Arts & Entertainment
Shifting ‘Shape’
World premier depdicts married Vaudevillians on tour
‘Shape’
force/collision
Atlas Performing Arts Center
1333 H Street, NE
$10-$25
202-399-7993, ext. 2
Dane Figueroa Edidi in ‘Shape,’ a force/collision production. If you want to see it, act fast — it closes Saturday. (Photo by C. Stanley Photography)
Young local company force/collision isn’t afraid to take on tough material.
Their last production was a site-specific project inspired by the Washington Navy Yard performed over a nippy spring weekend in outdoor fountains at a park on the Southwest Waterfront. Now, the ensemble is tackling very different-but-equally challenging work by experimental dramatist Erik Ehn titled “Shape” (currently nearing the end of a world premiere run at Atlas Performing Arts Center). In both cases, the productions have proved intriguing and visually compelling.
Roughly based on the lives African-American vaudevillians Billy and Cordelia McClain, “Shape” follows the married couple’s experiences over time as they move from place to place.
As the lights come up, the scene is set by Survivor (the excellent Dexter Hamlett), a narrator who’s big on lyricism but short on concrete detail (thank goodness for program notes). It’s turn-of-the-century Ambrose Park, Brooklyn where Billy (Frank Britton) and Cordelia (Dane Figuero Edidi) are headlining in “Black America,” a true life spectacle in which about 500 black entertainers glorified plantation life in the Old South.
After the Brooklyn show closes, the couple sojourns to Europe where they eschew their usual daily dose of minstrelsy for racier entertainments — Cordelia introduces a new sexy Jazz Age act while Billy finds adventure in the arms of myriad other women. The marriage crumbles and they return to the states where Billy is on hand for the Tulsa Race Riots of 1921, a hideous episode in American history that left thousands of black families homeless and scores dead.
Director John Moletress, who is gay, leads a talented design team in admirably presenting Ehn’s sometimes puzzling play.
Collin Ranney (also gay) transforms Atlas’ black box theater into an enchanted place. Above a lawn of excelsior hang tiny glowing fairy houses that rise and fall like the vaudevillians fortunes. In the center sits a stump; nearby there’s an old steamer trunk. At either end of the space are billowy sails, bookending a small world both redolent of the past, of suggestive voyage and escape.
Ariel J. Benjamin’s dramatic lighting and Derek V. Knoderer’s equally evocative soundscape add to the overall effect.
And while the production is visually appealing, and boasts inventive staging (random chairs and a few actors magically morph into a railroad passenger car) and a strong cast, its lack of linear narrative can be frustrating at times, especially since Ehn is tying historical facts to larger themes. (“Shape” is part of Ehn’s “Soulographie,” a series of 17 plays about genocide and reconciliation.)
Mostly, it’s best to sit back and let Ehn’s dreamlike prose wash over you; enjoy the production’s haunting songs, stirring, avian-inspired movement and the dedicated cast. Figueroa Edidi’s Cordelia is sublime: a diva with a sense of humor. She’s resilient but not wholly inured to life’s hardships. In one of his stronger performances, Britton captures Billy as the charming philanderer. Other standouts include Karin Rosnizek’s clueless French reporter and Luci Murphy as a soulful, singing vaudevillian.
The parts of Cordelia and her maid (S. Lewis Feemster) have been cast with male actors, heightening theatricality and a focus on identity. The choice also pays homage to black vaudevillians of the early 20th century who often played cross-gendered roles.
With “Shape,” force/collision strikingly fulfills its mission to create new performance works. And while “Shape” is sometimes hard to follow, it’s always beautiful to watch.
The DC Center for the LGBTQ Community, SMYAL and Rainbow Families sponsored Gay Day at the Zoo on Sunday at the Smithsonian National Zoo. The Smithsonian marked International Family Equality Day with special exhibits and an event space.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
Covering Gay Day at the Zoo for @WashBlade . Here at @NationalZooDC pic.twitter.com/LqgGNOOAiM
— Michael Patrick Key (@MichaelKeyWB) May 5, 2024
Photos
PHOTOS: Taste of Point
Annual fundraiser held for LGBTQ youth scholarship, mentorship organization
The Point Foundation held its annual Taste of Point fundraiser at Room & Board on May 2.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
Theater
Miss Kitty tackles classical mythology in ‘Metamorphoses’
Folger production seen through the lens of the African diaspora
‘Metamorphoses’
May 7-June 16
Folger Theatre
201 East Capitol St., S.E.
$20-$84
Folger.edu
Miss Kitty’s words are thoughtful and measured, occasionally punctuated by flamboyant flourishes and uplifting proclamations. Her tried and tested tagline is “live in fierce not fear.”
