On May 20, 2019 we lost our co-founder and guiding light, Danny Thompson. He passed away following a swift decline due to an uncommon genetic liver disease, and the Oobleck community grieves the loss of our buoyant, brilliant friend.

The cruel fact of his passing has occasioned an outpouring of remembrances of his many triumphs on the Oobleck stage, and a hunger to revisit them. With this in mind, we present this extraordinary work, with text and narration by Terri Kapsalis, live audio from John Corbett, and video collage by Danny. The Hysterical Alphabet premiered in 2007 in Chicago, and then toured college campuses for several years. This video, documenting a live performance, was of course edited by Danny. And you can hear his voice, narrating letter Q in this alphabet.

Newcity says: “Theater Oobleck’s The Hysterical Alphabet is a beautifully nuanced mixture of historical treatise, medical discourse and poetic archive, chronicling the sometimes hilarious, often horrifying saga of the “female malady” that is hysteria throughout the centuries. The trio packs an astounding amount of information into little more than an hour’s time—delivering a lesson that is wickedly funny, surprisingly heart-wrenching and not to be missed.”

The Hysterical Alphabet, our acclaimed touring multi-media historico-medical provocation is coming to Rice University in Houston.

The show — a collaboration between author Terri Kapsalis, video-collagist Danny Thompson, and sound artist John Corbett — is being presented by the School of the Humanities, the Humanities Research Center, the English Department, and the Department of Visual and Dramatic Arts.

This hit was last presented in Chicago in 2008, and has since been touring American campuses. So far it has been seen at The Art Institute of Chicago, Notre Dame, Carleton College, Bates College, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Clark University, the Rhode Island School of Design, and Emory College.

An appreciation of the performance at Emory is here … to quote:

“In a refreshingly non-didactic, yet pedagogical performance, Theater Oobleck’s The Hysterical Alphabet, is an example of what a 21st-century hybrid of art and scholarship might be.”

The Hysterical Alphabet, our acclaimed touring multi-media historico-medical provocation returned for ONE FINAL CHICAGO PERFORMANCE. And thanks to the sponsorship of the School of the Art Institute and the Jane Addams Hull House Museum, it was absolutely FREE.

The show — a collaboration between author Terri Kapsalis, video-collagist Danny Thompson, and sound artist John Corbett — was presented at

Newcity says: “Theater Oobleck’s The Hysterical Alphabet is a beautifully nuanced mixture of historical treatise, medical discourse and poetic archive, chronicling the sometimes hilarious, often horrifying saga of the “female malady” that is hysteria throughout the centuries. The trio packs an astounding amount of information into little more than an hour’s time—delivering a lesson that is wickedly funny, surprisingly heart-wrenching and not to be missed.”

You can see a video excerpt of the performance here and order the book version here

This hit was last presented in Chicago in 2008, and has since been touring American campuses. So far it has been seen at Notre Dame, Carleton College, Bates College, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Clark University, the Rhode Island School of Design, and Emory College.

An appreciation of the performance at Emory is here … to quote:

“In a refreshingly non-didactic, yet pedagogical performance, Theater Oobleck’s The Hysterical Alphabet, is an example of what a 21st-century hybrid of art and scholarship might be.”

This performancewas held on the occasion of a new essay by Terri Kapsalis commissioned by the Jane Addams Hull-House Museum for the Alternative Labeling Project , a series that transgresses and challenges the way we think about objects and artifacts and the extraordinary stories they tell.

Co-sponsored by Jane Addams Hull-House Museum and SAIC’s Department of Visual and Critical Studies and Department of Performance.

Theater Oobleck makes its Indiana debut, with this one-night-only performance of The Hysterical Alphabet.

The details: The University of Notre Dame (co-sponsored by Gender Studies Program) presents The Hysterical Alphabet, Wednesday, February 16, 2011, 8 pm, at Browning Cinema, DeBartolo Performing Arts Center.

It is free, but is a ticketed event. For tickets phone 574-631-2800 or visit performingarts.nd.edu.

More details are at the Gender Studies website

This hit show — a collaboration between author Terri Kapsalis, video-collagist Danny Thompson, and sound artist John Corbett — is currently touring American campuses. So far it has been seen at Bates College, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Clark University, the Rhode Island School of Design, and Emory College.

An appreciation of the performance at Emory is here … to quote:

“In a refreshingly non-didactic, yet pedagogical performance, Theater Oobleck’s The Hysterical Alphabet, is an example of what a 21st-century hybrid of art and scholarship might be.”

In addition, following its Chicago premiere, the work was reviewed in Newcity.

“Theatre Oobleck’s “The Hysterical Alphabet” is a beautifully nuanced mixture of historical treatise, medical discourse and poetic archive, chronicling the sometimes hilarious, often horrifying saga of the “female malady” that is hysteria throughout the centuries. Oobleck has remounted their inspired multimedia presentation at the Chopin Theatre, after premiering last fall in a one-night-only showing at the Gene Siskel Film Center. Terry Kapsalis’s remarkable text, an ABC’s of women and their wily wombs (now available in book form with fantastic drawings by Gina Litherland), is the axis material, but accompanied by Danny Thompson’s stunning video “documentary,” and John Corbett’s gratifying sound design, the sum transforms into something greater than its (private) parts. The three artists enter quietly, without fanfare, and take seats at a long table before a large projection screen. Aided by microphones, a computer/projector, record player and numerous sound folio devises, the performance/lecture takes off, with Kapsalis reading matter-of-factly, almost demurely, her lyrical chronology of ailment, while Thompson frenzy of found and original video images unfurl to the tunes (and crackles, cries and whistles) of Corbett’s manic soundscape. The trio packs an astounding amount of information into little more than an hour’s time—delivering a lesson that is wickedly funny, surprisingly heart-wrenching and not to be missed. (Valerie Jean Johnson)”

You can see an video excerpt of the play here and can order the book version here