ECC vets stake claim on suburban theater

Janus Theatre's "Measure for Measure"

Where: Elgin Art Showcase, 8th floor, 164 Division St., Elgin

Times: 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; 3 p.m. Sundays through Sept. 9, no show Sept. 2

Tickets: $15, $12

Phone: (847) 931-0637 or www.janustheatre.org

Shakespeare changed Sean Hargadon's life.

Twice.

The first time was in 1995 when Hargadon found himself transfixed by Elgin Community College's production of "Twelfth Night," directed by ECC theater instructor Terry Domschke. The show so captivated the then-27-year-old, he signed up for one of Domschke's acting workshops. More training followed, as the "poet-postman," who delivered mail by day and performed poetry by night, devoted himself to his new obsession.

The second time was in 1997 when Hargadon saw "Romeo and Juliet" and Sophocles' "Oedipus Rex" at Canada's Stratford Festival. By the time Domschke cast Hargadon as Benvolio in ECC's 1997 production of "Romeo and Juliet" which marked Hargadon's fifth Shakespeare play, the budding actor's fate was sealed.

Now, 10 years after he fell under the playwright's spell, Hargadon performs "Measure for Measure" with his own company when Janus Theatre, the ensemble he co-founded, stages its first Shakespeare play in its first permanent home.

"Measure for Measure" -- with its sexual themes and ambiguous morality -- isn't as immediately accessible as "The Taming of the Shrew," "A Midsummer Night's Dream" or "Much Ado About Nothing" which are more likely to appeal to suburban audiences.

But that's the point. Janus -- which has produced works by French playwrights Pierre Marivaux and Georges Feydeau, along with lesser-known plays by Sam Shepard, John Guare and Terrence McNally -- rarely plays it safe. It would have been easier to do a lighter play, but that wouldn't have been Janus.

"I wanted a show to challenge the actors that hadn't been in repertory in Elgin for a long time," says "Measure for Measure" director Domschke. "It's a fascinating story. It has so much to do with modern-day politics and the struggle between differing ideas of morality."

"If theater is going to do its job, it has to bring those pieces to the attention of the public," he says. "I like plays with a lot of thought, with viable and interesting themes that will challenge audiences."

By that yardstick, "Measure for Measure" measures up.

Home at last

Hargadon and Domschke founded Janus (named after the Roman god of beginnings and endings represented by two faces looking in opposite directions) in 1998. The company, which has a flair for spare and witty works by authors like David Ives and David Sedaris, began producing the following year. Although based in Elgin, the group -- which earned the Impresario Award at 2004's London Fringe Festival in Ontario -- settled into Arlington Heights' Vail Street Café until new owners forced them to find a new home in 2000.

"Thus began our quest of found spaces," said Hargadon of the ensemble, which spent the next few years gypsying between Elgin where members performed in a brewpub, malt shop and greenhouse as well as a Chicago theater.

It made staging a challenge, says Joe Schuman, another of Domschke's former students and one of Janus' founding ensemble members.

"We always wanted to do Shakespeare," he says, "but the spaces wouldn't allow it."

The company's search for a permanent home ended earlier this year when they took up residency in the Elgin Art Showcase. Having a space to call their own makes all the difference says Hargadon.

"It gives you credibility," he says.

But like every theater company, attracting and retaining an audience remains their greatest challenge.

"We don't know enough bodies to pad our audience," jokes Hargadon, who relinquished his postal route long ago and now works in corporate communications for the U.S. Postal Service. And while more conventional plays might attract larger crowds, they would come at the expense of the company's mission.

"Rather than take the easy choice, we try to get the audience beyond their comfort zone," says Hargadon. "There are very few companies doing classical theater out here. If we don't do it, it isn't going to get done."

Sarafina Vecchio, a London-trained actress and ECC alum who joined the company in 2003, admits to having been tempted to compromise their vision in order to make a profit.

"Should we sell out to make money?" says Vecchio. "Sean says, 'Why? We need to do what we believe in.'"

"We won't do things half-hearted," she says. "That's not what we're about."

Final stretch

On a hot August night, a week before opening, the youngish cast gathers on the eighth floor of the Elgin Art Showcase for rehearsal. They're not in the home stretch, but they can see it from there. Minor costume and prop issues arise, but things run smoothly under the watchful eye of the soft-spoken Domschke. The actors seem comfortable with the language. They know their lines and their blocking, adjusting their movements to fit the narrow confines of the rehearsal space.

"Measure for Measure" marks Ryan Swikle's Janus debut.

"I can commute to Elgin for Shakespeare," laughs the Chicago resident, a veteran of Montana Shakespeare in the Parks, who plays the duke who disguises himself as a friar in order to observe his subjects.

Swikle likes Janus' scaled-down production, and he likes that the company has taken on one of the Bard's "problem plays."

"I think it's brilliant," he says of Domschke's choice. "We could do "A Midsummer Night's Dream" or "Much Ado," but we're going further. We're doing a show more challenging."

Whether they meet Shakespeare's challenge remains to be seen. Hargadon admits not every one of the company's 37 production has lived up to expectations.

"We do what we do," he says. "We do what we believe in."

And when a show fell flat, they picked themselves up and tried again. Because Hargadon and his company are in it for the long haul.

"Every town has a Target," he says. "Every town should have a theater."

Elgin has Janus. And they intend to stay.