SPOKEN WORD CAFÉ 2025 | IN-PERSON (6/8)
SPOKEN WORD CAFÉ 2025 | IN-PERSON (6/8)
Chicago Filmmakers (map) | Sunday June 8, 2025 | 7:00PM
Acclaimed writer and artist David Hauptschein is again reviving his legendary "Spoken Word Café," a series he ran at Chicago Filmmakers in the 80s-90s. In keeping with the show’s original mission, this event will feature an eclectic mélange of performers in a veritable circus of the spoken word. These world-class performers include multitalented writer/actor Dominic Conti; artist/storyteller extraordinaire Tom Torluemke; and the inimitable actor/writer Charles Pike, who will be performing Hauptschein’s monologue WELTS!
PROGRAM WILL INCLUDE:
THE STANDARDIZED PATIENT by Dominic Conti; directed by Dexter Bullard; sound design by Joseph Fosco. A theatricalized solo and sonic performance of portions of Conti’s darkly funny, speculative psycho-futurist novel, set in three time frames against the inevitable invasion of the medical industry over all our souls.
OFF ITS AXIS by Tom Torluemke. Without gravity, no longer connected. Torluemke is painting, drawing, and sculpting for his life. For this event, Torluemke will be painting on top of a painting while simultaneously telling stories in his distinctive and disarmingly honest manner.
WELTS! performed by Charles Pike; written by David Hauptschein. Under the direction of London-based Julio Maria Martino, Charles Pike performs WELTS!, the first installment of Hauptschein's notorious FRANK MONOLOGUES. It is a twisted, hilarious journey into the deep, dark heart of the American medical establishment. At the start of this episode, we learn that Frank, Hauptschein’s alter ego, is suffering from an intractable condition of welts for which he has already consulted nine physicians. He is hoping that number ten will be the magic number.
Warning: There is no gunfire or strobe lights in this piece, but it is a play by David Hauptschein, so it goes without saying it is not for the squeamish!
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Chicago Filmmakers does not deny admission to those who do not have the ability to make a donation. Please email coop@chicagofilmmakers.org to inquire about free admission.
MORE ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Dominic Conti is a writer/performer based in Chicago. The Standardized Patient, a work in progress, is his second novel. His first is Your Book Club. He also co-wrote an award-winning short film (The Interview). He has written/performed for the stage with Plasticene (with Dexter Bullard) and performs with The Reduced Shakespeare Company. A partial list of theaters he has worked with include: Steppenwolf, The Goodman, Second City, Chicago Shakespeare, Mary-Arrchie, Raven, Odyssey, Lost Angels, and Madison Rep. He has also acted in films and commercials.
Dexter Bullard is a well-known Chicago-based theater director and has worked with Dominic Conti for over the decades with the experimental physical theater company, Plasticene. He has award-winning creative work represented on Broadway, off-Broadway, at Steppenwolf, Goodman, Northlight, Victory Gardens, A Red Orchid, Second City, as well as Next and Links Hall (RIP).
Joseph Fosco is a composer and sound designer. He has written music and designed sound for over 300 theatrical productions. He has won several awards including Joseph Jefferson awards, After Dark awards, an Orgie Theatre award, and was nominated for a New York Drama Desk award. His work has also been featured in various music festivals, museums and installations, as well in numerous online applications. He is an ensemble member of Chicago's A Red Orchid Theatre.
Tom Torluemke is an Indiana-based, contemporary artist. Born in Chicago, Illinois, his practice spans 40+ years and includes works in painting, drawing, sculpture, and installations in various mediums. Tom is known for his powerful, no-holds-barred approach to subject matter relating to sociopolitical, ethical, and humanistic themes. With over 150 solo and group exhibitions and 30 public art commissions throughout the Midwest, his work testifies to the relevance and scope of his ideas and his ability to present them in a meaningful context within their communities. This spring Torluemke will have his first major retrospective Tom Torluemke: Live! On Paper, 1987 - 2024 at the Chicago Cultural Center and the release of his first monograph Tom Torluemke: Live! On Paper, published by Skire Editore, Milan.
Charles Pike is a New Mexico-based actor/writer with an over 40-year history in theater and film. He has written plays that have been produced all over the U.S., including San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Chicago, where Pike also appeared in numerous productions at the Prop Thtr. Pike had a starring role in the feature film COUNTRY OF HOTELS, directed by Julio Maria Martino and written by David Hauptschein. In recent years he has performed three of Hauptschein's pieces from THE FRANK MONOLOGUES (The Bunkhouse, The Swim Club, and in 2024’s Spoken Word Café, The Magnetic Eye) as well as Hauptschein’s short play CAST at the Rhino Theater Festival in Chicago.
Julio Maria Martino is a London-based theater and film director. His work includes directing Steven Berkoff's KVETCH in various venues around the world. He has also directed over ten plays by David Hauptschein. London productions of Hauptschein's work include: TRANCE; THE PLAYACTOR, which was Time Out Critics Choice; AN ALCHEMY OF FLESH; and IN MEMORY OF EDGAR LUTZEN. The award-winning feature film COUNTRY OF HOTELS (also written by Hauptschein) is Martino's debut as a film director. Martino also directed the play LIFE’S A GATECRASH by Terry Hughes, which won a Fringe First Award at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
MORE INFO ABOUT THE CURATOR AND ARTIST DAVID HAUPTSCHEIN
David Hauptschein is a Chicago-based playwright, screenwriter, visual artist, and impresario. His plays have been produced in Chicago, New York, London, and Edinburgh. Hauptschein has also published two collections of plays, WHEN THE WALLS HAVE EARS AND OTHER PLAYS and AN ALCHEMY OF FLESH AND OTHER PLAYS. COUNTRY OF HOTELS, the feature film written by Hauptschein and directed by Julio Maria Martino, is being distributed by Terror Films and is currently available for streaming worldwide. Hauptschein is also the creator of the award-winning, experimental, animated short, FECUNDATION. Hauptschein’s visual art has been exhibited regularly in Chicago, and he has published four collections of pictures, the latest of which is entitled SELVES PORTRAIT: SELF-PORTRAITS. In his current visual art project, HAUPTscenes, he employs AI to boldly venture where no man has gone before.