Show Description
Wonder Woman’s Amazonian tendencies and Barbie’s imagined dreams of postmodern revision converge with the narrator’s own adolescent experiences in “Pop Culture Princess.” This campy solo performance employs personal narrative and performance poetry to tap into the gendered world of popular culture, exploring influences on adolescence and compulsory heterosexuality. “Pop Culture Princess” is loosely based around three narratives: Barbie’s monologue in which she critiques and then reinvents herself as a postmodern, performance artist; a poetic-style piece concerning role-playing, sexuality cues, and the 1970’s hit television show “Wonder Woman”; readings from the author’s own adolescent journals, which indicate how compulsory heterosexuality shapes narratives of desire.

Artist Statement
After years of performing roles that were pre-scripted for me, I became interested in writing my own stories. Regardless of one’s sexual orientation or gender presentation, compulsory sexualities and gender roles are constraining and need to be a more frequent topic of discussion. As a queer-identified artist who writes and performs solo narratives, I am particularly interested in how solo work is always simultaneously shaping and shaped by community. I write about my own experiences (as an adolescent and an adult) in hope of experiential connections with my audience. Writing from personal experience consistently draws feedback of recognition from audience members, which is a reminder of how important it is to share our stories with one another—and the stories they tell me become, in turn, a part of my performance. I work a lot with camp as a format, because I am interested in the possibilities that (feminist) camp performance has for elucidating the performative façade of gender. I want to take gender and sexuality apart—because they do operate as part of a well-tuned social machinery—and see what makes them work, whether as mechanisms of oppression, or freedom.

Technical Requirements
Small stage area (either raised or floor level is just fine). As the show is based around three main narratives, colored washes are useful for transitions between. Other than a general wash (sometimes larger, sometimes tighter), some blue/red tones and pink tones are desirable. There is one sound cue, at the beginning, and it is on a compact disc. The show is very self-contained—I carry all props on and off stage with me.