‘Butterfly’ takes flight at Windmill, satirizing celebrity-obsessed culture

Credit: Courtesy Windmill Arts Productions

Credit: Courtesy Windmill Arts Productions

The play finds much of its comedy by satirizing modern culture.

“I’ve constructed a farcical, over-the-top, funny look at our obsession with celebrity in a world of reason,” the playwright said.

In the original story, the social butterfly at the center of the narrative was a naive young woman married to a doctor that she finds boring compared to artists and performers until she realizes his value to society. In “Butterfly,” Pascal Portney plays Zhopa, a striking young man who marries a bookish pathologist named Dostoyna, played by Megan Poole.

“It’s his journey to realize the absurdity of the world he’s obsessed with and the beauty that’s all around him that he didn’t realize because he had his head in a cellphone,” Ross said. “I want people to have fun and laugh at these celebrity-obsessed characters, even ourselves.”

The 80-minute show has no intermission, and it features music, dancing and lots of comedy.

“It’s a fun, quick telling,” Ross said. “The audience comes in. We get them on a train and take them for a ride.”

Credit: Courtesy Windmill Art Productions

Credit: Courtesy Windmill Art Productions

The show is the first produced by Windmill Arts Productions, a new venture housed at the facility, which Ross owns. The location has been used by other theater and dance companies, particularly Vernal & Sere and Havoc Movement, for workshops and performances.

Many in the cast of “Butterfly” trained with Vernal & Sere to be able to do challenging, physical theater. Ross, who founded the Vanguard Repertory Theatre troupe in Los Angeles, appeared in the Vernal & Sere play “Hurricane Season.”

“I’m blessed to have a pool of people that I’ve watched for the last four years who I could just approach and ask if they wanted to be in my play,” he said. “The work we do is physically based. It’s demanding and precise if it works right.”

Though the notion of Russian literature might seem intimidating to some, audiences are expected to connect easily with “Butterfly.”

“It doesn’t try to feel Chekhovian at all,” Ross said. “It’s not one of those plays that needs to be endured.”

Credit: Courtesy Windmill Arts Productions

Credit: Courtesy Windmill Arts Productions

Preparing the show has been a delight, he said.

“It’s a comedy show,” Ross said. “You will come and laugh — have fun. The language is accessible. The story is accessible. You will understand it.”

THEATER PREVIEW

“Butterfly”

Presented by Windmill Arts Productions. Jan. 19-Feb. 4. $25. Windmill Arts, 2823 Church St., East Point. www.windmillarts.org.

Credit: ArtsATL

Credit: ArtsATL

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