FRIGID Fringe Festival 2023 (Part 3)

The 17th Annual FRIGID Fringe Festival is underway in New York City.  This three week event is an open and uncensored downtown theater festival that gives artists an opportunity to let their ingenuity thrive in a venue that values freedom of expression and artistic determination.  Many of this year’s performances are livestreamed so there are ample opportunities to see some Indie theater works and support the artists who develop and perform them.

 

Kingfish

Off the side of a simple yet effective boat set a man is peeing the “last couple drops”.  An aggressively nasty tone begins the adventure called Kingfish.  Two men are seemingly strangers on this fishing boat.  Despite the unfamiliarity trash talking is abundant.  One man is “talking smack” about another man’s wife.  Where is this boat headed?

J.J. Williams is the “best bass fisherman the game has ever seen”.  He enters a mixed tournament where anyone might be assigned as your partner.  J.J. has the unfortunate luck to have Scratch on board.  His character is best described as an obnoxious overweight insulting pig of a manchild.   Even more concerning is that Scratch is Satan.

Satan collects souls in Mason jars and has every intention of adding to his cache today.  Arguments ensue.  J.J. realizes “it’s tough to be a good boy when it’s just you and the devil”.  The premise is fun, the horns are funny and the tale nicely transitions into a fishing contest for one’s soul.  “When I win maybe I won’t flay you right off the bat” hints at the occasional amusing tone.

The trip stretches over a period of time leading J.J. to wonder if hell simply is a never ending fishing trip with the devil.  Even more danger lurks in the water.  The storyline enters an unruly whirlpool of sorts and the plotline becomes a bit muddy.  Winning random references like “Fuck Charlie Daniels” keep the mood light  but a consistently darker tone might make this a creepy scary parable.  After all, Satan remarks, Jesus told us to “go forth and be a fisher of men”.

 

A Scar is Born

Lorelei Zarifian is admittedly “intoxicated by the sound of words”.  Her “stand up tragedy” A Scar is Born places this “word addict” at an audition for a theatrical film in Orlando.  How big a word freak you ask?  “I snort thousands and thousands of words”.  The show begins in an intriguingly quirky manner.

Through a series of songs and sketches Ms. Zarifian will review her life experiences to this unseen casting director.  Some of the wordplay is very entertaining.  “Suddenly I saw the silhouette of my fiancé/ Had no time to finish my crème brûlée”.  She wears a sign “Stop Bad Bread” pronouncing the American equivalent “a bad joke”.  In France, bread is four simple ingredients.  Here the package lists twenty one including enriched flour.  “Enriched with what?” is the amusing aside.

The audition takes us on her personal journey from Marseilles to Paris to New York and ultimately to Florida where the homeowner’s association creates a never ending series of new restrictions.  The moral of the Manhattan segment is “it costs an arm and a leg to be a foreigner”.  The revelations are a mixed bag.  There are many songs sung throughout.  While nicely rendered, they tend to illuminate the fragmentary structure of this show rather than help it coalesce.

At the end of the audition she receives a priceless call back from Netflix.  They love the idea but just want to “make slight changes”.  Those are funny.  None more so than asking her to change her role from poet to prostitute.  A Scar is Born might have a few boo-boos but there is definitely wit and heart within its storyteller’s continual reaching for that elusive dream.

 

Syncope

“Join celebrated storyteller Will Clegg on his lifelong journey with marijuana and panic disorder!  Hijinks ensue!”  That is the description and punctuation found online for Syncope.  While factually accurate, it does not begin to hint at the engrossing seriousness of this exceptionally well told memoir.

The show begins with a fairly typical scenario.  The father of a teenage boy finds a bag which is “either spices for spaghetti sauce or weed”.  Apparently Mr. Clegg was not quite the goody two shoes imagined.  He grows to love smoking pot.  “Everything I was worrying about melted away”.  This evolution gets him through middle school and eventually studying filmmaking at Columbia University.

There are attempts to cut back.  Never smoke before class is a mantra.  Then the punchline arrives.  “But I can skip class.”  There is an effortless conversational ease in Mr. Clegg’s presentation but there is no shortage of vivid imagery or details.  Living in a shoebox in the East Village he warns “whatever you’re imagining, it’s smaller than that”.

A few events give pause.  One time waking up in the bathtub with no idea how long he had been there.  The year 2003 with its pile of upsetting news.  Real concerns about life, career, relationships and substance excesses.  Anxiety issues.  Paranoia.  Am I having a heart attack?  Mr. Clegg candidly and expertly dives deeper and deeper into how he discovered the real antidote to anxiety.

