Puppeteer & playwright Kevin Michael Wesson has been making a name in the Chicago theatre scene, working with Steppenwolf LOOKOUT, The Neo-Futurists, and as an artistic associate Rough House Theater.

Wesson’s latest work with radical free theatre outfit Theatre Nobody (CAMPOUT) is rustbelt. an “electronic fantasia of found footage” that features artifacts recovered as part of urban exploring in the Rust Belt, in a work of documentary theatre that raises “questions about memory, ownership, and the working-class history that's been left to rot.”

We checked in with creator Kevin Michael Wesson about the new show which runs through May 13th.

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NO PROSCENIUM: Tell us a little bit about your experience! What’s it about? What makes it immersive?


Kevin Michael Wesson: Our latest show, rustbelt., is an unusual multimedia show, best described by fans in Cleveland as “a live documentary”. The show is an hour-long tapestry of real artifacts, objects, and found physical media from abandoned places, dumpsters, and theaters from across the country. Much of the show involves the playing of found VHS tapes and cassette tapes live to weave a story for forgotten working class history through the juxtaposition and curation of these stolen (now archived) objects, all set to a late 90’s Midwest emo soundtrack.

Although so much of the work Theatre Nobody does is immersive in a participatory heart-racing sense, this is our most showy-show. Still very far from a “play”, it is as live and in-person as “a living documentary” can be. There is no fourth wall, all of the storytelling is real and non-illusory, and there are a few folks who may be asked to volunteer during the piece.

NP: What was the inspiration for your upcoming experience? 


KMW: I’ve been urban exploring for quite a while now. And the show grew out of the dilemma of what to do with some of the things I’ve taken and accrued from abandoned places over the years, some of which have been destroyed now. Objects can be saved from destruction, media can be digitized and cataloged, so what is someone to do when they see a VHS tape in an abandoned space, growing a bit of mold on it. If you were a younger 20-something me: you took them.

Over time, I didn’t share my experiences because like most online urban explorers, an online presence is more eyes on your activities (AKA law enforcement). So I kept it private. But when Theatre Nobody became artists in residence at Links Hall in Chicago with our other truly immersive show CAMPOUT, we began to devise this show in secret in addition while we were in the building for the year.

NP: What do you think fans of immersive will find most interesting about this latest experience?

KMW: It is a beautiful and unusual experience. It is a free/PWYC hour-long non-verbal show in which a puppeteer who happens to also urbex, puppeteers a document camera to create a narrative through random things, interspersed by poignant literal moldy found footage played live in a VCR. The folks who come from the immersive sphere typically appreciate the weirder things, and our show is unlike anything else happening in Chicago right now, in theme but also specifically in form.

NP: Once you started designing and testing what did you discover about this experience that was unexpected?


KMW: What is most unexpected to me is that folks cry at different points in the show. This was so unusual to me. I’m so used to making pieces where I aim my breaking point towards a narrative climax, poignant line, or crushing image, and I can expect where audiences will break down. That has not been the case with this show. Since it is narrative but not linear, truly a tapestry and not an arc, that casts a wide net of experiences from people all around the country, audiences are connecting with vastly different moments in the show.

It is easy to judge a person, but their objects are a curation of their life. We are unable to judge the objects for being left behind, so each orphaned object carries a story that we are immediately sympathetic to. One of the other secrets of a text-based show, just like reading a 1st-person perspective book, is that the text of the show is read in the viewer’s voice, not mine. Meaning you will listen to the voice in your mind’s eye more open-minded and benevolent than a stranger’s.

NP: What can fans who are coming to this, or thinking about coming to this, do to get into the mood of the experience? 


KMW: No homework is required. But if you want to get hyped, some related documentaries with fellow urbexers cut from the same cloth are Closed for Storm and Stolen Kingdom. The majority of the show is scored by the famous Midwest emo band, American Football, I would recommend listening to any of their albums on the way to the show.

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