Frigid Festival 2008
A review by Larry Litt
Frigid Festival 2008
A Personal Wrap Up
Feb 27th to March 9th
At the Kraine Theater, Red Room, Theatre Under St. Marks
I saw four shows during Frigid Fest 08's schedule. I probably should have seen more. Festivals are overwhelming, especially in wintry New York which is always a theater festival. Overall I think Frigid 08 had a wide variety of one person and small cast shows. Frigid's volunteers were friendly and helpful. Hopefully they saw a few of the offerings.
AMERICAN BADASS
Written and performed by Chris Harcum
Directed by Bricken Sparacino
Chris Harcum's one machismo high energy M-Force on stage shocked me awake when he turned on the power button. His audience directed opening speech grabbed my attention. However he turned on my pause button when he returned in the second of twelve characterizations as widowed pensioner working at what I couldn't figure out. Probably a very personal character for Harcum. His understanding of men's underlying psychological pain and trauma after wars - whether gang, domestic or foreign - is his forte. I wept as his returning vet poured out his heart. The Blackwater scumbag was a deeply damaged, pathetic American character who could be developed into a dynamic, necessary full character monologue.
Of the four shows, Harcum's is the one I'd like to see again if he ever rethinks the intensity of his characters. He was all over the canvas. Perhaps six to eight characters with more depth instead of the very capable twelve sketches that left me wanting more man knowledge.
AMERICAN CAKE
Written and performed by Jonathan Pereira
Directed by Kristen Williams
I love experimental energy in young political satire writers and solo performers. Maybe because I too am still looking for reasons to love America, I share their optimism and hope for a better future. However, perhaps because there's no currently threatening military draft, as there was when I started writing and performing, I get the feeling their characters don't feel intimidated by the prospects of looming and gradually progressing authoritarianism and censorship.
That's my problem with Mr. Pereira's hour long rant and cake eating indulgence. Where's the blood? Where are the night stick and mace wielding cops? Where's the protest? Where are the characterizations of the corrupt and venal? The military is invisible in American Cake. Pereira lives in a pretty safe satirical world, as do most of his peers.
I'll never forget Pereira's brilliant summation of American Presidential histories and his evaluation of them. Perhaps it's true they almost all sucked. And still do big time. But that's politics as usual. Perhaps an unsucky American President would be Canadian.
I agree with Pereira's mocking the loathsome, chauvanist chant: “U-S-A! U-S-A!” like a good old boy football hooligan. I wanted him to contrast that gross display with the American revenge chant, “Kill them all before they kill us!” We're a nation of frightened bullies. We know we're going to pay a very high price for our aggression, jingoism, interventionsim and corporatism. Pereira reminds us why we now look over our shoulders with caution, instead of holding our heads up and walk tall.
Comparing America to a bad girlfriend as Pereira does is like saying the world will be a happier family as soon as that American witch of a girlfriend of yours living on the dark side, is Born Again. Please forgive me for rolling my eyes. I've had that girlfriend before. She doesn't change, she only gets religion.
TWO IN THE BUSH
Written and performed by Tracy
Erin Smith
Directed by Anita La Selva
Possibly another 'Nice Jewish Girls Gone Bad.' The transgressive Jewish theme attracted me. The conceit here is the story of a nice Jewish rabbinical student turned stripper who mixes it up with wise old denizens at a Texas Jewish senior center. Turns out the stripper and her pals are wanna be Joan Rivers and Madonnas. Of all the psychic mentors Smith's character Barbara Baumowitz could choose, she hears the deeply accented voice of Jackie Mason, a voice of the quintessential old style ethnic Jewish comic. What era is Baumowitz living in? Perhaps she's really a reincarnation of a wandering Gypsy Rose Lee?
Tracy Erin Smith as Barbara Baumowitz is a pretty girl with a killer body who takes great promo pix. But she is clearly holding back the true grit. Is she really that wholesome? Maybe in Politacally Correct Canada that works, but in cynical New York she appears to be auditioning for a full bodied Mary Poppins.
Her one minute turn as 'The Spiritual Stripper In Me' reveals the secret inner life of an exotic dancer. But we never see this vision again. We're supposed to be dazzled by her face front direct storytelling and Jewish humor.
Maybe I'm too picky about shows that promote feel good schmaltz. The premise that spiritiuality is all a matter of righteous living, not harming anyone on that journey to enlightenment and satisfying lonely elders just gives me the creeps. If it were that easy we'd know the path to sainthood.
If she hadn't gone schmaltz crazed in the last ten minutes I might have accepted the show as a spiritual journey tale. But Smith's explanation of how one reaches their conception of the invisible, all seeing, all knowing creative force and best friend was for me a bubba monseur, that's a grandmother's tale for you non-pagans.
Because I'm a cynical type who doesn't let a shot at something ridiculous go by, I've dubbed 'Two In The Bush' Kabaladonna meets Gypsy Rose Lee. Forgive me my goddesses.
CHOSEN
Written and Directed by Rick Vorndran
Produced by Dysfunctional Theatre Company
Speaking of saints and the trials of spiritually inflamed women: oh how long they quietly suffer so they can eventually dominate the men who obstruct their magnificent destinies. Does this sound like the current Democratic primary race or what?
The premise of 'Chosen' is that the film 'Song
of Bernadette' contains the key to the mysterious inner spiritual
life of Senator Hillary Clinton. St. Bernadette was appeared to by the Immacualte
Conception at Lourdes, France, the healing place. And so was Hillary by
none other than Franklin Delano Roosevelt on her childhood playground, the
training place.
I take it for what it is, a referential way to try to understand one of
the most complexly loved and hated women in contemporary politics. Does
it work? Well, not really. People who proclaim higher destinies, like George
W. Bush and certain racist German dictators, are usually products of much
larger networks and conspriacies of fascist power. They use the destiny
pose as a personal guarantee to a gullible populace seeking justification
for misdeeds and wars. Is this how we want to choose our leaders? Not me.
Any way very good work by the Dysfuntional Theatre Company ensemble. Of course I must single out Theresa Unfried for her portrayal of Hillary. The rest of the cast gave her plenty of sacrificial support in their many roles. I hope to see them again.
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