FRIGID New York to Present The 12th Annual Gotham Storytelling Festival

FRIGID New York will present the 12th annual Gotham Storytelling Festival from November 3-18 at UNDER St. Marks (94 St Marks Pl, New York, NY 10009). Tickets ($25) are available for advance purchase at www.frigid.nyc. Some performances will also be available to livestream from home.

Now in its twelfth year, the Gotham Storytelling Festival brings together diverse storytellers to do what they do best. Whether you’re looking to escape into someone else’s story, to commiserate with an artist, or laugh out loud, Gotham has something for you. Join legendary hitters and new friends for an international event that’s sure to alleviate some of the year’s aches. Gotham is curated by storyteller Brad Lawrence and FRIGID New York’s Managing Director, Erez Ziv. 

 

Stories from the Brink: my festive near death adventures

Written & Performed by Iris Bahr

One woman’s true tales of near death, unfiltered and in snackable form. Including, but not limited to: missile attacks, elder caregiving, a death in the wild, an incompetent Scottish physician, a pork-based Yeshiva childhood and a bomb shelter that smelled like peanuts.

Sunday, November 3 at 7pm, Thursday, November 7 at 7pm & Tuesday, November 12 at 7pm 55 minutes

 

American Rookie: Election Edition

Written & Performed by Dipti Bramhandkar

Part coming-of-age tale, part social commentary, and part comedy, American Rookie is a powerful exploration of the immigrant experience in America. Inspired by Dipti Bramhandkar's own journey from Mumbai to Central New York State, the play vividly captures the joy, humor, and challenges of assimilation. Through a blend of personal anecdotes and cultural observations, American Rookie brings to life the complex process of constructing a new American identity—touching on everything from the awkwardness of 90s fashion to the impact of Judy Blume and Nintendo, on shaping a young immigrant's worldview. The story is about what it means to find one's place in a new world while holding onto the essence of where you come from. Sunday, November 3 at 8:30pm 60 minutes

 

Mock the Vote!

Written & Performed by Killy Dwyer

Mock The Vote blends Killy Mockstar’s sharp satirical storytelling with catchy comedic political songs. Calm your nerves as Killy weaves real time election night coverage throughout the show and spins it into laughs while the fate of the country is sealed. Killy Mockstar Dwyer is a fearless force in comedy rock and performance art. Known for blending biting satire with absurd humor, she’s a self-described “mockstar” who pushes boundaries with her music, theatrical shows, and edgy sense of humor. From headlining alternative cabarets to crafting viral comedy hits, Killy turns the mundane into madness with her sharp wit and fearless performances. With influences ranging from punk rock to Dadaism, she’s a boundary-breaking artist who thrives on chaos, creativity, and always keeping her audience on their toes. Whether on stage or online, Killy delivers performances that are as clever as they are chaotic, making her a cult favorite in the underground scene and beyond.

Tuesday, November 5 at 7pm 60 minutes 

 

The Tell

Hosted by Ronna Levy

The Tell is a storytelling show that invites the audience to experience a series of interwoven stories under one common theme. Five tellers move seamlessly from story to story, stories of varying lengths and formats such as the braided story, the 99-second story, and the 5-minute-slam style story. Ultimately, this composition of interconnected stories, stories like puzzle pieces put together, reveals a larger overarching story. 

Thursday, November 7 at 8:30pm 60 minutes 

 

The Brothers Orphan

Written & Performed by Jamie Brickhouse

Orphaned at ages 55, 54 and 46, brothers Ronny, Jeffrey and Jamie are thrown together after years living separate lives. As they sift through the family home, they return to their juvenile selves but their adult afflictions—addiction, resentments, mental illness—threaten to burn the house down. Told by the baby of the family, “natural raconteur” (Washington Post) Jamie Brickhouse, it’s a darkly comic tale about how he is left to be the adult of three, as he struggles to make hard decisions from who gets the silver to pulling the plug.

Friday, November 8 at 7pm 60 minutes

 

Jurassic Heartbreak

Written & Performed by Matt Storrs

Matt Storrs has never loved anything more than his first love: dinosaurs. After romantic rejection in elementary school, Matt copes by starting a movement to advocate for his favorite dinosaur and get the governor of Arizona recalled. Years later, after another failed romantic connection, a trip to the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show puts Matt face to face with the illegal fossil trade. Matt unearths new knowledge that makes him question his first love. Will newfound knowledge allow him to forgive and find lasting love? You won’t have to wait 65 million years to find out. 

Friday, November 8 at 8:30pm 45 minutes 

 

On Cats and Dogs And Other Family Revelations

Written & Performed by Ella Veres

On Cats and Dogs and Other Family Revelations wraps big ideas in focused stories about Ella’s pets, offering glimpses of her human family and life in her place of birth, Transylvania, Romania. With her dark humor and heart, Ella takes audiences from her childhood under communist rule, to her present quirky experiences in East Harlem, using her dog and cat as reference points.

The cast will feature Ella Veres and her companion dog, Pandele, who said she's in it not for fame, but to pay her vet bills. Rosamunda, her cat, was asked to perform but declined. She’d rather lounge under the sofa than be in the limelight. 

Sunday, November 10 at 5:30pm 60 minutes

 

The Genius of Being Stupid

Written & Performed by Keenan Scott II

Acclaimed Broadway Playwright Keenan Scott II returns to FRIGID with his new autobiographical solo show, THE GENIUS OF BEING STUPID. He navigates telling the story of his upbringing in Queens, New York and Waldorf, Maryland as he navigates being a special education student during his youth.

