Do you know who you were in a past lifetime? Maybe you were the face of a maize flour company, or a stripper working on Christmas Eve. Maybe you made arepas with love or maybe you made love to strangers. Genrefuck. explores the complexities of life through two different stories: Reina by Augusto Bitter and Never Walk Alone by Julie Phan. This double bill of sensual solo shows makes for a thought provoking night at the theatre.
Reina
No one knows what the lady on the P.A.N. brand maize flour looks like below the neck, but Augusto Bitter’s Reina is certainly presenting audiences with tantalizing potentials. This iconic logo comes to life on stage, beautifully portrayed by Jaime Lujan. Co-directed by Bitter and Claren Grosz, Reina asks audiences to consider myriad and diverging realities all stemming from a single image.
Reina’s face has graced the bags of P.A.N. flour for generations. Hailing from Venezuela, no one knows the true name of the lady whose face has been on this iconic packaging. So Reina discusses all the lives she could have lived, all of the people she could have been and what she could have done with her life. But also, what it’s like to sit in our pantries, sometimes used frequently and in other houses relegated to the darker unused corners. Making fresh arepas (with the help of some audience members), telling stories, and dancing to her favourite songs, Reina is living the best possible version of all of those potential lives: the one where she feels happy and fulfilled.
Dangling from the ceiling at the far end of the playing space is a single banana. Creating a large oval around the stage is a collection of bowls, mixers, kitchen tools, and more; there’s little homogeneity to it, rather it’s a collection of various styles and generations of kitchenware. At the other end is a table, chair, and a bag of P.A.N. maize flour. The set beautifully mirrors the multiplicity of potential lives and stories that Reina discusses, while lending a cozy and familiar feel to the set. Many of these items are practically used as well: to make arepas as well as letting Reina wash herself.
Lujan is dazzling as Reina; strong in his character’s femininity, Lujan moves with grace and purpose in every step. His interactions with the audience are lighthearted and fun, while his delivery of Bitter’s text is passionate and heartfelt.
At the end of play, Reina talks about motherhood, musing to the audience that someone somewhere around the world has given birth that day, some little being had just been born. It brought a tear to my eye as my own best friend had given birth that day to her long-awaited son; it was like Reina was speaking directly to me. So the next time you go to make an arepa, or you’re doing a clean out of the dark corners of the pantry, take a look at your maize flour for the beautiful lady whose life is still a beautiful mystery.
Never Walk Alone
What’s your Christmas Eve traditions? For most folks, it likely doesn’t involve heading to a strip club, but Honey finds that she doesn’t lack for clients on the night before the most wonderful day of the year. Written and performed by Julie Phan and directed by Taiwah M’Carthy, Never Walk Alone takes a deep dive into Honey’s past, relationships, and what’s brought her to this point in her life.
Honey moved to Montreal six years ago: she wasn’t talking to her mother and her life wasn’t moving in the direction she wanted, so she moved and became an exotic dancer. She’s got her usuals, and they all have their own needs, but who’s tending to Honey’s needs? She’s working on Christmas Eve and everything is going pretty normally until her ex shows up, trying to make amends. This sparks a change in Honey, both emotional and…shockingly physical.
Phan performs on two poles atop platforms several times throughout the production, and the athleticism that it must take to perform some of these acrobatic moves is wildly impressive. I’d break my ankles just trying to walk in the boots she’s wearing let alone try and hold myself vertically off of a pole! The artistry that Phan has put into this piece, not just through the writing but through her physical performance as well, is fantastic. Jawon Kang’s set and prop design paired with VideoCompany’s video design add a whole other level of reality and spectacle to the production.
Phan’s sharp wit and observational comedy easily come through in the part of Honey. Her deadpan delivery and cynicism about her profession make Honey loveable and fearsome all at once. Phan truly bares it all for her audience, and I have to say I was impressed by her boldness.
Both of these shows focused on the journey of the character: who they were and who they could possibly become as they strive for their goals. Whether it’s a banana or some kind of reconciliation, the transformation of Reina and Honey is at the heart of their stories. While there were moments in both performances where I felt like there could have been some tightening of the action, or just having them continue the narrative while they dressed etc, these are otherwise enthralling tales of female potential.
Genrefuck. runs at the Buddies in Bad Times Theatre’s Chamber Space until May 31. For more information and tickets, visit: https://buddiesinbadtimes.com/show/genrefuck/
Cover Photos: Julie Phan. Photo by Jeremy Mimnagh. Jaime Lujan. Photo by Eden Graham.
Thank you to my Patrons:
N. Bushnik, S. Fisher, B. Kinnon, D. Moyes
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Angelica and Paul, Anonymous, Adrianna, Caitlin, Jonathan, and Jada
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