This cathartic trail of foibles, both humorous and also a tad frightening, contains a bit of scientific information as well.  I now know the terms micturition and gelastic syncope which relate to temporary losses of consciousness due to a fall in blood pressure.

There is much to admire in Syncope as a piece of theater.  Perhaps more valuable, however, is hearing about a well traveled road to gaining confidence.  We can all use a dose of self-actualization now and then.  “I was able to be present and just enjoy it all” concludes Mr. Clegg.  From my seat I was happily present for Syncope and just enjoyed it all immensely.

Performances at the Frigid Fringe Festival are running through March 5, 2023.  Two dozen shows are performed multiple times at either the Kraine Theater or UNDER St Mark’s.  Tickets can also be purchased for many shows via livestreaming as well.

www.frigid.nyc

FRIGID Fringe Festival 2023 (Part 2)

The 17th Annual FRIGID Fringe Festival is underway in New York City.  This three week event is an open and uncensored downtown theater festival that gives artists an opportunity to let their ingenuity thrive in a venue that values freedom of expression and artistic determination.  Many of this year’s performances are livestreamed so there are ample opportunities to see some Indie theater works and support the artists who develop and perform them.

I AM MY OWN MILF

“How’s it going Upper East Side?” asks our middle aged  hostess diva.  The ladies are getting together for lunch which will hilariously feature yuzu chiffon birthday cake.  I AM MY OWN MILF is at its enjoyably zaniest and most clever in the details and asides.

Sending up the rich and privileged is certainly nothing new especially in the campy world of drag.  Matthew Antoci’s version is supremely confident giving out a “shout out to everyone with social anxiety; I kinda feel sorry for you”.  This show is described as a “mixed-media drag+dance spectaculare” and also “part TV segment, part nature blog”.  Let’s settle on manic variety show where the guardrails are down, the brakes are faulty and speeding is the only option.

They have privilege take down as the main course in this uneven buffet.  “What does it feel like to be an elitist New York piece of shit?”  From that our diva will discover that she’s broke.  “No more gems, jets, sillouettes”.  Listen carefully and you will often be rewarded with delicious amuse-bouches.  The struggle is definitely real: “none of my friends will see me, not even Susan Sarandon”.

There is some linking to the Shakespeare play Timon of Athens with its feasts followed by poverty.  Here, critically, important questions are asked such as “what do poor people wear?”  Swipes at JK Rowling, Lynn Nottage, Kim Kardashian and the Roundabout Theatre Company’s Board of Directors pepper the rants.  Truthful confessions emerge.  “What a lot of people don’t know is how draining Athens is”.

Sidekicks Lizz Mangan and Meaghan Robichaud jump in as backup dancers and inhabit various roles including the 70 Minutes interviewer Debra Messing.  The show has energy to spare with some really funny lines sharing the stage with some clunkers.  You cannot say, however, the I AM MY OWN MILF failed to go big.

A song choice at the end included the lyrics “I’ve stayed too long at the fair/ I couldn’t find anybody who cared”.  That summed up this experience.  It’s impossible not to find fun things at the fair even if there are more scintillating versions in existence.

 

Emil Amok: Lost NPR Host Found Under St. Mark’s, and other stories

The title gives a preview of the expansive journey to be found in this storytelling memoir monologue.  Emil Amok:  Lost NPR Host Found Under St. Mark’s, and other stories is one man’s tale growing up as a Filipino American.  Emil Guillermo admittedly has a chip on his shoulder.  That energy adds a fascinating storm cloud hovering over his personal experience of racism.

Mr. Guillermo is a second generation American.  His father arrived here in 1928 and became a citizen although “some think I should have had my head examined for that”.  Son Emil seems to be achieving the proverbial American dream including attending Harvard and becoming the first Asian American male to be a national news host on NPR.

The crux of his anger is being treated like a first generation foreigner.  He comments that “white voice privilege” is not the same as white privilege.  Emil is in the one percent but the wrong one.  His tribe is part of a very small racial minority in the United States.

There are some jokes sprinkled throughout.  “Black Hair Matters” is one example which came across to me as a little flat and off-putting rather than funny.  His school friends debating whether he was “Winnie the Pooh color” or “Golden Bear brown” was a vivid memory.  The storytelling eventually devolves into a discussion of “that’s a gay job” followed by an overlong diatribe about his colonoscopy.  (Spoiler alert:  the prep is the worst!)

