Moby Dick: Rehearsed

Theatre-Hikes takes on Moby Dick, the innovative theatre troupe that takes a classic play and stages its scenes at various locations along a trail in the outdoors requiring the audience to literally, physically, follow the action, Moby Dick: Rehearsed opens July 1 at The Morton Arboretum and runs through July 30 at both the Arboretum and the Little Red Schoolhouse Nature Center in Willow Springs. G. J. Cederquist directs.

In Moby Dick: Rehearsed, by Orson Welles, what begins with a company of actors gathering to rehearse King Lear outdoors switches to a rehearsal of Moby Dick, as adapted by Welles. First produced on Broadway in 1955, this simple but riveting stage adaptation of Melville’s story will transport theatre-hikers to Captain Ahab’s fateful voyage cross the open seas aboard the Pequod, in search of the great white whale, Moby Dick. Directed by G. J. Cederquist, co-artistic director of Steep Theatre Company in Wrigelyville.

Moby Dick: Rehearsed runs Saturdays and Sundays at 1 p.m., July 1-23, 2006, at The Morton Arboretum in Lisle. The July 9 showing is a “low-impact” hike – which entails a 1/2 mile hike, rather than the normal 2 miles through the course of the show – and the July 16 show is a Dinner-Hike, with a 4 p.m. showing, instead of 1 p.m., followed by a meal. Tickets are $12 for members, $15 general and $40 for the Dinner-Hike. They can be reserved at 630-725-2066.

Moby Dick: Rehearsed then runs July 29 and 30 at 1 p.m. at The Little Red Schoolhouse Nature Center, located at 9800 Willow Springs Road in Willow Springs, Illinois. Tickets for those performances are $10 general; $6 for children 12 yrs and younger. For more information, call 773-293-1358.