Boys and girls, football and Antigone at the Presented Fringe

One of the things the Philly Fringe Festival does is challenge our assumptions — about theater, about narrative, and about cultural norms. Two of the Presented shows in this year’s Fringe — Trajal Harrell’s Antigone Sr. / Twenty Looks or Paris is Burning at the Judson Church and In the Pony Palace/FOOTBALL from Tina Satter's Half Straddle company — challenge assumptions about gender in very different ways. They also challenge us with cultural references, some of which are familiar, such as football, and others that we may not even know or remember.

Trajal Harrell’s work is part of a larger body of work, hence the "Twenty Looks," that has been produced thus far in seven parts, or “sizes,” and, according to the program, asks a question. What if the Harlem ball drag culture of the 1960s had gotten together with the postmodern dance scene that was taking place at the same time just at the other end of town? It’s the distance between uptown Harlem and the downtown Judson Church.

Intrigued? I was. Not only because I once played Antigone in a radio play in college. But also because I know so little about what they’re talking about. A little bout of research later — I watched the film Paris Is Burning about the Harlem ball culture, revisited Madonna performing "Vogue," and looked up the plot of Sophocles’s Antigone: She wants to bury her brother honorably, and as a result she is imprisoned and kills herself — cheerful stuff. Oh, by the way, she’s the daughter of Oedipus and Jocasta. Did I need all that information? Probably not. The Fringe is about experiencing the moment and letting whatever happens happen.

Harrell’s Antigone Sr. is performed by an all-male cast with the audience as the citizens of Thebes. In a sense, this version is going back to its roots — Greek drama was performed by men only, wearing masks to indicate their characters.

“It’s the right moment to do it,” says Sarah Bishop-Stone, the Programming Manager of FringeArts, who is excited that, after the Fringe, all seven parts of Harrell’s work will be performed at the Crossing the Line Festival at The Kitchen in New York City.

Meanwhile, on the field

At the same time, Tina Satter imagines a world of innocent young girls and their bffs merged with the culture of football: youth and brutality combined. Satter, who played hockey in high school and college, transforms cheerleaders into players and coaches and imagines what would happen. “It has to do with innocence of friendships at that age, superimposed with the masculine world,” says Bishop-Stone.

That both these plays are bending gender roles is just “serendipity,” says Bishop-Stone. “We choose the artist first, and then let the work emerge.”

In this case, what emerged are two plays that allow us to imagine “what if?” about a host of possible permutations if we didn’t just assume that boys played football and only a girl can be Antigone.

Trajal Harrell’s Antigone Sr. / Twenty Looks or Paris is Burning at the Judson Church ($15-$29) is coming to FringeArts, 140 N. Columbus Boulevard, Philadelphia on September 12 and 13 at 7pm. For tickets or more information, call 215-413-1318 or click here.

Tina Satter’s In the Pony Palace/FOOTBALL ($29) is coming to Christ Church Neighborhood House Theater, 20 N. American Street, Philadelphia, September 17 through 19 at 7pm. For tickets or more information, call 215-413-1318 or click here.

The Philadelphia Fringe Festival runs September 5 through 21. For the full lineup, including the Neighborhood Fringe, click here.