The bitterness generated from Mr. Guillermo’s life experience is the heart and soul of Emil Amok.  At the end of the show Emil informs that he’s “gonna get out of the past and into the present”.  Whether this show accomplishes that is debatable.  There is no doubt, however, that he sharply feels the anguish of being part of a small minority in a land of majority rule.

Performances at the Frigid Fringe Festival are running through March 5, 2023.  Two dozen shows are performed multiple times at either the Kraine Theater or UNDER St Mark’s.  Tickets can also be purchased for many shows via livestreaming as well.

www.frigid.nyc

FRIGID Festival 2022 (Part 9)

The 16th Annual FRIGID Festival is in its final week 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.

Are You Lovin’ It?

Trippy cartoon or subversive critique?  This pedal to the metal freak show swings broadly at its huge targets.  Loud, bizarre, idiotic and colorful are just some of the many adjectives that describe Are You Lovin’ It?  The well known commercial tag line for McDonald’s asks the titular question.  Theatre Group GUMBO offers an answer in this eye popping spectacle of oddness and invention.

Red and orange are the appropriate colors.  “Welcome to WacDonald’s” begins this performance.  Sarcasm is flung immediately.  “Super healthy!”  WacDonald’s is “no fear, no anxiety, no borders”.  The two clownish dancers twirl up a frothy shake of corporate plastic smiles and moron speech.

A Japanese businessman then arrives in a suit and tie.  He is laughing excessively and aggressively.  He’s so excited because this is “my first vacation ever”.  We learn that he lost his family.  That’s ok since “I’m a Japanese businessman”.  His phone rings.  It’s the boss.  A hilarious tribute to Yes Men everywhere is punctuated with frantic bowing and “I’m sorry”.

The skewering of Japanese and American cultures continues.  The businessman’s intestines come out of his body and become props for the clowns to play with.  A lady with a baby stroller appears wearing an outfit with pink ruffles.  “Something stinks,” she exclaims.  “Let’s find out where this smell is coming from” precedes a poo poo dance.

There is more than a subtle connection to the heinous quality of food offered by WacDonald’s.  The Japanese business man picks up the baby to help stop it from crying.  “She bites my nipple” so maybe she is hungry.  In dances our two clowns and the “Super Happy Meal”.  We learn that “there is no one who doesn’t like this food”.

“Pink slime patty” aside, the show thrashes incomprehensibly through Donald Trump, cleansing American dirty blood, a rap and glow in the dark light rod dances.  A sign is held for an audience member who is a “Romeo type”.  “America, America, where art thou?”

From this point, things proceed to escalate into even wilder weirdness and overt condemnation of greed, power and white supremacy.  The looniness of the piece keeps the insane edge happily baring its giddy teeth through the baby thrown out with the bathwater.  Well, not exactly.  The WacDonald’s way is more disturbing and jaw dropping.

Are You Lovin’ It? is unique and hilarious but also smart and self-aware.  The show is crazy just like the world it wishes to eviscerate.  This production will not be for everyone’s taste just like the food purveyor it ridicules so mercilessly.

My Grandmother’s Eye Patch

“Thank you all so much for being here tonight to celebrate” Grandma Mamie.  Julia VanderVeen’s eulogy is titled My Grandmother’s Eye Patch.  This eccentric comedy is a hot mess.  You might cover your eyes too but you’ll agree with the author at the end when she declares “this is so stupid”.

Grandma’s sense of humor inspires this maniacal cavalcade of lunacy.  A waiter is asked “how do you prepare the chicken?”  The answer is “nothing special, we just tell them they’re going to die”.  Macbeth is then referenced to bring one of this show’s main themes of nihilism to center stage.  “It is a tale told by an idiot full of sound and fury, signifying nothing”.

A reasonable interpretation of the idiot in question is the granddaughter herself.  Magic tricks are next along with some audience banter.  She boasts if you give her a word, she’ll write a poem about it.  Someone offers “subterfuge” which was very funny but passed on.  Using “southern inspired poetry” while wearing a baseball cap and holding a metal bowl spittoon, fear was the word chosen.

Another section instructs “how to bring someone back from the dead in five easy steps”.  Ms. VanderVeen conjures up a successful seance.  “Let’s go back to when I was young, bitch”.  By the time this show gets to synovial fluid most of you will join me and confidently pronounce this eulogist off her proverbial rocker.

