration with fellow Fool Amber Smith. They plan an intimate production at a dinner party, with the show “exploding around the audience.” The date is TBA.

Gwiazdowski and company have other shows in the works—including Mercutio, a collaboration with Robby McGhee, being workshopped in the community.

“(In starting Fools for Tragedy) we didn’t want to just take up space,” Gwiazdowski said. “We’re looking to be part of a much bigger theater community.”

Fools for Tragedy’s Waiting opens at the Alchemist Theatre tonight, and runs there through Feb. 18, before moving to Villa Terrace Feb. 24-26. Tickets are $12 for all shows, with showtimes at 7:30 p.m. Visit the Alchemist’s website to order tickets, or call Villa Terrace at (414) 278-8295 to reserve tickets there.

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