Archive for March 17th, 2007

The independent theatre scene has received a real gift this year with the emergence of the Frigid New York Festival: a selection of 30 plays in the East Village in the month of March. These plays are alternative, under represented and finally getting some attention.

“We Call Her Benny” is certainly a stand out play in this innaugural year. The hour long play explores a woman’s relationship with her own identity and her own sexuality. The primary information we have about Anna is that she was adopted as a baby and suffers from bipolar disorder. Told through short, powerful scenes, we learn just enough to care about Anna, and to stand behind her in her difficult journey. As a teenaged girl, Anna (played by Anna Bridgeforth) is taken advantage of by an older man and rebels against her psychiatrist. As a married woman, Anna (now played by Anna Cody) confronts her inability to orgasm, her husband’s desire to engage in a group orgy, and her birth mother. All these scenes are beautifully written and superbly acted. With simple set and very little technical showiness, “We Call Her Benny” proves once and for all that a great script and talented actors are the ultimate recipe for excellent theatre.

All the actors are exceptional, shining in the light and dark moments of the script. Bridgeforth and Cody are both fully alive on stage, and are seamless in their portrayal of the lead character. The rest of the cast is vibrant as well, without a single weak link. Candice Owens is particuarly engaging as Anna’s quirky, disturbing birth mother. Scenes between Owens and Cody are the strongest in the show, balancing humor and tragedy with rare skill.

Every theme in “We Call Her Benny” is handled with delicacy, wit, and depth. Hopefully, Frigid New York Festival will act as a springboard for this piece and its cast and crew. With so much new material constantly arriving in the Manhattan scene, it can be hard to weed through all the options. “We Call Her Benny” is an easy choice, an honest, lovely piece that most certainly will win any audience member’s heart.

So, if you saw the film Project Grizzly by director Peter Lynch then you really must check out Grizzly Proof, a conceptual art show inspired by the film and by the very human and lovable Troy Hurtubise. Human vs. nature was explored by all the artists in different mediums at the Flux Factory; which was a great space for this event, as long as you don’t mind trekking out to Queens.

Once you enter the room your eyes are pulled in so many directions as you try to decide what to look at first. There was the huggable fuzzy bear sleeping bag in the middle of the floor (”Bear Hugg” by Lisa Dillin) which you can actually snuggle up and zip yourself into. Then I was drawn to the loopy and fun “Hairy Blob with Arrows” by Fabienne Lasserre. And, how could I forget Paul Burn’s “Bear Cave” which was a humongous cave to peek into. I climbed into it’s secret little hidden interior to watch Burn’s and Stuyvesant’s “Grizzly Quest” video. I swear that cave was like a clown car, multitudes of people kept entering and exiting all night.

Some of the most notable projects were the simplistic, yet poignant and precise “Log” by Dominique Blais and the multimedium “What it Takes to Fold a Giant Bear” by Ian Montgomery which took the traditional artform of origami to a quirky postmodern and oversized level and it was spiced up with video documentation at super speeds.

Audience favorite of the evening (also got my vote!) was the interactive metal “Foosball Table” by Chris Hackett (metal work) and Eleanor Lovinsky (handcrafted figurines of little bears and little Troys). The crowd errupted around this piece of art as MANY games of foosball went on and on into the night.

The artists did not take themselves too seriously, which successfully added a level of playful intimacy and captured the truth of the film. Grizzly Proof was curated by Jean Barberis, Kerry Downey and Chen Tamir. The exhibit runs through April 12 on Saturdays and Sundays from 2-6 PM or by appointment.

Overall: I liked it- go play!