There is a briefly serious turn toward the end of this piece which helps explain the point of this journey.  A mishap during the singing of “Wind Beneath My Wings” pulls the narrative back into unhinged territory.  The show may be designed as an intentional pig’s breakfast.  A cool image projected at the end suggests that this show was a heartfelt tribute to an importantly personal relationship.

Performances at the Frigid Festival are running through March 6, 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.

www.frigid.nyc

FRIGID Festival 2022 (Part 8)

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.

The Lonely Road

At the age of 23, Will Clegg sarcastically finds himself living “everyone’s dream” when he returns to his parent’s house in North Carolina.  A combination of events trigger this change notably a girlfriend who ended their relationship.  “Instead of being depressed” he plans a road trip.  The Lonely Road is his commentary on a impassionate journey.

Photography centers the man and his story.  Mr. Clegg is drawn to the images created by Gary Winogrand in 1964.  In order to understand why he is so drawn to these photos, he decides to grab fifty rolls of film, borrow a car and pursue his passion.  He too will travel the United States and capture America along the way.

Before embarking on that trip he begins to dive further into his now broken relationship with Alison.  They met in college when he directed her in a play.  Head over heels in love, those first few months were “intoxicating”.  A trip to Rome, another actress in another cast and you can guess the rest.  Crying, he confesses his transgression.  Sparring ensues; half truths are revealed.

On June 26, 2003, the road trip commences.  He travels to New Orleans, through Texas and into California.  The stories in each section are filled with interesting and often witty details.  A friend’s band named Mexico 1910 is “instrumental only”.  He eats barbeque with Republicans noting “they’re sweet though”.

In West Texas he begins to listen to a CD by The Postal Service, the last thing Allison gave him before breaking up.  A “sad hipster whining” about his ex-girlfriend was his first reaction but this listen speaks to him differently.  He comes to realize that now he is the sad hipster whining.  A portion of The Lonely Road comes across as that.

Photos he took along the way are projected on the screen and he begins to see a recurring theme.  Sharing this perspective accompanied by the visuals is the alluring part of this self-analysis.  By the time he gets to Los Angeles, the self-doubts overwhelm and insecurities take command.

He took a picture at a protest of a sign which said “TELL THE TRUTH!”  Mr. Clegg proceeds to do just that to himself and then to Allison.  By the play’s end there is no resolution.  Like life, the present is just another stop along the way to the future.  This rendition veers dangerously close to self-pity at times but certainly reflects the emotional woes of an openly heartbroken guy.

Love & Sex on the Spectrum

At 28 years old George Steeves loses his virginity.  He has Asperger’s and ADHD which has resulted in his being a late bloomer sexually.  Love & Sex on the Spectrum opens with a short reenactment of a painful recollection.  “Porn Hub made this all look so simple,” he quips.

Anal penetration is compared to a nasal COVID test as one is not sure how deep it would go in the first time it happens.  The material is blunt and told in a lighthearted and jokey manner.  This play is described as “an atypical romantic comedy”.  That is true.

The tale concerns one man’s sexual awakening from his first orgasm in twelve years to becoming a dating app addict.  Amusingly these hookups are given names of boy band singers.  His “higher than average intellectual ability coupled with impaired social skills” inform his dating tendencies which cover men of many ages and decades.

After a series of casual sex stories (“swipe left, next date”), the monologue turns to his search for identity.  He grew up in a stereotypical WASP family with no talking about sex or emotions.  At school they called him gay.  “He’s more Golden Girls… I’m Designing Women“.  There is an abundance of energy and enthusiasm in the performance which does help elevate the telling from just being a raunchy yet well-intended coming out narrative.

“I kissed over two hundred guys.  I was hoping that one of them would be my Prince Charming”.  Mr. Steeves’s chronicle turns introspective once the wild oats are sowed.  He does get serious before inserting another punchline such as “you’ve never lived until you’ve been to a gay pool party”.  Love & Sex on the Spectrum is straightforward and direct, rambling and unfocused, more than a trifle silly and a niche entertainment.  The messaging about loving yourself, on the other hand, is universal.

StarSweeper

Sergeant Riley is 532 million kilometers from Earth.  A lost crew of humans is missing somewhere and she petitioned to navigate a second search team.  Presented by Team Theatre, StarSweeper is a peek into her five year solo mission also known as a “half decade of utter and complete solitude to look forward to”.

The year is 2448.  The USS Copperfield is broadcasting on all frequencies searching for a distressed vessel.  Our plucky heroine is making the best of the situation.  She tries exercise.  Bourbon “looks a lot like sweet tea”.  She is holding on against hope in the void of space.  But it can be dullsville at times.  “The thing about astrofood is that it gets pretty boring after a few years”.

