SHAME!, Naked Empire Bouffon Company's original Queer performance August 20, 2009

Four performance artists deform their bodies into grotesque anti-clowns to lambaste the hypocrisies, hierarchies and happiness of Queer San Francisco. NEBC invites you to an unflattering celebration of pride that asks: Does a mecca of Queer support and safety also create a culture of complacency? How might a liberation-seeking community contribute to their own oppression? Does pride eliminate shame? Charmingly obscene and dangerously perceptive, the cast of SHAME! sniffs out the possible answers to these questions through cutting satire, virtuosic physicality and a no-holds-barred relationship with the audience.

"They're not out to pass judgment," explains Artistic Director Nathaniel Justiniano, "but they're bursting to play with repression, shame, and all things taboo." Based in the European physical theatre tradition of bouffon, this fearless ensemble creates an evening of vulgar vaudeville with piercing honesty. From Castro queens to kinky fems, from the apathetic to the ultra-empowered, the bouffons make fun of the audience and their values by holding a magnifying glass up to stereotypes and social norms. "If we don't offend you, then we haven't done our job," insists Justiniano.

For this inaugural performance a Queer-identified ensemble was gathered to explore shame as the root of the Queer subconscious. Through community story circles, personal analysis, interviews and field research, the cast mined the tumultuous experience of shame in their daily lives both as participants and observers. Material was then developed through extensive improvisations where the bouffons were given free reign to exploit and make games of the darkest, most embarrassing aspects of everyday Queer happenings. They also took to the streets almost getting arrested at Pride for harassment and misconduct in the port-o-potties, thrown out of a Queer fundraiser at El Rio, and attacked by angry parents at the SF Free Theater Festival.

Thu-Sat, Aug 20-22 & 27-29, 8pm to 9:30pm

$20, but no one turned away for lack of funds.

Official Website: http://nakedempirebouffon.com/upcoming/