I WAS A SIXTH GRADE BIGFOOT Set for FRIGID New York, 2/19-3/8

FRIGID New York presents a Nefarious Laboratory production: I Was a Sixth Grade Bigfoot, a story about bullies, monsters, and hoaxes. Written and performed by Cyndi Freeman and Directed by Sara Peters, at UNDER St. Marks (94 St. Marks Place, Between 1st Ave and Ave A). Tickets ($10 / $8 students & seniors), Available online at www.FRIGIDnewyork.info

When she was 11 years old Cyndi Freeman became obsessed with the Bigfoot phenomenon, the hunters, the hoaxes and the true believers. That same year, her homeroom classmates perpetrated a hoax of their own. They convinced the faculty that Cyndi was a thief, an instigator of fist fights, an agent of mayhem. It had all been lies and, by their high school years, the kids who had participated apologized and Cyndi forgave them. But the teachers still believed the legend that Freeman was a violent pathological liar. Friendships were lost, parents lived in fear and only the children knew, and accepted, the truth. Weaving together fun trivia about the Bigfoot myth and darker tales about the fiction that surrounded her during her formative years, Freeman talks of truth and lies, motivations both hidden and obvious, and the resilience it takes to survive childhood.

Cyndi Freeman (Writer, Performer) is a two-time NY Fringe Festival award winning solo performer. She has been performing as a storyteller for 20 years, credits include: The Moth, The Liar Show, Adam Wade's Super Stories, Seth Lind's Told, Risk, Stripped Stories & And I Am Not Lying. Her solo shows have been presented in Boston, Amsterdam, Ireland, The UK, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Festival and in NYC. Ms Freeman is a recipient of a 2015 SPARC grant (Seniors Partnering With Artists City Wide), which will enable her to partner with the Brooklyn Arts Council, in leading a program that teaches storytelling to seniors. She has worked for 5 years as a lead storytelling instructor with The Moth Community Outreach Program where she has coached people from all walks of life including docents at the 9/11 Tribute Center, adults with disabilities at Self-Advocacy Association of New York State and AHRC New York City, nurses at Montefiore Hospital and residents incarcerated at The Metropolitan Correctional Center, New York. Currently she is also the producer and host of Nefarious Laboratory Variety Show. A winner of a Grand Prize Playwriting Fellowship Award from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, her other credits include The Colbert Report on Comedy Central, Campus Comedy on HBO, and Compromising Situations on Showtime. She also performs burlesque in NYC as Cherry Pitz and produces Hotsy Totsy Burlesque monthly burlesque show with Joe The Shark. www.heroicsinhotpants.com

Sara Peters (Director) is s Storyteller who has been featured at TEDMED, on The Moth podcast, and on stage at The Liar Show, Bare, and Super Stories. She has worked as both a actor and a director with Alliance Repertory Theater Company. Currently she is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report, covering the New York Knicks. Once called "badass" by Mobb Deep. Occasionally she performs burlesque as Legs Benedict.