FRIGID Festival 2022 (Part 6)
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.
Pueblo Revolt
The year is 1680. Two brothers are living in what is now New Mexico on the cusp of what is to become the Pueblo Revolt. The indigenous Pueblo people were successful in driving the Spanish colonizers out of their region. This story considers the impact of such a historical event on individual lives.
“You may now put on your blindfolds” is the instruction as the show commences. The company No Peeking Theatre produces experimental theater that is sensory, experiential and blind. Audience members place blindfolds over their eyes. Streaming viewers convert to an image with the words “no peeking” on their screen.
The sound of birds chirping is heard. Sound effects throughout the show are additive to the listening experience. I cannot say the blind viewing seemed anything other than gimmicky. During the pandemic, I listened to quite a few audio plays. This experience is sort of similar.
One of the brothers is attacked on his way home with groceries. “I didn’t think to ask my attackers why they are attacking me”. Are you “victim blaming?” This play is written in a modern vernacular which can occasionally pull the listener out of the period which I assume is intentional.
A plan is discussed to go to all the pueblos so the people can rise up and conquer their oppressors. They want to drive out “ALL OF THEM”. The baker’s family, however, just got there. One brother has a crush on the baker’s son. The other points out that with religion and the Spanish rule, “you hide your gayness”. If the revolt is successful, “you can live the way our ancestor’s wished”. The plot touches on this two-spirit concept used by some modern LGBT native peoples but it is a sidebar to the recounting of this history.
Turning back to the revolt, they discuss spreading the word to “our banjo playing spam eating cousins”. Wearing a Christian cross is a “get out of jail card”. The cutesy dialogue competes uncomfortably with the more serious exposition. A tendency to create speeches containing lists (names, weapons) is repetitive.
Pueblo Revolt takes aim at illuminating a rare event in American history; a winning defense against colonization, if briefly. The hodgepodge of ideas confuse the listener. When the play ends and blindfolds are removed, you realize that a peek into this important moment in history, while ambitious, was not focused enough.
Eleanor Conway: Vaxxed & Waxxed
This comedienne from the UK is unquestionably a force of nature. She is also a self-proclaimed “London cunt”. Your ability to enjoy Eleanor Conway: Vaxxed and Waxxed will be relational to your feelings about that word specifically and vaginas more generally. One audience member exclaimed “oh my god” out loud. “Who said that?” she asks. “you don’t like that word but I do”.
Her first trip to New York provides an opportunity for some observations and goals. She wants to see the Statue of Liberty, Central Park and “to fuck a Republican” also known as “hot hate sex”. She asks us to imagine a world where Donald Trump is “your best lay; poked in the back with a button mushroom”. Ms. Conway can be crudely funny.
Much of her performance concerns itself with her analysis of and advice for achieving her best orgasms. Hook up apps and stinky penises are featured prominently. Teaching skills are in full view. I even learned what a “period dance” is. The material is silly and bawdy with an intention to shock and awe.
There are some great moments amidst the avalanche of pussy talk. The title of this piece includes the word vaxxed. She laments the stupid anti-vaxxers. “You and your husband have a high school diploma”. They will not take the vaccine but in their youth would “eat drugs that you found on a dance floor”. Hilarious stuff.
The pinnacle of this show for me was undoubtedly her manic rant about women doing all the work for her man and her children. No spoilers here; it’s simply uproarious.
This show is not for the prudish or, perhaps, even Republicans as a whole. Here’s an entrance test. Ms. Conway confesses “I’m not really a dominatrix. I just want my pussy licked”. If you think to yourself, “I’d like to get to know her better” then this show may be for you. It’s wildly uneven, however, just like her sexual experiences.
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.