The press materials say the Thresholds Theatre Arts Project offers performers and writers a chance to "express complex experiences, thoughts, and emotions about their mental illness." Yet few complexities are on display in this hour-long show featuring 16 performers reflecting on illness, childhood and adult traumas, or beauty in music, movement, dance, and monologues. Sharing personal recollections and self-affirmation may be therapeutic, and the company's intense effort is admirable. But the stories barely scratch the surface of what it's like to feel different or alone, and the production seldom succeeds as theater. Director Marti Szalai-Raymond also weighs things down with lots of mirror imagery and tai chi-inspired movement. Through 4/30: Fri-Sat 7 PM, Sun 2 PM, no show Sun 4/16, Chicago Cultural Center, studio theater, 78 E. Washington (enter at 77 E. Randolph), 773-435-3536, $10-$15.
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