Some jokes tickle the funny bone.  Riley has an onboard computer friend like Hal from 2001:  A Space Odyssey.  Time passes and there are problems to deal with of varying importance.  A dental issue results in a tooth extraction.  Danger lights will blink red.  The worries intensify “until the oxygen runs out and the temperature regulators turn off”.  Abject fear about floating around for all eternity results in a declaration:  “I just want a hug”.

Humanity is considered within the storytelling of StarSweeper.  An archeological observation about the discovery of a mended broken bone on a skeleton points the way.  There is thoughtfulness in the writing and a winning guide who does not shy away from looking goofy.

Mikeala Duffy has created a interesting scenario which is especially suitable for a small theater environment.  Recording entries into a mission log is the primary plot device.  There could be even more memorable events scattered into this galactic tale to accompany the general narration provided by this do-gooder.  “I’ll just be happy to go home with or without a book deal,” Riley admits when the chips are temporarily down.

Performances at the Frigid Festival are running through March 6, 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.

www.frigid.nyc

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.

www.frigid.nyc

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.

www.frigid.nyc

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.

www.frigid.nyc

FRIGID Festival 2022 (Part 4)

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.

As You Will

The tune “Greensleeves” plays to set the mood before four men burst onto the stage.  They welcome “friends, foes, fools” to the show.  As You Will is a Shakespearean improvisation troupe.  They perform the canon but with audience suggestions for title alterations.  At the show I saw “King Queer” was offered and accepted.

The performance very loosely reenacts the original.  In this telling the soldiers are “fearsome, huge, muscular, sweaty”.  The Tact Man arrives and asks “did someone call for something to be quelled?”  All of this silliness is spirited fun and the audience laughed easily.  The actors often use a rhyming convention with combinations such as “war” and “whore”.  Regarding a suggestion about the latter one remarks “it wouldn’t be tactful”.

In the next scene another is accused of crimes including “desecrating my mules” and “filling my house with butter”.  King Queer is good natured ribbing.  The accuser is asked to list six more and improvs the crime of having “shaved all my chest hair”.  A burly makeover then winds its way into the plot.  We learn the importance “to always work your behind and clench”.  After the burly transformation is completed more knowledge is shared:  “it’s really impressive what a keto diet can do”.

Footnotes are an integral part of Shakespeare reading for students and they are utilized here.  A “detailed and intricate fight” scene is presented in slow motion.  “S…A…Y…U…N…C…L…E” grabs some chuckles.  The plot advances and many lines amuse.  Secrets are shared as in you are “not truly burly… art thou?”  Also, “such a small knife for such a tall man”.

As You Will is simply fun.  Fans of improv with a pinch of Bard knowledge will be entertained.  If this were a maxi challenge on Ru Paul’s Drag Race, King Queer would definitely be significantly bawdier.  This show frolics comfortably in PG-13.  Huzzah!

And Toto Too

Music also precedes And Toto Too.  The tunes are instantly familiar.  “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” and “If I Only Had a Heart”, amongst others.  A lion roars and clips from the MGM classic film sets the stage for what is to follow.  Megan Quick enters as Toto to preside over “an evening of my stories”.  She asks “did you ever think you’d get so lucky?”

The delightfully effervescent star – Ms. Quick not Toto, to be clear – gives us this dog’s memoir in word, song and dance.  She made 16 films; “all speaking roles”.  Playfully teasing the audience throughout, someone whistled.  A fast ad lib was produced.  “Ooh, ruff!” she barked.  “I’ll see you in the dog park”.

“Would you hairless perverts like to hear about a dog’s sex life?”  Lassie was a major relationship and an early example of gender blind casting.  A major revelation is that Lassie is a “doggie style lover”.  Then the apology.  “Sorry, this (dog) bowl of gin is getting to me”.  The humor is adroitly delivered.  “I wanted him.  He wanted me.  We’re dogs”.

In all great autobiographies big names are dropped.  Shirley Temple is a “total bitch by the way”.  A picture of her on the screen smiling with dimples leads to the warning “don’t buy it”.  Terry Spitz (Toto’s real name) is a big fan of Judy Garland with her “milky white forearms”.  An on set accident brings dog and teen star even closer together.

