Performance Picks: Lingerie, Cuddly Comedy, Trans Is Magick

WEDNESDAY

Little Garden Guys: An Evening of Comedy About Ducks and Rabbits
Wednesday, October 4 at Babycastles, 8 pm: $5

Joe Rumrill and Andrew Tisher are back with their series of comedy shows that are restricted to two topics and two topics only. Past ventures have been themed for frogs and lizards, and bats and rats. Though the weather is cooling and fall is upon us, the duo has chosen a rather cute and spring-feeling pair of critters for tonight’s comedic fodder: ducks and rabbits. At Babycastles, you’ll see Eudora Peterson, Tony Zaret, Max Wittert, Ana Fabrega, Eliza Hurwitz, Joe Pera, and Becky Krause perform material exclusively about those aforementioned ducks and rabbits. While there’s no knowing what they’ll have prepared for you, one thing is certain: it will be about ducks and rabbits.

THURSDAY

Your Healing Is Killing Me
October 5-7 at JACK, 8 pm: $15

If healthcare hasn’t been largely on your mind for the past few weeks or months, then I can only assume you have a lot of privilege and stability which must be very nice as well as a very narrow worldview which is certainly less nice. For the rest of us, the Affordable Care Act has been thrown into jeopardy again and again, while activists like the fearless folk at ADAPT and politicians like Bernie Sanders have been fighting for justice and healthcare for all. In light of all of this, writer/performer Virginia Grise’s new show Your Healing Is Killing Me feels especially relevant, as it uses her personal experiences navigating the many, many ways we can receive care (or at least something masquerading as it) in America to spin a tale of capitalism, chronic illness, and 21st century healing.

FRIDAY

Prelude Festival 2017
October 4-6 at the Martin E. Segal Theater Center, various times: FREE

It’s that time of year again: no, no Mean Girls jokes, that was yesterday, and also those jokes are getting old if you ask me. It is time for the annual Prelude Festival, a multi-day showcase of performance of all types, plus workshops, panel discussions, research presentations, photography showcases, and other performance-adjacent activities. Shows will sometimes take place by themselves, sometimes in groups, sometimes in the afternoon, sometimes in the evening, from artists like Sister Sylvester, Pig Iron Theater Company, Cerebral Pussy, Split Britches, Moisés Kaufman, and many more. Plus, it is completely free, so it is also a prelude to your wallet remaining the same about of full as it was before you attended.

SATURDAY

{my lingerie play} 2017: THE CONCERT AND CALL TO ARMS!!!!!!!!! The Final Installation
Now through October 28 at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, 7:30 pm: $10-40

Yes, this show has a very long name. It also has a long history, so I guess the long name is earned. {my lingerie play} is the brainchild of musician, writer, and performer Diana Oh, and has manifested in various buzzed-about iterations throughout the city, often in the form of Oh or her collaborators standing in public, crowded areas wearing only lingerie, sometimes literally on soapboxes. This “final installation” of the show isn’t outdoors, but rather at Rattlestick, a theater in the West Village, in a production co-directed by Orion Stephanie Johnstone. It’s far more than just a lingerie-on-performer showcase, but a vibrant and no-holds-barred concert and celebration of bodies, queerness, bravery, and more. There will be glitter, there will be rock music, and of course, there will be lingerie.

SUNDAY

Trans Is Magick
Sunday, October 8 at New Women Space, 7 pm: $11-33 sliding scale

For some, Sunday is a day of rest, but there’ll be little of that at Trans Is Magick, a jam-packed daylong affair of workshops, mixers, a “psychic fair,” and performances, all led and created by trans, gender non-conforming, intersex, and two-spirit individuals. While the performances aren’t until 7 pm, there will be workshops starting at 2 pm on topics like “ethical hexing” and the intersection of money and astrology, followed by a psychic fair (not exactly sure what that means but it sounds neat), a mixer, and finally a variety of performances by artists from the local trans community. There’s a general focus on mysticism and magic here, so expect a lot of that, as well as a lot of support and community, which I would also say is a quite magical thing. Plus, all of the money will go directly to the many trans people involved in the event.