FRIGID Festival 2022 (Part 7)
The 16th Annual FRIGID Festival is underway in New York City. The FRIGID Festival is an open and uncensored theater festival that gives artists an opportunity to let their ingenuity thrive in a venue that values freedom of expression and artistic determination. Since this year’s performances are both live and livestreamed, there are many chances to see some Indie theater works. 100% of all ticket sales go to the artists. There is a tip jar after each show for the festival.
Bathroom of a Bar on Bleeker
If you enjoy theater that is challenging, esoteric, bizarre, incoherent, aggressively non-linear, possible insane and likely brilliant, then take a seat at the Bathroom of a Bar on Bleeker. Mike Lemme’s script walks a high wire. Scary but you cannot look away.
Ominous thriller is the opening vibe. Jack is screaming out like a madman. “You better hope they kill me because if they don’t I’m putting a bullet in all your fucking heads”. He has a script in his hand. Today he is recording his farewell podcast episode. Granny Annie’s Happy Pills is a sponsor.
Returning to serious, Jack’s wife and kids were kidnapped six days ago and are being held in Montreal. According to President Chickenshit, his family will be released when Jack meets all of the Canadian Prime Minister’s demands. Jack is feeding his followers with rants seemingly both real and imagined. His flock is called the turdalurds.
From here the play careens around the corner to meta. An excellent Emil Frezola goes off script yelling “anybody know what page we’re on”? (That’s not off script by the way.) The plot meanders about a toilet in a bathroom where a very successful podcast has been recorded for some time. None of this would have ever happened if it wasn’t for Joe Rogan who “has provided more opportunities for pathetic white men to succeed than slavery”.
Bolts of abuse fly as do sarcastic zingers. A family story is told which helps us understand how this particular toilet came to be chosen fifteen years prior. Jack tells about a family visit to Rockefeller Center with his son Joey. He notes “for all you Australians out there, I’m not talking about a kangaroo”. Consuming a buffet of writing styles is at least half the fun here.
Mr. Lemme also includes a few teaching moments. Jack advises his turdalurds to “stop marrying your cousins”. The direct jabs at the stupid and the conspiracy theory mouthpieces they rabidly adore are obvious and humorous. They provide structure and societal commentary. The more serious self-analysis, however, supplies the super juice: a window into mental health. The colors are dark and vivid.
Lauren Arneson’s lighting design nicely showcases the varying moods and claustrophobia of this psychotic episode. Shows such as Bathroom of a Bar on Bleeker are the reason to try something unique at a theater festival such as this one. A fart machine is used which sets the place. The words keep you guessing. Watch and listen closely. A rawness underneath emerges. Is this a confession, a parable or a just a tirade? Not being sure is exactly what makes this idiosyncratic drama a satisfying treat.
A Public Private Prayer
Another strong festival performance by Grant Bowen graces the heartfelt meditation that is A Public Private Prayer. Do you believe in god? Has that answer changed over time? Will the question ever be truly resolved? And when?
A great story opens this play. A baby bird meets an unfortunate death. Mr. Bowen is a young boy at the time and asks if he “can pray for it?” The innocence of youth is brilliantly illuminated when he says “please help this little bird finds it way into heaven”. Praying made the kids feel better. The experience informs his belief in the power of prayer.
The author and performer is an actor by training. He grew up outside Birmingham, Alabama where his church was a “massive community center”. Both parents are lyrically described as “unavoidably, undeniably human”. They believed “Jesus was the answer”. The thrust of his story is a dissolution of his belief in god over time. As an actor, “talking to imaginary scene partners is the only thing I’m qualified to do”.
What about hell? He learns that he will not go there since he is Christian. The material may be familiar to anyone who has wrestled with wide eyed openness to challenge the questionable dogma of their own religious upbringing. A pensive tone envelopes this quest with warmth and honesty.
There are many paths and detours Mr. Bowen guides through as he recounts his spiritual journey. Details add color to his personality. There is a satisfying feeling of completeness as he expresses a continual evolution. The gorgeous ending of this play is a revelatory beam of sunshine.
How can one religion be so certain it is the right one? That’s a question I have asked myself too. The themes addressed in A Public Private Prayer are particularly interesting to me. The overall presentation is so well done that I experienced a profoundly different yet similar journey in a fresh and rewarding way.
Performances at the Frigid Festival are running through March 5, 2022. All shows are performed multiple times at either the Kraine Theater or Under St Mark’s. Tickets can also be purchased for the livestream which was effective and provides these artists more opportunities to be seen and supported.