Cara is a Director in West Philly
Steele is an actor, producer, marketer, and creator in Philadelphia
Cara
So, what was in your pockets?
Steele
I had heard that Renegade’s past shows weren’t everyone’s cup of tea. But I thought for sure the subject matter would bring me in.
Cara
I was in exactly the same place. Renegade did a show in my neighborhood, Cobbs Creek, this year
and they talked a lot about including the community, but my neighbors said that they actually ended up kind of invading the space and alienating the community. That bothered me, but I was still into the ideas in the description, so I was ready to give it a chance.
I also think it’s really important to say upfront that this is a workshop of a piece they’re going to put up in the Fringe. It wasn’t presented as a finished product, and they were actively seeking feedback. There was a feedback session after the performance I saw, but I didn’t stay for it.
Steele
Neither did I.
Cara
As it stands right now, I really don’t like the piece. Was there anything about it that you liked?
Steele
Yeah. Most of the actors were really committed to the world of the play.
Cara
I agree. What else?
Steele
That’s all I have for now.
Cara
OK, so let’s try to figure out why it didn’t work for us. I think what bothered me most about it was that it was a mean play. It had a lot of mockery and criticism but didn’t seem to care about anything, or have anything new or important to say.
Steele
I agree. I wanted to at least feel like they were speaking on behalf of animals but I didn’t even get that. And all the decisions on tackling issues seemed way too easy. Making fun of vegans and allergies at a restaurant, for example.
Cara
Old jokes, old criticisms.
Steele
[Actress] Leslie [Berkowitz]’s character in the restaurant scene was just completely bulldozed.
Cara
And part of what makes me angry about that is that there is so much to be thoughtful about. But this was a very limited lense on the issues that come up among middle class people who have a very particular set of food options.
Steele
Absolutely. I feel like I was sold a show that I didn’t see. I question why body image was brought into it. I wonder where the commentary about Philly food consumption was.
Cara
Can we talk about the body image stuff for a minute? The show seemed to be making fun of people who have shame about their bodies and painted them as idiots who fall for fads. The worst thing was, they asked us to close our eyes and imagine ourselves at our ideal weight. That’s a fucked up thing to do to people. And it was for a joke at our expense.
Steele
It’s so highly offensive. It made fun of people. In the audience. In the world. It was a show about food that somehow made fun of people’s food choices. And what was the point? That’s what I want to know. I know what they say the point was supposed to be but that wasn’t there.
Cara
And also had a lot of derision for people who enjoyed organic or specialty food. What was the point supposed to be?
Steele
From the blog:
“Over the past year, Mike Durkin has been engaging Philadelphians in talks about their consumption habits, studying the ripple effect that both eating and buying certain foods can have on our lives. The conversational journey has taken him from subjects ranging from food deserts in North Philly, to food allergies, to America’s growing obesity issue. Durkin will examine food culture via themes from the novel including food as work, food access, and food as class.” Doesn’t that sound great?
Cara
Yeah, that sounds really interesting.
Steele
I think that’s my biggest problem. I know this was a workshop and there is time before they do it in the Fringe, but they are presenting this in the Urban Creators farm. A farm that was created to close the food gaps in North Philly. I need them to address something, anything, relevant to that community in that space.
Cara
It’s pretty horrifying to imagine them presenting that piece as is to that audience. Those are people who both know what they are talking about, and care deeply about the issue.
Steele
Absolutely. It just makes a mockery of…everything.
Cara
But not with any specific message that I can discern.
Steele
Except the portion about Honest Lemonade. I’m assuming they were calling attention to how the company takes advantage of farmers?
Cara
I don’t know. That’s one of many things that confuses me. I understood the reference to Boxer, the workhorse in Animal Farm who labors without appreciation until he dies. Animal Farm is one of my favorite books because it (ironically I guess) humanizes what it is to want to redistribute wealth and power and the dangers inherent to enacting that desire. So I don’t understand at all what the relationship of that book to this play is outside of the word “farm” and the consistent sardonic use of “comrade” which was also confusing. Was it meant to be a criticism of Communism? Calling Honest Lemonade a….socialist company? I really don’t know.
Steele
I’m not sure either. If that’s what was actually being talked about, that was interesting. But I can’t say for sure. It was also tainted by the campy commentary while the audience was squeezing lemons. If they were attempting to say “look how much work you have to do to squeeze lemons to make 10 cents a bottle” the message got lost. That whole segment didn’t feel complete. Did you understand the part when the actor took his clothes off and smashed the Tastykake?
Cara
I think he was choosing between his clothes and the Tastykake? Maybe the clothes represented… I don’t know.
Steele
I’m not sure really.
Cara
He seemed to be weighing them?
Steele
Maybe.
Cara
How about the ritual in the beginning? Were they saying that we fetishize farmers?
Steele
Possibly. And then they all had plaid on so I thought they were a farmer cult… but then they turned out to animals also. I don’t know.
Cara
I also need to talk about the most disturbing part of this for me.
Steele
Yes, petting.
Cara
Yeah, that’s it. The part in which an actress came out into the audience flirting and asking people to pet her and admire the ribbon in her hair, then asking them for sugar. It made me very uncomfortable as an audience member, feminist and human, but especially because it seemed to be a light treatment of addicts.
Steele
It was awkward. And definitely, again, an easy way to address sugar addiction. Ok. She was a horse right? Was that supposed to be calling attention to horse abuse? Overworking them and rewarding them with sugar cubes? My brain was working so hard for meanings.
Cara
I brought that up to Mike Durkin, the director, and he pointed out that there is a character in Animal Farm, a horse called Mollie, that is obsessed with sugar and ribbons and love from the humans. In the book, she acts as a criticism of bourgeois people who were not comfortable with the new communist regime, and the sugar represents the scraps from the table that the middle class recieve from the rich. But I’m having a hard time making the connection between the character of Mollie and sugar-addicted poor people who can’t afford fresh vegetables.
Steele
Ok, so then I can understand the reference when connecting to the book but yes why, why was it in the show?
Cara
I also didn’t understand the solo anecdodes. That seems like it would have been an opportunity to make a human connection. But one of them was literally just a description, with no commentary, of a scene in a movie that isn’t even about food. And the others didn’t really reveal anything about the storyteller or the topic.
Steele
Oh those felt completely out of place. Even when mentioning food it didn’t connect. If I fully understood what was happening in the primary world of the play, they might have done something to give insight into the characters but they just made me more lost.
Cara
So if you were to give advice to the creators of this before they go into the Fringe version, what would it be?
Steele
I would really like them to be clearer on whatever the points about food are they are trying to get across. Because they are presenting at the Philly Urban Creators farm I need them to address food deserts and the relation of food to class. They should be careful not to alienate portions of the audience without purpose.
Also food is universal. Food stories from a non middle-class perspective would be great.
Cara
What parts of the show right now do you think are likely to alienate people? Especially people at the farm?
Steele
Making [actress] Leslie [Berkowitz’s] character so weak and attacked in the restaurant scene can definitely alienate people. Even as a non-vegetarian it just felt like a cruel way to address food issues and preferences. The “aerobics” segments feel like they are mocking anyone with a food struggle which would definitely alienate.
Cara
Absolutely. My advice would be to engage a really good dramaturg. This show needs someone to help it figure out what it’s about, and help it say what it’s trying to say and avoid accidentally saying what it doesn’t mean.
bonaly 