So here’s what happened at Franconia Performance Salon #10, and going into this one was half an admission of cultural masochism, and the other half a desperate hope that someone, anyone, was going to do something that matters.
Nick Berger’s documentary was the evening’s unexpected grace note. Beautiful, moving, words we throw around until they mean nothing, except when they actually apply. This applied. Nick understands something fundamental: that art worth a damn has to hurt a little, has to reach inside and rearrange your furniture without asking permission.
Ryan and Raegan dragging taxidermy and long underwear into the living room, I mean, what are you even supposed to do with that information? But that’s the point, isn’t it? They’re operating on instinct, on some frequency the rest of us can’t quite tune into. You don’t have to understand it. You just have to respect that they committed. They showed up with dead things and thermal wear and made a choice.
The Brilliant sisters, though. Nathalie wrapping Breille in cellophane while a room full of adults suddenly forgets how to breathe normally. That’s theater. That’s understanding that eroticism isn’t about sex, it’s about attention, control, the voyeuristic contract we pretend we’re not signing. Of course it held everyone’s attention. We’re all just sophisticated primates staring at fire.
The O’Keefe play reading? Sometimes the kindest thing you can do is know when you’ve overstayed your welcome. They didn’t.
Ryan Tacata and Nathalie Brilliant sharing new performance works; Nicholas Berger presented an excerpt from “Land of Songs,” a new film documentary about Lithuanian folk music; and Kimberly Jannarone directed a section of an unproduced play by Jon O’Keefe, “Saying Emily”.
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By #10 you could feel the strain, some people still showing up with their guts, others just going through the motions. The complete story of all fourteen nights shows how hard it is to maintain momentum when you’re running on fumes.
Salon #11 is next. Four more after that. We were in the home stretch.
Or go back: Salon #9, two instruments, some supports, and pretty air.