FRIGID Festival 2022 (Part 5)
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.
Driver’s Seat
“How would I end my life? There are so many options.” Ellie Brelis begins her intimate play Driver’s Seat with an openness that never subsides. Riveting throughout, her story comes across as an important one that could truly be inspirational and educational.
Obsessive compulsive disorder, she informs, is a monster in your mind. It lies to you every day. Manifestations can be quirky like having to say things such as “I love you” an even number of times (2,4,6,8…). She’s always been terrified to drive a car due to her OCD. This play was written after a breakup with a significant boyfriend. A rage playlist is created to get her through that tribulation.
Amazingly this tale is filled with humor. Mugs and puzzles are punished to teach him a lesson “so clearly I can be a little petty”. Having OCD is “like having acne and freckles; you can’t really see it”. Ms. Brelis admits to becoming “generally scared of myself” and her Dad drove her to a mental health hospital. She recounts her experiences, her growth and her stumbles. The performance is a fascinating and memorable combination of very positive energy from a big personality counterbalanced against a life story infused with darkness.
In addition to detailing her mental health challenges and treatments there is a coming out story. Once that happens “it feels like I can breathe”. A month later she cuts her hair in order to “be a little gayer”. She makes us laugh again. “I was hurting so bad I actually got bangs”.
Exposure therapy is sadistic in her analysis. You “trigger yourself” then “sit with discomfort and anxiety. A later journey finds her calling Dad again since she does not want to be alone with herself. “Treatment is not a scar” instead it is an “open wound of gratitude”. There is so much effective poetry and imagery in this play.
At first I was overwhelmed by the speed of dialogue to be honest. I thought she might be racing through this overwhelmingly personal story. I was wrong. When she eventually slows the pace down, the effect is dramatic and potent.
Anyone confronting their own mental health issues could benefit from the refreshing honesty and depth of this memoir. Skye Murie’s direction supplements this material with detailed touches which are brilliantly simple and thoughtful. The ending is hopeful yet realistic. A triumphant entry into this festival.
Human Flailings
Jude-Treder Wolff is a creative arts therapist whose life story overflows with Human Flailings. Her professional expertise is evident in her performance. She easily combines wit with candor. Although this tale derails somewhat due to its massive scope, there are many enjoyments to be had along the way.
A workshop entitled Manifesting Your Feelings is where her story begins. She attends these to better understand why people love self-help books so much. Conference attendees include white haired “women who run with wolves and live on the Upper East Side”. The concept in question: “if you think it, it will happen”.
She meets Lacey and the two hit it off immediately. A visit to her new pal’s Brooklyn apartment enables Ms. Wolff to shine. Her description of entering the living room paints an indelible picture. That skill is again utilized at a business planning meeting in a corporate park in Summit, New Jersey. She and Lacey are presenting a segment on creativity in a “people of Earth” conference room with a “breakfast banquet against the wall”. The attendees are uninterested; “it’s a cold war”.
The show covers her work terrain including an ex-partner Diane and her new partner Lacey. Issues are discussed but intriguing similarities about falling out of touch in both relationships could be explored even further. The show veers off into her domineering father and her “big act of rebellion”. She learns to play her father’s guitar and a song is sung.
The music subtheme, however, is nicely combined with an absorbing and quite moving section about a bereavement camp for kids. As the show covers so much ground (including the game rock, paper, scissors), Human Flailings is an appropriate title. Like all promising creative endeavors, this one is sure “to be continued”.
Portly Lutheran Know-It-All
Clutching a Bible, Matt Storrs tells his coming of age story as a Portly Lutheran Know-It-All. “I was fat” he declares. Weight issues seem to heavily influence his sense of self but this tale is far more concerned with religion and schooling. For those who want a glimpse into the teaching of evolution at the Missouri Synod Lutheran School, here is an opportunity.
From the first grade Mr. Storrs seems to be at odds with his Biblical upbringing. He wanted to be a purple witch for Halloween. His parents would have preferred warlock and the kids called him gay. From his hilariously titled “Extreme Teen Bible” he recites passages and tells personal anecdotes. Evolutionists “want god but they also want to be smart”. When the barbs land they are funny.
His school did not believe in evolution as the Earth’s fossil record contains no “in between” animals. There is no half-cow or half-whale to explain how these creatures are related. To prove the point, his teacher took two separate stuffed animals, split them in half and resewed them back together. The front half was a cow; the back half a whale. “You don’t see any of these guys in the fossil record now do you?” Mr. Storrs raises his hand and says “looks like a manatee”. A suspension from science class follows.
Revelations such as these are tasty indeed. His renditions of school presentations featuring the Song of Solomon and a mock trial where he defends Judas are high points.
For some reason the storytelling turns to more mundane pagan matters. A new girl comes to school and invites him to a party where spin the bottle is played. A new friend Terry enables personal growth. That is part of his story for sure but the know-it-all vibe promised in the title is very unique as is his slightly off-putting presentation style. Some of this material is heavenly sent loony tunes. Other sections are stuck in purgatory.
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.