Is everyone okay? The last month felt like being on the Truman show seeing my high school classmate becoming Prime Minister of France, everyone seemingly trauma dumping on Elmo and Larry David proceeding to punch him.
I am trying to hold onto this thought, so here it goes. Last night, Chef Ayo Balogun shared with Sarah and I that he sometimes wonders if his great grandmother was happy- and the best answer he could come up with his sister is the following: with each generation the hope at least is that the next one is slightly happier, so if he and his sister experience at least handfuls of “deliriously happy” moments, than his ancestors must have also experienced happiness.
Thank you for reading this newsletter and for the kind words about it- these are all things I have seen and loved- I hope you find some in here that you do too.
PERFORMANCES
Photo by Maria Baranova <3
Nile Harris’ this house is not a home at Abrons Arts Center stemmed from Harris and his longtime collaborator Trevor Bazile (1996-2021) wanting to comment on everyone’s sudden rush at wanting to support Black lives in June 2020 via a “Bounce for Black Lives” performance in a bounce house. The house was purchased with money Bazile made from working on New People’s Cinema Club, funded in part by Trump supporter Peter Thiel, supporting their vision that there is no such thing as “clean money”. Bazile suddenly passed away in 2021 and the performance evolved to also become about Harris’ grief for his friend and longtime collaborator. The show is a fever dream in primary colors that starts with two teenagers vaping on the side of the stage and filming TikToks- teenagers who embody the gentrifiers of the neighborhood the show takes place in. Nile Harris, dressed up as a happy-go-lucky Gingerbread Man takes us through the pains of being Black and gay in America with the help of white faced performer “Crackhead Barney” who embodies the dillusion of women of the white supremacist movement walking around and asking audience members who they are f***ing and who they will vote for. It’s as absurd as it is profound and deeply emotional and strange. Nile Harris leave nothing unseen or unsaid and allows for the use of discomfort to create something very real that implicates us too.
Dynasty Handbag’s Titanic Depression was another politically charged and groundbreaking show- rewriting the Titanic as a ship that collided with a pile of trash in the ocean (the iceberg had melted) and a love affair between a teenager (played by Dynasty) and Octopus who accidentally ended up on the boat. Dynasty ie Jibz Cameron has a background in video art and created the entire background of the show and other characters through animation (which allows her to play every other character that are a combination of her face and animated bodies). The show is a riot and a refreshing take on an overtold story- that somehow still feels captivating.
Cole Escola’s Oh Mary is the first thing that has made me CACKLE in months and most likely the most dramatic take on Mary Todd and Abraham Lincoln. It’s amazing to see Cole find their most perfect medium as a jaw-dropping character actor and come to life through their incredible writing, physical performance, and staging. Though the entire audience was made up of hyper fans excited from the beginning of the show- it just kept getting better with major highlights including a cabaret mashup of my little teapot and Copacabana. It’s comedy, it’s cabaret, it’s drag, it’s Theater with a big “T”.
If you’re feeling more gloomy and wanting a more tamed show, I really recommend I Love You So Much I Could Die by Mona Pirnot at New York Theater Workshop. Part storytelling through “Microsoft Dave” part song, it’s as soft as a lullaby, sad and beautiful.
FILM/TV
Documentaries
Nikki Giovanni’s Going to Mars is a gorgeous look into the poet’s life- her difficult family life growing up, her courageous years as a activist during the Civil Rights movement, and the unpolished impact of it all on her life now- as she is dealing with health issues and memory loss. Her writing weaves in and out of it as well as her fantasies surrounding space. Both documentary and art film it manages to tell her story in a way that is elevated as beautifully as her writing.
Beyond Utopia is one of the most courageous and impactful documentaries I’ve ever seen. Looking at what it takes to escape North Korea and the complications involved with having to bring the whole family to leave no one out to suffer- even those who still don’t understand the need to escape. The film also includes a lot of footage filmed within North Korea- which is so rare to see as well as the escape in itself leaving me to wonder about the camera crew or maybe person- what does it take to risk your life to film a single documentary that may or may not come out.
Silver Servers is another inspiring- more joyful- documentary that looks at senior competitive tennis players. The two characters that really make the story are Leonid Stanislavskyi from Ukraine, who was 95 when the doc was filmed and is still playing at 99, and is pushing for a competition for 80+ year olds and started playing in his 50s, and Etty Maruani, 82, from France who started playing in her 40s and wears larger than life fashion on the courts.
