Performa 07--the old black?

Reportedly, after attending several events of Performa 05, Cindy Sherman declared it the new black. Although I didn't have the opportunity to attend back in '05, I'm not sure that Performa has maintained its "black" status. Though I attended some very worthwhile events, the schedule on the whole is inconsistent. For every good event, there was at least one bad. Some of the more noteworthy ones were My Barbarian's Voyage of the White Widow and Darren O'Donnell's Haircuts by Children. On the contrary, I walked in and out Michael Williams' and Melissa Brown's Time Booth, which looked like a party thrown by theater majors who like to dress up and take photos of one another.

Voyage of the White Widow is undeniably funny and I think most audience members left happy (I know I did, although a bit embarrassed for other reasons). My Barbarian's targets were wide ranging--colonialism, heteronormativity, pop culture, musical theater, narrative, global warming, the list goes on. The performers, too, seemed to enjoy themselves in a "I-can't-believe-we-get-paid-for-this" way as they danced in undies and played with puppets. Though My Barbarian managed to get in a number of good barbs, it's hard to take away a strong message from the spectacle other than a handful of art history in-jokes and some general zaniness. The performance, though immensely enjoyable, didn't seem to have any real depth. I'm unsure whether there's actually a problem with that or not.

Haircuts by Children seems like it would also serve up some zaniness, but though images of clown-like haircuts and true green locks may flash through your minds, the event was actually much more sober. The children--actually Middle School aged so a bit older than one might expect--are given training before they cut and at least at this performance, took the job quite seriously. The role change subverts power in a thoroughly untraditional way: by offering a service, the children manage to gain control of the adult whose hair they cut. As unlicensed and unexperienced barbers, the children must garner the trust of the adults and ultimately put them in a submissive position. The children are not expecting any tips from the free haircuts, nor are they protecting a reputation or career, so their ability to render any adult ridiculous is just a snip away. The project creates an interesting web of power and exposes some of its mechanisms.