She describes herself as “AMAB (assigned male at birth), nonbinary, genderqueer, transfemme” as well as “chanteuse, noble blacktress, and dancer.”
Currently, Miss Kitty is testing her talents in Mary Zimmerman’s “Metamorphoses” at Folger Theatre on Capitol Hill.
At 90 minutes, “Metamorphoses,” is made up of interwoven vignettes from classical mythology including the tales of Midas and his daughter, Alcyone and Ceyx, and Eros and Psyche.
“It’s all stories that relate to the human condition: the follies, the happiness, the love, the loss,” Miss Kitty explains. “And a thorough knowledge of mythology isn’t a requirement for enjoyment.”
The language is contemporary and with its 11-person ensemble cast – comprised exclusively of Black or indigenous people of color – they’re adding their own spin to its present-day feel, she adds.
In Zimmerman’s famously staged premiere production, the actors performed in and around a pool of water. At Folger, director Psalmayene 24 has ditched actual aquatics; instead, he suggests the element by introducing Water Nymph, a new character constructed around Miss Kitty.
Water Nymph doesn’t speak, but she’s very visible from the opening number and throughout the play on stage and popping up in unexpected places around the venue.
“It’s a lot of dancing; I haven’t danced the way Tony Thomas is choreographing me in a very long time. At 40, can she still make theater with just my body as her instrument?
The name “Miss Kitty” was born over a decade ago.
Miss Kitty recalls, “She was still presenting as male and going by her dead name. Someone commented that with the wig she was wearing for a part, she looked like Eartha Kitt whom she deeply admires.”
Her penchant for illeism (referring to oneself in third person) isn’t without good reason. She explains, “It’s to reiterate that however she might look, she’s always there; and if you misgender, she will let you know.”
Initially, the moniker was a drag persona at Capital Pride or the occasional fabulous cabaret performance at a nightclub.
But as time passed, she realized that Miss Kitty was something she couldn’t take off. She had always been a part of her.
“She’s helped me to grow and flourish; she’s given me the strength that I never would have had before. I’m so proud of myself for realizing that before it was too late.”
Bringing Miss Kitty into her theatrical career presented some concerns. Would theater folks be open to the new her, especially those she’d worked with before?
Not always, but she’s found new companies who’ve welcomed Miss Kitty with open arms including Avant Bard, Spooky Action Theater, and now Folger.
Last fall, Miss Kitty appeared in Spooky Action’s Agreste (Drylands), a stunning queer story penned by gay Brazilian playwright Newton Moreno.
After being invited to audition and reading the script, Miss Kitty was determined to be a part of the production.
A work dealing with love and being trans, and transphobia, and how people can turn on a dime once they learn the truth about someone, resonated deeply with the actor.
“The play speaks to the idea that if people just let people be who they are and love who they want to love we’d all be a lot happier,” she says.
For her sublime efforts, Miss Kitty nabbed a Helen Hayes Award nomination in the Outstanding Lead Performer category (winner to be determined on Monday, May 20 during a ceremony at The Anthem).
It’s her first time nominated and first time attending. She’s thrilled.
Miss Kitty grew up in Oxen Hill, Md., and now lives near Washington Harbor. Her entry into performance was through music followed by high school plays. She graduated from Catholic University with a degree in music/concentration in musical theater, and from there dove directly into showbiz.
Looking back, Miss Kitty says, “being a person of color AND queer can be a double whammy of difficulty. You have to live in light and do the things you’re afraid to do. That’s the game changer.”
Presenting “Metamorphoses” through the lens of the African diaspora (the cast also includes Jon Hudson Odom and Billie Krishawn, among others) helps us to realize that every story can be universal, especially for marginalized people — South Asian, Native American, or fully queer perspectives, she says.
“Having an all-Black ensemble opens all new worlds for everyone.”
Out in the World: LGBTQ news from Europe and Asia
PHOTOS: Gay Day at the Zoo
PHOTOS: Taste of Point
Miyares joins efforts to fight Title IX changes
US Census Bureau testing survey on LGBTQ households
Judy Shepard to receive Presidential Medal of Freedom
Pride journey: Las Vegas
United Methodist Church removes 40-year ban on gay clergy
University students have a right to protest
