The irony isn’t lost on Alexa Capareda, one of the performing artists of Frank Wo/Men Collective.
Since forming a few years ago, the Frankies, as the collective call themselves, have created viscerl, provocative performances that fuse myriad forms of dance and theater. Maximalists of the first order, nothing ever seems too absurd for the Frankies — a stage full of water anyone? — and they have their staged scrappy yet visually-stunning shows in warehouses and other offbeat settings.
Now, thanks to a commission and a residency from Texas Performing Arts, along with Fusebox, the collective has had unfettered access to University of Texas’ theatrical production facilities as well as $20,000 in production support and professional technical assistance. Frank Wo/men is one of three Austin-based performing artists selected for the new residency program, an initiative born partially out of the pandemic and partially from TPA director Bob Bursey’s desire to support local artists.
Related: “Texas Performing Arts, along with Fusebox, launch residency program for Austin performing artists”
Over the course of the last few weeks, Frank Wo/men collective has been working in McCullough Theatre where they’ve created “K.I.D.D.O.,” a live show they’ll broadcast online Dec. 12 and 13.
“For the first time we’ve been given an entire professional theater to build a show in, and what we do — we build a house,” laughs Capareda.
What the Frankies built is five individual rooms each of which will be a stage for an individual performer. Each room is a familiar-but-not-quite-familiar space, personalized for the “kid-adult” character who inhabits it for the 45-minute performance, each character a kooky, exaggerated childlike persona.
Some 11 different cameras — including devices each performer will use — will give the channel-changing ability, and other features will allow the audience some direct interaction. Rather than using Zoom or another streaming service, the production is built on a bespoke digital platform and stream directly from the Frank Wo/men web site.
Tickets are available on a sliding scale, and there’s a free option too. To sign up go to bit.ly/kiddo-kiddo
Video by Tori Reynolds with sound by Schivona Johnson.
