CMU School of Drama


Tuesday, September 13, 2016

“Wig Out!” at The REP

The Pittsburgh Tatler: There’s a lot to love about director Tomé Cousin’s richly realized production of Tarell Alvin McCraney’s 2008 play Wig Out!, which centers on love and conflict among drag queens in New York. If you’ve seen the film Paris Is Burning (a poster of which figures prominently in the set) you know something about the “House Ball” culture that developed within the African-American and Latin-American trans community in the late eighties. Almost thirty years later, that scene is still going strong, and Wig Out! brings us into that world with charm, humor, and extravagant flamboyance.

2 comments:

Alexa James-Cardenas (ajamesca@andrew.cmu.edu) said...

I actually talked about seeing this play with a friend yesterday, and boy did I have a lot to say. First off the underlining factor of is, and if you get nothing from my comment then at least get this, I LOVED IT! It is definitely a show I recommend going to see, as it brought attention to somethings I didn’t really think about before. Before I go onto the good, I must say the bad first. There are a few minor hiccups to this production, and I wouldn’t even put it to the fault of the director or actors. One, although the set was AMAZING, during the beginning of Act 2, there was a technical difficulty, which when they restarted Act 2, made sense why spacing was off before the restart. But that is a minor thing that happened during ONE show, so no Biggy. SPEAKING of Acts, it is in mine opinion that the split between the two acts was very disproportioned. Unfortunately, during the Act 1, I really had to use the restroom, and so while I was enjoying show, I was trying my hardest not to run to the nearest bathroom. And once intermission came and I went to the restroom and back to my seat, I was so determined for a fairly long Act. But, once again to me, the second Act felt way to rushed, and the ending of the story a little unclear.
With all that said, this was an amazing, AMAZING show, with brilliant actors and singers, and the costumes, PLEASE don’t get me started on the costumes because I can go on forever about the costumes. But the one thing I really wanted to focus on this comment is the messages that this production gave, and one in particular. One being the stereotypes and prejudices with one’s own social group/group you identify yourself with, in this case the trans and LGBT community. This play really puts into question what is the definition of a man and a woman, masculinity and femininity, and what you can (“and can’t”) identify yourself as. I know, at least with race, that sometimes a person is not accepted as a person of a certain race because of the shade of their skin color, or the mixture of their blood, speaking of a language or anything that makes you “unfit” for that race. So we are put into these little boxes with labels on them telling others and ourselves what we are, and most importantly, what we are not. This play really made me think about this, and about how identity isn’t so clear cut. It is actually really really confusing. Far too confusing for a box with sharpie labels, and far too complex for ourselves to fully understand (at least right away), and in our confusion we try to cram identity into boxes, and stick a name tag on it. When instead it is so much more complex, so much more beautiful than a box, and much more confident for labels. So as I end this comment, I will say, go watch for the show for yourself, and see what you find. Maybe you’ll like it, maybe you won’t, but you’ll never know if you don’t go, so why not.

Unknown said...

I'm very thankful and privileged to have had a week night off so that I was able to catch a performance of 'Wig Out!'. As a queer individual it was refreshing and comforting to see such a variety of gay male characters on stage. Archetypes and stereotypes have continued to be the predominant portrayal of queer people on stage and screen up until the last five years. 'Wig Out!' Offers a glimpse into the multifaceted and complex world of gay culture and what it means to 'be a man' in the context of performativity and masculinity. As is often the case with drag houses the matriarch is in control and oversees the happenings within the family unit. In contrast Wig Out shows what happens when male machismo enters into this effeminate realm and threatens to ruin it. The attention to this intricate and problematic dichotomy sets Wig Out apart from any other queer piece of theatre I have ever seen.