Four local LGBTQ+ acts to see at Atlanta Fringe Festival
Billie Sainwood presents Views A Story of Tits and Poetry Photo via Instagram At this year s Atlanta Fringe Festival four local LGBTQ acts are wowing audiences with poetry theater and comedy all about coming into your own and embracing the contentment of queer life With multiple more shows until June there is still a chance to see performances by Billie Sainwood Andrew Autry Mykal Alder June and Vandy Beth Glenn before the festival closes its -day run this weekend Views A Story of Tits and Poetry The Supermarket Black BoxJune p m June p m Inspired by a profound experience seeing Henri Riviere s The Thirty-Six Views of the Eiffel Tower poet Billie Sainwood shares ish views of her tits From experiences from her youth as a socialized overweight boy not snickering with her camp mates for fear of her shirtless body jiggling to understanding her identity as a trans woman through her relationship with her body Sainwood handles her stories with tender care Not only is she a phenomenal poet comparing the tux she was forced to wear to prom as made-to-fit like a coffin and her breasts to about different images from rotting apples to the moon all rattled off at the beginning of the set Sainwood is also hilarious Her poems are both deeply moving and side-splittingly funny all painting a picture just like Riviere of the complex and ever-changing landmark of her life and body The show is brief about minutes and not flashy aside from two costume changes there are no bells and whistles no lighting design no props Just Billie reading her poems at the podium If you re looking for a Fringe show that s overstated and outrageous you might want to look elsewhere But if you want a preciously handled exploration of trans identity and enjoyment in a political landscape that s becoming increasingly hostile you will not be disappointed by Views Content warning grooming statutory rape Based on a Drew Story Limelight Black BoxJune p m June p m June p m As the title suggests Based on a Drew Story is inspired by the real-life experiences of writer director Andrew Autry advised through actor Patrick Lacey The coming-of-age story begins as the silly journey of Drew losing his virginity at age and regaling his best friend Sadie played by Luzia Parodia Penha with his baby gay antics before it takes a sharp turn into the realities of loss grief and adulthood Autry s writing is spot-on absolutely fabulous but it s Lacey s performance that makes this show totally unforgettable They perfectly capture the innocence insecurity and contagious buoyancy of youth which is heart wrenchingly juxtaposed with the authentic depression and anguish they portray in the latter half of the show With only two folding chairs and a masterful grasp on physicality and space Lacey creates a world that you can practically see making the tragedy that much more visceral and the show s ultimately hopeful message about the power of kindness and human connection more resonant I envy those who are able to watch this show for the first time it truly is the closest live theater can get to perfection Content warning drug overdoseRelated stories th Atlanta Fringe Festival features Georgia-based performers Idea Capital awards arts grants to eight Atlanta creative projectsMykal Alder June in Last One Out Courtesy AFF Last One Out Dynamic El DoradoJune p m June p m Mykal Alder June you can call her June is absolutely phenomenal in her one-woman show Last One Out June invites the audience to hang up their preconceived notions or as she puts it spit out their grandmother s meatloaf and come to terms with the fact that they at least the cis ones don t know what it s like to be trans and that s okay Sit down and listen as June tells you about what it s like to be a -something with the hormones of a -year-old girl explained through the lens of her relationship with her first queer partner Z with other side stories and tangents interwoven throughout The show is all over the place swinging from an orgy in the gay bar bathroom to first person who called her pretty the little girl Rhiannon sigh who sought her to join the church s praise band June is brash then precious then rageful then heartfelt then irreverent almost all in the same breath She takes these colorful fragments and makes them into a mosaic together composing a splintered yet beautiful image of girlhood We all transition in one way or another and all people trans or otherwise can learn from June s story about the power and necessity of saving your own life Also June is genuinely so stunning that it s worth the ticket price just to look at her One Morning in the Office Monk s MeaderyJune p m June p m June p m We are not lucky to live in a world where transgender people have been fired for being trans We are lucky however that it happened to somebody so hilarious Comedian and award-winning LGBTQ advocate Vandy Beth Glenn tells the story of getting fired in after coming out as trans to her boss and the subsequent fruitful lawsuit Glenn s deadpan delivery may be jarring to specific but it s wildly flourishing Even when she stumbled every joke landed especially to me one in which she suggests that gender dysphoria is not a physiological condition that warrants firing but eczema is Even though she s a standup comic the half-hour set is more storytelling than standup but in a world where it feels like every piece of news about trans people is a loss Glenn s story of winning against the transphobe is remarkably refreshing She never dwells too much on the negative feelings of this undeniably traumatizing experience and watching her make jokes about it almost years later alive employed and unapologetically herself is deeply satisfying Tickets for these and all Atlanta Fringe Festival shows are and can be purchased at atlantafringe org events The post Four local LGBTQ acts to see at Atlanta Fringe Festival appeared first on Rough Draft Atlanta