Ms. Quick holds a stage firmly and commands her humans to pay heed.  At the end of the performance she croons that she is “a one girl puppy / looking for the girl that got away”.  A charming, funny, touching piece with a little societal criticism sprinkled in, And Toto Too is a winning conceit and, most importantly, a thoroughly enjoyable entertainment.  Laughing out loud is guaranteed.

That sh$t don’t work!  Does it?

Howie Jones is the writer, director and star of That sh$t don’t work! Does it?  The show is described as a journey down a rabbit hole of how we perceive language and suggestion.  With a combination of magic, analysis and hypnotism, his character Howie Hypnotize will “challenge the audience’s perception of beliefs and the capability of the human mind”.

A rope trick begins the performance.  Three unequal length ropes are made equal and then unequal again.  A nice trick but it takes long to tell and complete.  The pace of the entire show is more labored than perhaps ideal.  Pages in a notebook contain places he and his wife would like to visit in New York City.  (“Anybody hear of Bryant Park?)  After excessive page turning a volunteer comes on stage.  The trick is anticlimactic to the long buildup.

The perception section will be familiar to anyone who has seen the “what do you see” image of a young or older woman drawing.  This filler then leads to the big moment, a hypnotism.  He asks for volunteers but tells them to stay in their seats.  He leaves the stage with music playing and no ability for the paying streaming audience to see or hear what is happening.

Thankfully one man is finally (finally!) brought to the stage and it does appear that he is under the influence.  Everything, however, seems slow in development and cumbersome to view but that could be the effect of streaming this type of entertainment.  Furthermore, throughout the show Mr. Jones frequently uses the terms “perfect” and “that’s awesome”.  Neither term accurately reflects this entry into the festival.

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.

www.frigid.nyc

FRIGID Festival 2022 (Part 3)

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.

The Last to Know

This is a story about “love and betrayal”.  A marriage containing years and years of deceit.  The title of Jean Ann Le Bec’s The Last to Know indicates precisely what travails her story will cover.  This territory has been covered before in many variations.  There are insights which delve into some real depth but more time is spent recounting a chronology of wife-been-wronged events.

Ms. Le Bec was a single mom working at an elementary school.  Julian was the handsome coworker whose classroom was across the hall.  She was attracted to “his joy, his energy”.  The courtship is the stuff of romance novels.  They both have dreams about each other the same night.  “Maybe it was the same dream”.

At that moment, Julian is living with Pam “like roommates”.  He writes florid love letters constantly using phrases like “we will ride moons everyday”.  The marriage happens in 1977.  A new family emerges and also another child.  What follows standard issue courtship is standard issue adultery.  The betrayal seems to be seen and unseen.

The descriptions of the events which occurred over a forty year span are told.  How Ms. Le Bec missed the warning signs or ignored them is a thought which will run through your head as you experience this show.  This is therapy as theater.  The tone is sometimes light and jokey:  “we had matching purple suitcases”.  Seriousness and real hurt does come through as well though.

Late in the performance a spark ignites when a childhood family dinner story is told.  A connection to why this woman may have turned a blind eye to the obvious philandering is partially revealed.  This far too short section comes across as supremely important, cathartic analysis.  That level of depth raises a very oft told story to something which hints at a more unique tale with a fascinating perspective.

The confrontation scene with Julian’s true soulmate does provide some squirmy laughs.  Ms. Le Bec aims at her ex-husband’s lady with a barbed arrow:  “I bet you think you have the magic pussy”.  The ending wraps up her mental state with a lobster story.  If the significance of this crustacean came up earlier in the show, there could be a thematic connection that would enhance this memoir.

A Play for Voices

When a show boldly experiments with theater in total darkness the words and sounds mean everything.  Clocking in at under thirty minutes, A Play for Voices is likely far too esoteric for most audiences.

One of the first things we hear is that the voice’s grandfather did not like the word “just” used as an adverb.  That is followed by “in the dark a match is struck”.  A candle flame blooms and “it’s like a dancer the way it moves”.  Then a musing about pas de deux considers whether that would be a good name for a cat walking business.

The show bounces around considerably from using special voices for doing magic to ghost lights in a theater.  There is silence and a new voice emerges.  The voices try to communicate but the new one says “they just told me to read stage directions, I don’t think I’m supposed to talk to you”.  To call this meta is an understatement.

There is a reference to hand sanitizer which places this dark hallucination somewhere in the future.  This experimental piece concludes with “language is gibberish until we give it meaning”.  Exactly.  So is that what A Play for Voices was shooting for in the dark?  I’m not sure I’m supposed to know.

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.

www.frigid.nyc

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.

www.frigid.nyc