EDINBURGH 2019: Kirsten Vangsness Q&A

Powerhouse storyteller Kirsten Vangsness is best known as the unforgettable Penelope Garcia from CBS' Criminal Minds. She is bringing two very different yet equally barmy shows of female empowerment in rep and under the umbrella of FEMPIRE to Edinburgh Fringe Festival this year. CLEO, THEO & WU sees Lucy in a race to save the universe, aided by a cast of creatively reimagined superheroes from ancient history; and MESS is a celebration of the disorder in our lives.

Tell us a bit about Cleo, Theo & Wu

Cleo, Theo & Wu is a loose historical dra-medy about a woman in the present-day and a woman from the future. In the future, femininity has been smashed away, so she's taking the girl from the present-day and pulling her through time to meet Cleopatra, Theodora of the Byzantine Empire, and Wu Zhen Tang of the Xin Dynasty.

It makes us question why women are always seen as power hungry, bloodthirsty and starved. It aims to explore what it is about us, that is so beautifully powerful it terrifies us inside ourselves. I don't know a single woman who doesn't sometimes feel like they don't know how to be a "woman" or like someone is always doing it better. This play explores all of that, as well as trauma and memory.

Why is it an important story to tell?

I think it's an important story to tell, especially in this day and age. Masculine energy within ourselves, regardless of gender, is very powerful and action-oriented. It is designed to compete and conquer. Feminine energy isn't like that. It's important that we treat it as sacred because right now we live in a world where the way our female presidential nominees are treated, the way women treat other women and the way we talk to ourselves, means we have to be careful. We are a species that can create something out of nothing, and sometimes that power can be terrifying to ourselves and the opposite energy. If we aren't careful, stories get told about us that are inaccurate. It is so important that we try to hear our own stories, both the small women's histories and the big ones.

And you're also performing Mess? Can you tell us a bit about that as well?

MESS is a show about quantum physics and time happening all at once. It's as if your 97-year-old self is doing things to inform your 11-year-old self, so your 15-year-old self will know what to do for your 6-year-old self. It is all about quantum mechanics and non-linear time. The play is very autobiographical and deals with church camp, magical realism, negative self-talk and moving through situations you don't want to be in, to go into a more creative realm beyond them.

Are the two shows connected?

The two shows are definitely connected, in that I meditate a lot on the inner world, and how if our inner world isn't correct then the outer world will not show up positive. Our first environment we have to take good care of is inside of our bodies. How we talk to ourselves and how authentic we are to our inner world will be reflected back to us in the outer world. If I see something that disturbs me, I first and foremost have to check how I've done that to myself. This usually leads to me having the power to change the things outside of myself. Both shows are about self-discovery and showing up for yourself. They're about telling the truth and questioning your own truth. I think they complement each other nicely. Both include music I wrote and are designed to make you feel joyful and laugh. I like to be joyful and then have something that hits me in my solar plexus and makes me cry a little bit and I think both shows accomplish that.

Where might we have seen you before?

I've done a lot of theatre around Los Angeles and am a member of Theatre of NOTE in Hollywood. I also starred in the world premiere of Sheila Callahan's Everything You Touch at Boston Court, and the west coast premiere of Fat Pig at the Geffen. For my day job, I play Penelope Garcia from Criminal Minds which is about to enter Season 15.

Kirsten Vangsness is performing in Cleo, Theo & Wu and Mess at Edinburgh Festival Fringe from 1st -24th August (in rep with each other). Tickets and more information for Cleo, Theo & Wu: https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/fempire-cleo-theo-wu-by-kirsten-vangsness.

Tickets and more information for Mess: https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/fempire-mess-by-kirsten-vangsness

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