Scene Report: Day 5 (Monday)

Caught two shows back to back at Nietzsche's last night, and it's hard to imagine two more different events in the same room (both of them well worth my time):

Locust Sympathizer
I missed the first half of this show, but I got the basic idea pretty fast: dark ambient industrial sounds, most of them produced by Ben Hockenberry adjusting a table full of knobs and plugs. Samples of The Decider in Chief uttering fragmentary phrases like "America must reward..." and "Justice is distorted..."

If all that sounds familiar and/or off-putting, be aware that Hockenberry's approach to the genre also incorporates traditional American folk instruments like a banjo, washtub, and jug, which tells me he's up to a lot more than just making noise. (He had an accomplice, but the other guy was mostly hidden behind the aforementioned table, squatting on the ground.)



It's dark music for dark times. Given that folks on the other side of the world are busily blowing each other up while our little festival rages on, it feels perfectly right for this particular moment in history. You've got one more chance to catch this, Thursday, August 3rd, from 8:30-9:00 p.m. (That show is a shared bill with Praying For Oblivion.)


Ramona and Juliet
At the opposite end of the spectrum in every way was this fast, funny, four-person feminist re-envisioning of Romeo and Juliet. I happened to catch the opening night not only of the play, but of the new company presenting it, Brazen-Faced Varlets, and I am completely convinced that both are going to cause a sensation in this town. The room was full (on a Monday night, no less), and people loved the show. DC-based playwright Shawn Northrip (a boy writing quite skillfully about girl stuff, ladies and gentlemen) ditches 98% of Shakespeare's dialogue but retains the essential plot of R&J (based on my super-fuzzy memory of it)--only now the central battle is not between two families or even the Sharks and the Jets, but between queers and homophobes. The laughs are broad (and raunchy) as all get-out, but they are relentless, and every single cast member in the quartet--Heather Fangsrud, Lara Haberberger, Kelly Beuth, and Katie White--does a beautiful job delivering them. (Beuth and White must play a dozen characters between them.) Nietzsche's is not the most lavish setting in town for live theater, which makes their collective accomplishment all the more impressive. (Here's hoping they make a cameo appearance during this year's Shakespeare in the Parking Lot this Saturday, hint hint.)



I've been missing Hag Theatre since they evaporated a couple of years ago, and the arrival of BFV is an extremely encouraging sign for the future of lesbian and/or feminist theater in Buffalo. Welcome, welcome!

There are three more performances of Ramona during the festival--tonight through Thursday night--and I have a feeling you'd better arrive early, because something tells me this one's gonna be packed.



Amount spent on admissions for the evening (2 shows total): $5