Season three of Lavender Fest, Atlanta’s LGBTQ+ performing arts festival, kicked off last night at Out Front Theatre. This year’s lineup includes shows embodying the festival’s theme of “Unerasable”: pieces that hilariously combat censorship, celebrate authenticity, and share important queer stories.
Related story: Atlanta’s Lavender Fest to showcase queer theatre Aug. 5 – 9
Shows continue until Sunday, Aug. 9. Tickets can be purchased on Lavender Fest’s website.
The F-Word
Aug. 7, 9:45 p.m.
Aug. 8, 7:15 p.m.
When it comes to a queer life story, Markell Williams’ is familiar: he experiences his first crush on a boy when he was five, who proceeds to call him a f*g. He stays in the closet until his later adulthood and tentatively comes out. He falls for men who keep him hidden away, who like him but think he’s just not masculine enough. He starts “accepting whatever [comes] my way,” entering into an abusive relationship with a convict. He gets out of the relationship and begins the journey of radical self-acceptance.
Like most of us, Williams’ story isn’t particularly unique. What is unique, though, is his ability to tell his story. Williams’ energy is contagious: When he’s laughing, you’re laughing. When he’s heartbroken, you’re heartbroken. He’s an over-the-top physical comedian who appears to be completely unafraid to make a fool of himself, and what results is a both hilarious and radically honest testament to the power of self-acceptance.
The freedom with which Williams embodies and expresses himself, including and especially in the fact that he feels no impulse to edit himself for either straight or non-Black people, is refreshing and necessary amid a culture of increasing censorship.
Oop, Can’t Say That
Aug. 7, 7:15 p.m.
Aug. 8, 9:45 p.m.
In this staged play reading, the audience is transported to a National Censorship Award Association ceremony where two government censors detailed how they “successfully” regulated a talk in which Suzy – portrayed by playwright Olive Zhang – talks about what it means to be trans… I mean, redacted.
Inspired by her experiences teaching in higher education, Zhang takes the bleak and terrifying reality of censorship in academia and makes it hilarious in its absurdity. Zhang is so funny and charming, which translates in both her screenplay and performance, and John-Michael Hoke and Jason Hamlet have the comedic chops to make the censorship agents truly abhorrent and absolutely ridiculous, in the best way,
“Oop, Can’t Say That” is a working piece, and audiences have the chance to provide feedback in a Q&A session after the show (if you were there on opening night, you also got to watch Zhang inject her estrogen). But this does not mean the performance is messy or unfinished; it stands on its own as a complete and damn good show. If this is only a draft, I’m excited to see how it grows into a finished work.
Mischief and Moonflowers
Aug. 8, 4:45 p.m.
“Mischief and Moonflowers” is like if “Killing Eve” had more trans people. The audience looks in on an intimate evening between rival spies Avery and Kit as they navigate their own conflicting goals amid a burgeoning romance.
Playwright John Mabey’s script is smart and flirty, and stars Ava Davis and Andi Stanesic alternate between quick wit and tense silence, resulting in a chemistry that’s palpably erotic and joyful to watch.
Mabey chooses to include very little exposition in their script, especially in the beginning. This is preferable to exposition that’s heavy-handed and clunky, but it does result in a somewhat convoluted story that takes effort to parse through (even now, I’m not totally sure I’m clear on the particulars of the plot). “Mischief and Moonflowers” is by no means a perfect show, but it is an opportunity to enjoy a tender trans love story – something we need much more of.