Saturday, November 9 at 3pm & Sunday, November 10 at 7pm 55 minutes

 

Where are they now? The GenX Edition

Hosted by Ria Spencer

Totally tubular tales from the original latch key kids gathered together to get through this thing called life. Brought to you by friendship pins, night sweats and women's comfort shoes.

Monday, November 11 at 7pm 60 minutes

 

Untitled Grandma Play: Piggy Boo

Written & Performed by Alex Hardin

A long awaited tale of my grandma, generational abuse, the mafia, and a haunted slot machine. 

Thursday, November 14 at 7pm 60 minutes 

 

Mondays with Mandelbaum: Life lessons from the first American crime boss

Written & Performed by Tracey Erin Smith

Mrs. Fredericka Mandelbaum was America's first great crime boss. A nice Jewish immigrant from Germany, Mandelbaum becomes the matriarch to the criminal elements of New York City in the Lower East Side. At the peak of her underground empire, law enforcement has her cornered and her time is running out. When playwright/performer Tracey Erin Smith finds herself in Mandelbaum’s criminal headquarters in 1884, New York, time and space collide. Each wrestling with their own connections to crime and family, these women swap tales, techniques of their trades, and tons of tea. This time-bending story weaves Mandelbaum's criminal genius with the playwright’s true stories of a father who had his own dance with the law. It's a wild ride where truth and fiction have a fabulous fling.

Monday, November 11 @ 8:30pm & Thursday, November 14 at 9pm 65 minutes

 

Kate, Allie and the '86 Mets

Written & Performed by Kate Barry

Summer 1986, Long Island - THE hit sitcom, “Kate and Allie” is on the TV - Grace and Dorothy, two recently divorced best friends, see their own lives reflected back at them on the screen. Kate and Allie, also recently divorced best friends, have the brilliant idea of combining their households and solving all the problems of single motherhood under one roof. Grace and Dorothy turn to each other and ask, “Why don’t we do that?” And that is how they changed the trajectory of their families lives forever. Told through the perspective of the oldest (by 7 days) daughter of the 4 kids, this play weaves through decades of adventures, joys, and challenges of growing up in a non-traditional family. Americans may have loved watching these dynamics on TV, but were they really ready for it, and the questions it raised in real life?

Friday, November 15 at 7pm 60 minutes

 

Seapony 

Written & Performed by Kelindah bee Schuster aka Theydy Bedbug

seapony is a trans-masc pregnancy ritual inspired by the reproductive cycle of male seahorses, who take the lead in childbearing. Through poetry, puppetry, and drag, this one-person show set on the beach follows a Dad-to-be who was once a Daughter and wishes to bear babies. He looks to the ocean as our original parent for guidance on how to nurture new life with integrity and how to be a queer family. The campy characters deal with parental attachment and identity formation, pre-pregnancy isolation and the vulnerability of being seen, all the while attempting plenty of dad jokes. 

Friday, November 15 at 9pm 60 minutes 

 

Truth in Love

Written & Performed by Walt Egbert

How do you find the truth in yourself when you've put all your energy into creating an image that will fit in with the world you live in? Are your family and friends invested in YOU or in your image? Walt grew up in the 70's and 80's as a closeted gay kid in the “monoculture” of Catholic suburban Long Island in a family that was Trumpy before Trump. He was raised on truths of the John Birch Society with copies of “None Dare Call it Conspiracy” and the Phyllis Schlafly newsletter around the house. While a student at an Ivy League university, he found himself actively recruited by Opus Dei. Everything Walt knew - his  friends, his colleagues, his media exposure - was carefully curated to avoid exposure to anything that might call into question his decision to stay deeply closeted. The years that followed were surprisingly challenging: to continue to uncover the programming and internalized homophobia that would crop up unexpectedly in closets within closets. He couldn't just "come out" without finding the need to reassess his entire worldview. Saturday, November 16 at 7pm 50 minutes

 

Tissue 

Written & Performed by Sarah Staines

After being injured and carrying scar tissue around since she was 3 years old, Sarah examines the experience of being injured, therefore being forced to examine the benefit and pain of having a body that heals, just very very slowly. Lessons learned from a hospital bed.

Saturday, November 16 at 8:30pm 30 minutes

 

The Big Secret

Written & Performed by Brad Lawrence

Brad Lawrence was raised feral in the trashier parts of Missouri, America's trashiest state. And yet, as soon as he could, he flung himself into the world in spite of his total lack of life skills, education, and good judgment. Somehow, through a combination of luck, a high pain threshold, and the indulgence of more competent friends and partners, he has survived.

Saturday, November 16 at 10pm 60 minutes

 

FRIGID New York’s mission is to provide both emerging and established artists the opportunity to create and produce original work of varied content, form, and style, and to amplify their diverse voices. We do this by presenting an array of monthly programming, mainstage productions, an artist residency, and eight annual theater festivals that create an environment of collaboration, resourcefulness, and innovation. Founded in 1998, the aim was and is to form a structure, allowing multiple artists to focus on creating and staging new work and providing affordable rental space to scores of independent artists. Now in our third decade we have produced a massive quantity of stimulating downtown theater. www.frigid.nyc

 

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