The sins of the parents leave a lasting impression, as shown in Lisa Dominique's semi-autobiographic solo work A PERFECT SPECIMEN OF FEMININITY. Written and performed by Dominique, this comedy/drama is as uncomfortable as it is hilarious, cataloging the parental abuse, adolescent angst, and subsequent rebellion of a young woman who runs from a distorted family life only to find herself drawn to the same dysfunctions in her love life. Poignant and bittersweet, the show is directed by Matt Hoverman and begins performances on July 24th at Stage Left Studio, located at 438 West 37th Street, as part of the Ninth Annual Midtown InterNational Theatre Festival.
For Lisa, a Queens girl carrying the weight of a tragic and unhappy marriage between her Sri Lankan father and Trinidadian mother, the answers to life's questions are nowhere to be found. Forced to turn her feelings of isolation and fear inward, she comes into young adulthood riding a wave of depression, anxiety, low-self esteem and self-destruction. While Lisa finds her own special clique of "dysfunctionals" to hang out with in high school, more often than not she's compulsively tearing it up - from shoplifting and underage clubbing, to seeking revenge on the one "who failed to live up to his function."
Dominique plays multiple roles in this look back at her turbulent youth, including a physically abusive father with a pornography fetish and a psychologically manipulative mother whose greatest joy is being able to pass for white. Add in her high school hooligans: a wild, self-obsessed Italian beauty; a blonde-haired, blue eyed walking sexual fantasy; and a girl obsessed with the late
Brian Jones, former lead guitarist of the Rolling Stones, and you've got the makings of serious trouble.
From the moment where she died inside to a progression of gradually uncovered truths, Lisa struggles to find a way out of her home and her own self-hatred to reach a place where she can begin to become something more than her parents' legacy. Told with sensitivity, humility, grit, and a tremendous sense of humor, Lisa takes you on the ride of her life to find a kind of perfection that can only come from within.
Lisa Dominique (actress/writer) has been working steadily in New York since finishing a two-year Meisner Program with
Richard Pinter of
The Neighborhood Playhouse. She has appeared in several industrials, commercials, films (including the lead in the independent film Crazy Street) and off-Broadway productions (such as the lead in
The Public Theatre's Family Portrait). She is a former member of the bi-coastal improv group The Improvables and has also performed her stand-up act all over the metro New York area. She has been developing A Perfect Specimen of Femininity with
Matt Hoverman for the last year. The play premiered at the Wonder Woman Festival in December 2007 on Solo Sisters Night. She is currently working on the screenplay version.
Matt Hoverman (director) is an award-winning playwright (2006 FringeNYC Award for Best Playwrighting), actor (Yale Rep,
La Jolla Playhouse,
The Acting Company, Late Night w/
Conan O'Brien) and a director/teacher of solo shows. Through his popular "Create Your Own Solo Show" Workshops, Matt has midwived the creation of and/or directed over a hundred solo shows since 2001, including the 2005 FringeNYC Best Solo Show Award-winner, Bridezilla Strikes Back by
Cynthia Silver. This summer alone, 4 of his students are performing their solo shows in the FringeNYC, 3 are in the Midtown Inter
National Theatre Festival, 2 are in the Manhattan Rep Summerfest, 1 is in the Estrogenius Sola Voce Festival, 1 is in the Six Figures Theatre Company's Artist of Tomorrow Series, 3 were in the Emerging Artists "One Woman Standing" Festival and 1 was in the EAT "One Man Talking" Festival. For more info:
www.CreateYourOwnSoloShow.com
Running through July 27th, A PERFECT SPECIMEN OF FEMININITY will be performed at Stage Left Studio, located at 438 West 37th Street (between 9th & 10th Avenues), Suite 5A, as part of the Ninth Avenue Midtown Inter
National Theatre Festival. Show times are Thursday, July 24th at 6:30pm, Saturday, July 26th at 6pm and Sunday, July 27th at 4:30pm. Tickets are $18.00, $15.00 for students and seniors. Reservations: 212-279-4200 or
www.ticketcentral.com. Information:
www.midtownfestival.org.
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