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Paying the price for attention
FringeArts presents Jenn Kidwell’s we come to collect: a flirtation, with capitalism
Josh Herren
Jenn Kidwell’s we come to collect: a flirtation, with capitalism, which landed at FringeArts January 22-24, 2026, begins and ends in a state of luxurious repose. But this visual stillness is a trap.
On a set by Jian Jung that feels simultaneously glamorous and decadent, almost decaying, Kidwell and her co-conspirator Brandon Kazen-Maddox lie draped across the furniture, seemingly at rest. Surrounded by Petra Floyd’s fittingly ostentatious props, the image suggests a party, or perhaps the exhaustion that follows one. Behind them, a giant mirror reflects back our own gaze. However, what follows is not a rest, but a high-stakes exploration of value, labor, and the transaction of attention, an exchange we’re never not aware of as the mirror points back at us.
Terrifying charisma
From this initial posture of leisure, the duo launches into a masterclass of crowd work. We are all willing, or unwilling, participants. We are sat upon, touched, danced with, and solicited. In lesser hands, this level of audience interaction could feel gimmicky, but Kidwell navigates the room with a terrifying charisma, extracting what she calls our "devil nuggets", those hidden desires we usually keep off the clock.
Kazen-Maddox is a crucial partner in this work (codirected by Kidwell and Adam Lazarus), weaving American Sign Language (ASL direction by Patrice Creamer) into the performance not just as accessibility, but as a central aesthetic language that grounds Kidwell’s frenetic energy. Kazen-Maddox’s presence at times feels like an extension of Kidwell, their partnership is so strong.
"So what do you do?"
Kidwell’s text strikes its sharpest notes when dissecting the banality of our social scripts. In one extended monologue, she flays the ubiquitous party question: "So, what do you do?" She reveals it not as an inquiry into our passions, but as a capitalist surveyor’s tool: "It’s shorthand for how much do you make and how important are you ... so I know how to perform my role as it relates to you." It is a moment that shifts the discomfort from the physical space to the intellectual one.
The risk of crowd work, of course, is that the crowd might say no. On the night I attended, this risk yielded a moment of profound beauty. During a segment where Kidwell proposes marriage to an audience member, two people declined. The third, a person named Lacey, accepted. Lacey communicated in ASL, interpreted by Kazen-Maddox. Watching Kidwell ask Lacey to look in the mirror and affirm her own beauty, mediated through the human work of sign and interpretation, felt like a magic trick. It was a lucky, unscripted convergence of affirmation and translation.
Where does this mirror point?
However, the show’s ambition sometimes feels at odds with its framing. Shifting topics and tones rapidly, the piece can feel overstuffed. By the end, I also wondered who this challenge is truly for. As the performers return to their reclined positions during the show’s final moments, a stagehand with a high-visibility vest enters the stage and begins picking up the mess. It is a visceral reminder of the labor that remains unseen, unglamorized.
I was left thinking about the room itself. The ending feels challenging, but the energy in the room felt ebullient. Much of the provocation felt pitched specifically to an older, affluent, white audience. While Kidwell deftly pokes at their complicity, I found myself curious how the mirror works. Was this crowd being challenged, or ultimately reified? Nevertheless, we are presented with the miracle that is Jenn Kidwell. For that, we should be grateful.
The new Winter-Spring season at FringeArts
This production of we come to collect: a flirtation, with capitalism got its world premiere at The Flea in New York last year. It served as a bold opener for a new Winter-Spring season at FringeArts, a model designed to prioritize deep support for artists like the upcoming Lee Minora (Baby Everything, February 26-28; here’s the BSR review of the 2025 Fringe premiere), Hiroaki Umeda (assimilating and Moving State 1, March 14-15), and Pax Ressler and Jackie Soro (GIRL DOLLS: An American Musical, a co-presentation with The Bearded Ladies Cabaret; May 9-17).
What, When, Where
we come to collect: a flirtation, with capitalism. By Jenn Kidwell. Directed by Kidwell and Adam Lazarus. January 22-24, 2026 at FringeArts, 140 N. Columbus Boulevard, Philadelphia. FringeArts.com.
Accessibility
FringeArts is a wheelchair-accessible venue with gender-neutral restrooms. we come to collect was performed in a constant combination of spoken English and ASL.
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