FRIGID Festival Presents CETOLOGY

Cetology (pronounced "see-TOL-oh-jee") is the study of whales. Cetology is also a new play written and performed by Nelia Miller and directed by Michele Stine, with live looping music composed by Alexandra Plattos Sulack and stunning animated, silhouette-style projections by Jenna Jo Pawlicki. This solo show warps the destructive story of Moby Dick and the selfless story of Jonah's whale in an attempt to understand being left behind by the ones we love. As Ahab's wife and Jonah's mother, Miller harnesses the power of women's anger and the delicacy of exercising that rage in this powerful story of love, loss, and...whales. Cetology brings an intimate perspective to the conversation around how women are expected to comport themselves and dampen their emotions to suit traditional constructs of romantic partnership and motherhood.

Miller weaves together theater, video projection, dance, and music in this solo performance. While angry women are often stigmatized, she uses the disquieting journey of releasing suppressed anger as narrative fuel to transform these well-known stories into blistering confrontations of unequal relationships.

"The idea for the title came from the same-titled chapter in Moby Dick," says Miller. "In a way, it's a study of whales, but told self-reflexively through an analysis of Moby Dick and Jonah and the Whale: one who destroys, and one who guides Jonah gently to the right path. How do these creatures with such opposing intentions co-exist? This was the question I find myself constantly questioning in my own relationships: How can my feelings of rage and love both exist, especially when directed at the same person?"

Cetology premiered at Chicago Danztheatre's Playwrights Festival in 2017 as a ten-minute choreographed storytelling monologue, and has since developed into a 40-minute solo show. Its multiple iterations have been performed in Chicago at The Agency Theater Collective's Basement Series, Links Hall, Scratch Night at Physical Theater Festival Chicago, Heels Over Head, The Cliff Dwellers Club, Swarm Residency, The Amazing Art Blender, and The Forward March of Women Series with Chicago Danztheatre in 2019. Cetology will also be performed at the Oregon Fringe Festival in April 2020, Green Shirt Studios' Solo Festival (Chicago) in May 2020, and Cahoot?! Physical Festival (Minneapolis) in May 2020.

FRIGID is an open and uncensored theatre festival that gives artists an opportunity to let their ingenuity thrive in a venue that values freedom of expression and artistic determination. In true support of our Indie Theater Community, 100% of box office proceeds will go directly to the artists whose work is being presented. FRIGID is here to chill out the New York independent theatre scene's ideas of what a theatre festival can be!

Cetology opens at Under St. Marks Theater, 94 St Marks Place, on February 22nd at 5:30 pm and runs February 24th at 5:30pm, February 27th at 7:10pm, March 2nd at 5:30pm, March 5th at 8:50pm, and concludes on March 7th at 10:30pm. Tickets are $15 and available at https://www.frigid.nyc/events/cetology.