D'Arcy Drollinger has observed a pattern in the life of Lindsay Lohan: "Change your hair color, get into a car accident, go to the hospital; change your hair color, get into a car accident..." Drollinger is no Lohan scholar, but he might as well be.
For his Project: Lohan, a Back It Up production premiering Thursday, July 26 at The Costume Shop (the first non-A.C.T. production at the venue), he did enough research to construct the entire show from found texts. He has culled and woven together "headlines, 911 calls, interviews, videos, gossip sites," and even court transcripts, creating both a collage and a clear narrative of rising and, of course, falling action. The show begins with Lohan at 17: family breadwinner, movie star, it girl -- but, Drollinger argues, one with too much power and too little support. Under the direction of Tracy Ward, Drollinger and his cast of five play 89 characters and wear 174 costumes to chronicle Lohan's life over the next 10 years, ending with Lohan dirt from the day of the performance.The multimedia show is as much about Lohan as about what Drollinger calls the "insatiable" media culture that created and crippled her, and perhaps, Drollinger says, she has even further to fall. But for now, he's "living Lindsay's life along with her."
Project: Lohan opens at 8 p.m. July 26 (and continues through Aug. 19) at The Costume Shop, 1117 Market (at Seventh St.), S.F. Admission is $25-$30.
