FRIGID Festival 2022 (Part 2)
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.
Smile All the Time
Nat King Cole croons out warning prior to the beginning of Smile All the Time. “Smile though your heart is aching”. “Smile through the fear and sorrow”. A mood is set. There is a bed and a toilet on stage. The song asks “what’s the use in crying”?
Amanda Erin Miller then appears and her “tragicomic romp” gets underway immediately. “How much longer do I have to be in solitary?” she asks. She desperately needs a person to talk to. For a moment she breaks the fourth wall and addresses the audience. We are the lucky recipients of her hilariously bizarre tale of the events that led sixteen year old Kevin to this moment.
Kevin’s parents are anti-vaxxers and would not let him participate in a free trial. What does Kevin do? He had to set a fire. He also stole vaccines from “politicians” and injected himself. The stunt got him sentenced to Camp Smilepower, a place where teenage anger is cured. By this point, Ms. Miller’s performance and presentation of an assortment of characters is manic and where this play is headed is anyone’s guess.
Kevin’s adventure, however, has many more events before we are finished and the ride steps on the gas pedal without letting up. A sausage stick figures prominently (and brilliantly) in a jail break out. This is a show where details appear quickly so attention must be paid. Where will Kevin go next? He’ll listen to his inner Kevin and find some new friends. Ajax joins the fun and tells us “sometimes my feelings are so big I just have to sing”. How does one actress play these two road warriors? Musical Ajax is a face drawn on a pillow.
Little asides are written to evoke laughter and succeed. Descriptions erupt such as “like a newborn baby coated in womb goop”. Capitalism, the root of all evil, is the main target here. A plan to rob a bank is hatched. Kevin wants to bust it open and pee all over the cash. Ajax deadpans “I like where you’re headed but we need to go bigger”. Smile All the Time is nothing if not big.
The shenanigans do not let up through the entire performance. At some point it is impossible to resist this performance. There are so many quotable lines. One personal favorite: “well if it isn’t the kid who thought he could destroy capitalism with poetry”.
Is this a show which takes place in a juvenile correctional facility? That’s what it says. I felt that this mind blowing exercise also could be a disobedient teen grounded in their room acting out. Smile All the Time could slow the freight train down a little so the audience can digest the numerous exclamation points more easily. But Kevin and Ms. Miller would likely disagree. And they would be right.
Three Funerals and a Chimp
Reviewing a performance that concludes with “I make no excuses other than I suck” is difficult since the review is already given. Brian Schiller’s comic monologue has a rough time landing jokes. He has some good ones in there for sure. Rounding forty, Rogaine has failed to help him grow hair. He doesn’t want to dump the contents in the sink so they grow more there. Funny.
The only requirements to be a personal trainer? A water bottle and a tight tee shirt. He proudly boasts of living life in the lowest income tax bracket. Mr. Schiller discusses a series of jobs including a return to comedy. During the opening sections the jokes are not landing. He can tell. But there are some nuggets in there. “I’ve already quit my next three jobs. I call that ambition”.
Then his family enters the picture with a history of heart disease hence the funerals in the title. He lets us know that he is the best looking of the bunch. That viewpoint, he informs, is “kind of like being employee of the month at Waffle House”. Funny quip but he does not pause to let the joke land. This one is sadly painful to sit through.
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.