Secret Bands and Crossed Roads

By Olivia Mozée

             

          For as long as I can remember, I’ve closed myself off from others in the same way a crime scene gets wrapped in caution tape. I think it all started when I was little and my friends and I started a band called– and this is the real title– “The Pokémon Sailor Moon Band.” Remember, we were young enough to believe that we lived in a world free of copyright infringement laws.

            In our minds, this band was the hottest thing since the

Spice Girls, but we made sure not to tell anyone else about it, especially not our parents. We played hits such as “Heart and Soul” on the piano and lip synced to our favorite Backstreet Boys hits; Plus, I recall at least one jaunty rendition of the Fairly Odd Parents theme song. 

            Anyway, my parents eventually asked why they often heard my friends and I singing along to the boombox and stomping around my room. I confessed that I was in a super-cool-but-totally-secret band. Being professional musicians, they offered to record us in their studio, burn CDs of our work, and of course, they told all of their friends that we had a super-cool-but-totally-secret band. The spark of having a band was quickly doused, and I lost the ability to tell anyone anything ever again.

            I suppose I can blame the band incident for many times when I bit my tongue instead of spilling my guts about all the stresses making my stomach feel like a bunch of butterflies at mating time. However, after keeping stuff bottled up for too long, the breakdown always occurs. Nowadays I usually rant to my boyfriend (who then proceeds to offer me a cup of tea, if only to shut me up), but back when I was reveling in The Realm of Single People, I was often tempted to just pull a stranger off the street and start complaining about my problems. I never had the cajones to do it– I mean, biologically, I don’t even have cajones– but it was tempting.

            Thirty-year-old Andrea, the protagonist of Julia Genoveva's THE CROSSROAD, does have the gall to pull

Julia Genoveva

this move, though. For Andrea, advice and solace come from strangers that she meets in a random, roadside diner. This decision to open up to people she doesn’t know is an unexpectedly effective method of getting her life out of its current standstill state, partly due to one especially intriguing patron that catches her attention.

            Does Andrea have a certain incident that made her closed off from the rest of the world? Maybe she too had a terribly named band and enthusiastic parents? Who knows– we might be more alike than I know.

            Are you an open person? Or do you prefer to keep to yourself? Who’s the one person or the group of people that you confide in, and why? Comment below and let us know about your secret-sharing habits.         

            THE CROSSROAD will be performed at Series B of the Strawberry One-Act Festival on August 5th (Weds) at 9 PM and August 9th (Sun) at 7 PM at Tato Laviera Theatre, 240 East 123rd street between 2nd and 3rd Avenue. Tickets are available at www.therianttheatre.com.

Taylor Swift, Beauty and the Whale

By Shelby Tansil

“Just because I forgave you doesn’t mean that isn’t a very real part of every day for me.”

-WHALE by Ali Keller

It was August 18^th, 2014 when the immortal words were first sung to a worldwide audience. Words that would come to serve as the anthem for young adults everywhere, as they stared boldly into the faces of teasing older siblings, snide classmates and their other arch-nemeses. Words that would inspire self-confidence and countless horrible dance moves. Words that would leave people everywhere asking, “Wait, does that even rhyme?” Those immortal words are:

           

            Cause the players gonna play play play play play

            And the haters gonna hate hate hate hate hate

            Baby, I’m just gonna shake shake shake shake shake

            I shake it off, I shake it off.

            -“Shake it Off” by Taylor Swift 

August 18^th, 2014. The day Taylor Swift released her hit single, “Shake it Off.” Since that date, the song has remained in the top hundred iTunes songs and has been the subject of countless Youtube parodies and covers. It’s one of those songs that seem almost inescapable.

           

            Why has it been so popular? Sure it’s sung by a well-known celebrity, has a catchy beat and an amusing music video. But I have to think that much of its stamina has to do with its positive, haters-can’t-bring-me-down message. “Shake It Off” encourages us to ignore people who put us down and to love ourselves as we are. Seems like a pretty solid message. But what happens when we become our own haters? How do we shake off our own negative thoughts about ourselves? How do we let go of the things that we can’t help but think about every day of our lives? That voice telling us we’re not good enough, not smart enough, not beautiful. The one we have to turn on loud, rock music to drown out.

            One major contributor to self-loathing in the United States is the media, which forces its contradictory beauty standards on us. Magazines feature articles like, “How I Beat Anorexia,” on one page and have advertisements for skinny pills on the next. It used to be “weird” for men to have long hair, but man buns are suddenly all the rage (see Buzzfeed’s post entitled, “20 Man Buns That Will Ruin You For Short-Haired Guys,” for more info). Butts were out. Butts are in. What society defines as beauty changes more quickly than a banker.

            Ali Keller’s new play, WHALE is a welcome challenger to this outdated social structure. Set against the unique backdrop of New York City’s MOMA, WHALE shows us a college student who uses a male friend in her senior thesis with embarrassing results. With

Ali Keller

witty dialogue and vivid characters, the play investigates how society’s beauty standards can transform the ways in which we perceive ourselves. The play also offers insightful commentary on self-love and self-loathing. A little Taylor Swift can work wonders for dealing with the haters outside, but WHALE might be able to help us deal with the haters inside.       

            Was there any defining moment that changed your perception of yourself or of someone you know? We’d love to hear from you! Comment here and tweet us at @rianttheatre.

And come check out WHALE, which will be performed in the Strawberry One-Act Festival in Series G on August 9^th (Sun) at 5pm & August 12^th (Wed) at 9pm. For tickets go to www.therianttheatre.com