Movies
The Zone of Interest is a bone-chilling, and most effective look at those who perpetuate human genocide. I was most intrigued to see it for Sandra Hüller after reading her interview about the experience of performing in it in Vanity Fair and what is equally interesting to read about is the experience of casting Germans in this movie about the “picture perfect” domestic life of the General who oversaw Auschwitz and initiated the final solution. Sandra was given excerpts of the script without being told what it was about- which in a way is probably the only way you could convince people to do it. What I appreciated about the film was that it prepared you to watch it with a freeze frame before the movie starts to transition you from whatever you came from to the film. And the audio being it’s separate film- especially as someone who works in podcasting. It was that much more haunting. Sound designer Johnnie Burn created it separately from the film, increasing the tension between what you’re horrified to hear but unsure you’re hearing since it doesn’t match the visual.
Poor Things was incredibly entertaining- my major highlights were the dance scenes, scenography and costumes to die for- but I am honestly confused as to how to feel about it. I am not sure how funny the trope of playing god over someone’s bodily autonomy is past maybe one minute or if the use of the R word is okay to use in 2024 to generate laughter. It’s just hard to judge what the film’s point of view is around mental and physical disability and the lack of clarity is a bit unsettling and hard to think about when you’re lost in the fantasy of it all. I honestly had not even considered it until leaving the movie and talking to Shannon about it.
Other
Werner Herzog’s Happy People: A Year in The Taiga: A documentary about the trappers who’s life is a cycle of survival, going from subarctic temperatures and isolation to “summer” which is just the preparation for the next winter.
EO: This stunning film is a SAD and gorgeous Cannes Award winning movie about a donkey’s life in the circus- it’s really really beautifully made but get the tissues ready.
Beef: I am SO embarrassed we just got to watching and finishing this show that is the best-written show with the most complex characters we’ve seen in years (and maybe the first time I’ve seen complex Asian characters written for American television as the main focus and not just secondary roles). Ali Wong comes out of it as one of the best serious actresses on TV I’ve seen to date.
VISUAL ART
Copy Machine Manifestos: The Artists Who Make Zines at the Brooklyn Museum was an incredibly educational and wonderfully curated show I caught with Celia that looks at the history and underground communities of Zine Making. One of the surprises of the exhibit were zines by Carolee Schneeman’s against the War in Lebanon.
Tracey Emin Studio
Tracey Emin’s “Exorcism of the Last Painting I Ever Made” showing at Faurschou (first time in the US) was created in 1996 when she locked herself at a Stokholm gallery for 3 weeks to get over the anxieties she had around painting- which had stopped her from making any since 1990. The room is an intimate look at that time, sprawling with drawings, photos of performances, and paintings and a break in her career that led her to explore her emotions and trauma more. Donna Huanca’s massive contemporary sculptures are featured there too. Sarah and I trekked down to the show on a snowy and dark afternoon, and as we walked into the massive gallery (which is as galleries are- free), I was reminded of how wonderful it is that we have the option to do that on a snowy day- and via a public bus.
Pipilotti Rist at Luhring Augustine- I had this show on my list for a while, and realized it was only a few blocks from my office so on a gloomy afternoon- when I had hit the point of ADHD where I needed fresh air because my brain couldn’t think anymore I decided to walk to the gallery for a change of setting. I was alone- and again- free gallery- and I walked into the pink light in a room of floor pillows and multicolor psychedelic projections. It was SO dreamy, thank you Pipilotti.
MUSIC/PODCASTS
Sampha’s Lahai is a absolutely gorgeous album that is perfect for a cold weekend afternoon of cozying inside. His voice is stunning, the production is stunning. A++++ all around.
Classy with Jonathan Menjivar- I am late on the Classy train but this show has taught me so much about class- about how everyone is aiming for “middle class” even the hyper wealthy who might hide the price of their bread loaf for example from their cleaning lady. But also and most importantly about my own hangups around judging people who don’t have to work at all. But that’s what being an adult is- being okay with these discrepancies. I am still not okay but that’s my own problem and this show was a great teacher to me about our own weird human hangups around class and work.
Sleater Kinney’s Little Rope- This album was finished right after Carrie Brownstein lost her mom and stepfather to a car accident in 2022. It’s beautiful and- very short?
Starting a Riot- This podcast would actually be a great companion to the Zine exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum! It’s a show that looks at the Riot Grrrl movement in the Pacific Northwest, the politics of it and the people left out. The host of the show is Fabi Reyna, founder of She Shreds Media, the first guitar magazine for womyn!
Thanks for reading! See you next month!
With love,
Allie