It is difficult to remember the greatness of Nihilator.
The namesake dominant harness racing horse has their own page on Wikipedia. Unfortunately, the multi-media production company from the late 80’s/early 90’s still does not. Let us hope some brave soul (or frikkin ai) uses this legend as a primary source to set the record straight.
The idea of producing theater at an elite university somewhere in the Chicago metropolitan area had been brewing for some time when the founding members found themselves in New Jersey. It was at a mutual friend’s mom’s house for a school break gathering.
Wandering the leafy suburban New Jersey sidewalks someone noticed a VHS videotape lying on the ground with the provocative title “Nihilator“. Was this a heavy metal band ? A bizarre low budget sci-fi movie? The label was not hand written but clearly not a high production affair. There was no one in sight to whom this treasure could be returned. Collectively, the fearless founders took the tape back to their friends mom’s house.
They watched the VHS tape in fascination as the realization slowly dawned on them this was a tribute tape for a horse. A truly magnificent horse whose career was apparently already over. The phrase “it is difficult to remember…” repeated itself throughout the tribute although this magnificent creature’s career had only just ended. It was a labor of love for sure.
When the time came to produce the first original script after securing approval from the official university theater authorities, the name of the ensemble was not in question. It was Nihilator.
Substantial portions of the debut script were written as two authors worked as dishwashers in the kitchen of a summer camp in Maine. It was a kosher kitchen run by an ex military person who was not Jewish but fully enforced the required strict separation of all the knives, forks, spoons, plates, bowls, pots and pans used for either meat or dairy. It was always a relief when the menu called for pareve.
The script was surreal, literate, clever, very entertaining, and a LOT of words. The eventual production was what you would expect from the type of people who would embrace joining an ensemble known as Nihilator, most with no theatrical experience.
Surprisingly, or maybe not, in its short run, the crowds were large and enthusiastic. It tapped into something far more interesting for a general audience than an average student production of an average Ibsen play.
The third wall was beyond smashed, it was demolished. In the spirit of improvisation, one of the authors was physically removed from a performance by his co-author for heckling at his own production. It was meta theater…very meta.
It was all great except for one thing. The Gravy.
One scene whose symbolism is debatable to this very day required the tossing of gravy on stage by trees whose only costume was a small sign that read “I’m a tree”. Unfortunately, not one of these brilliant minds thought to use stage gravy instead of real gravy. Real gravy is fatty and can stain expensive velvet curtains. Which it did. Nihilator left its mark on university theater in so many ways, record crowds and gravy stained curtains being two of them.
Repairing the curtains was not cheap, although the unprecedented box office receipts probably covered most of the cost. However, working on the main stage was no longer an option.
As luck would have it there were many other venues available after Nihilator reorganized as an official student organization at the behest of one of the more motivated and organized producers.
What followed was a series of avant-garde showcases attracting a dedicated audience to showcase original art, music, poetry and many performances that defied categorization. The problem was these shows cost actual money which was in short supply. Then, one of the more motivated and organized producers had a brilliant funding idea: “Let’s join student government.”
Student government controlled the funding for student organizations and low and behold, at the next election, not one, not two, but three Nihilator‘s were elected. The duties were mostly boring but carried out faithfully in the spirit of good citizenship. The real gravy was in the great tradition of Chicago politics, as additional (modest) funding was secured for their continuing antics and artistic endeavors.
In addition to the showcase format, there was a yearly all hands on deck “multi-media” extravaganza format to highlight the troupe based on what could generously be called a loosely connected narrative. These extravaganzas did not rely on wordy clever scripts, it was all about the spectacle.
Memorably ten dollars of the student government funding went to a punk anthropologist artist person who insisted they should offer raw meat to any and all audience members who wished to partake. There were precious few partakers and perhaps none of them knew exactly what they were taking. Happily, no one ever complained about meat juice staining the expensive carpets in the ersatz performance space.
As these things go, all of the ensemble graduated, many if not most with honors and distinction in academics and none for participation in Nihilator.