Working as a flight attendant might be seen as a kind of constant, non-teleological journey that is in many aspects out of one's control but which will invariably encounter pockets of turbulence. In the new play Brace for Impact!, one can arguably perceive symbolic resonances between flight attendant Shiva's (Maia Nikiphoroff) work and her life. Written by Maia Nikiphoroff, who has worked as a full-time flight attendant herself, and currently in a workshop run at The Tank, Brace for Impact! represents the exciting first stage production from Always Wild Content, a theater, film, and television production company co-founded by Nikiphoroff and partner Austin Iredale with roots in the U.S. and Paraguay and a partnership with Women in Film Paraguay, a non-profit film education mentorship program for young women in Asuncion.
When we are introduced to Shiva, she is sporting an eye patch, for reasons which are eventually and hilariously clarified, and, while she is working yet another flight, her father is being cremated. She is also being dogged by a clown (Alan Ross, in a wonderful non-speaking performance) who may or may not be visible to others. Her name, as she points out, can refer not only to the god of creation and destruction but also the period of mourning in Judaism. And as Shiva reckons with her relationship to her father and who he was, with the accompaniment of more than one airplane-sized bottle of vodka, she also sifts through her past, such as her first solo visit to the gynecologist, and reckons also with her present, whether coming to terms with her mother (an extremely funny Monique Vukovic) as a sexual being, confronting an older cousin (Jorge Sánchez Díaz) for whom she once had romantic feelings, or being expected to speak at her father's funeral.
Jorge Sánchez Díaz and Maia Nikiphoroff. Photo credit: Luigi Morris
The play is structured as short chapters presented as flights, and Shiva similarly imagines her relationships–friends, relatives, and traumas–as organized in the different levels of a soul-housing Airbus. Some of those traumas are gendered: her husband's view of her as a "precious" thing, for example, in contrast to Shiva and her mother's frank discussions of issues with their bodies, represents a denial of the totality of women's physical embodiment and experience, and another figure comes to represent, in some sense, the various problematic men who have impacted her life. Occasional direct address of audience members or actors seated in the audience increases the sense of intimacy in an already intimate space, and the script's echoes and repetitions weave lyrical connections and unveil new perspectives, culminating in visually and emotionally striking final moments. Through it all and against an effectively minimalist set design, Nikiphoroff commands the stage as the spiky, unabashed, and resilient Shiva. Brace for Impact! marries ribald humor to existential (self-)examination for an experience that is even better than a seat in the exit row.
What If They Ate The Baby? Written, performed, and directed by Natasha Roland and Xhloe Rice Co-Produced by SoHo Playhouse at Soho Playhouse 15 Vandam St., Manhattan, NYC November 19-December 22, 2025 Xhloe Rice and Natasha Roland. Photo by Molly White. Serial Edinburgh Fringe Festival First Award winners and current SoHo Playhouse artists in residence Xhloe and Natasha, having won last winter's SoHo Playhouse International Fringe Encore Theater Series Overall Excellence Award for A Letter to Lyndon B. Johnson or God: Whoever Reads This First (read our review here ), return to the SoHo's stage as the year draws to a close with What If They Ate The Baby? First performed at Edinburgh Fringe in 2023, What If They Ate The Baby? puts on full display the exhilarating fusion of clowning, physical theater, and the absurd for which the multidisciplinary duo is known. Experimenting with form and absurdism in ways that recall playwrights such Edward Albee and Caryl Churchill, this exc...
The Song of Lip and Tarantula Written by Aviva Pearl Ocean Creation Directed by Sasha Gheesling Presented by FRIGID New York NY, Big Beef Productions, and Kelley-Marie Van Dilla at UNDER St. Marks 94 St. Marks Place, Manhattan, NYC February 4-8, 2026 Raising a child is a hefty responsibility, especially within the attenuated care networks of heteropatriarchal capitalism. So just imagine what it would be like to raise 26 of them. That is the number mothered by the title characters of The Song of Lip and Tarantula , a new play from writer, comedienne, and educator Aviva Pearl Ocean Creation. While this number may sound like something from Greek mythology (or Titus Andronicus ), the more dreamlike elements of The Song of Lip and Tarantula are imbricated with verisimilar details rooting the play in the current political landscape, lived queer experience, and a granular, unsentimental evocation of New York City. When the play opens, Tarantula ( Airen Guevara ) is sitting, eyes closed, in ...
The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-In-The-Moon Marigolds Written by Paul Zindel Directed by Michelle Macau Presented by The Open Eye Theater 960 Main Street, Margaretville, NY 12455 July 18-28, 2024 L to R: Lisa Ruth Mays, Caroline Colvin (rear), Patricia Van Tassel, Gianna Vasquez Bartolini (rear), Taylor Nicole Hadsell Paul Zindel’s autobiographical play The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-In-The-Moon Marigolds was first mounted at Houston’s Alley Theatre in 1965 under the illustrious leadership of Artistic Director Nina Vance. The piece is based on Zindel’s own rocky childhood, complete with troubled mother and a father who abandoned the family. He cites Edward Albee, teacher of creative writing at Wagner College on Staten Island, as his inspiration and path to becoming a playwright. Marigolds was his first staged play, completing 819 performances at Mercer Arts Center before making it uptown to the Biltmore. It would go on to become a much-herald...
Comments
Post a Comment