SF Neo-Futurists’ ‘World Pride Wrench’ 2021 is quality, quick-witted and quintessentially queer
30 original plays in 60 minutes — that’s what the San Francisco Neo-Futurists have produced and performed on livestream every month since the COVID-19 pandemic forced a pause on the group’s onstage productions. Their ambitious digital show, “The World Wide Wrench,” has undergone a rainbow makeover this June for the group’s annual Pride Month special, which follows the same structure with focuses on themes of “sexuality, identity, and community.” The 2021 “World Pride Wrench” was a hilarious, touching and incredibly queer theatrical success, filled with powerful storytelling, games and plenty of laughter. Plus, 50% of this year’s proceeds will benefit the Transgender Law Center, which supports and fights for the rights of transgender and gender non-conforming individuals.
The Neo-Futurists’ works are non-illusory, which means that they don’t ask their audiences to suspend their disbelief. They do not try to take viewers out of the time or location the performance literally takes place in, and actors only play themselves. These elements of the Neo-Futurist aesthetic enhanced the intimacy of the show and made the stories told in the Pride special particularly personal and effective. After each play, audience members randomly selected the play they wanted to see next from a master list, and each work began with a “go” and ended with a “curtain” in rapid succession.
This unique style allowed for comedic, more heavily produced works such as the sixth play, “Eat Yer Veggies,” in which troupe members sensually chomped on genitalia-suggestive vegetables. It also afforded candid, personal storytelling such as that of Play 26, “Is This the Moment I Finally Open This Box…,” in which Neo-Futurist Ezra explained their hesitancy to open a box of long sought-after testosterone. These wildly different tones were employed not only within the same show and the same hour, but often back-to-back.
It was impossible to guess what the next play would be like, because none were the same and all defied expectations. From satirical works, to experimental plays, to guest artist drag queen Snaxx slaying a lip-syncing performance of Whitney Houston’s “I’m Every Woman,” the audience never knew what to expect next. The scope of the Neo-Futurists’ creativity, artistic capabilities, and honesty was apparent in the show; no matter how unusual, out of the box or simple plays mayhave seemed, they were thoughtful, intentional and reflective of important aspects of timely, queer experiences.
Another commendable characteristic of the special was the Neo-Futurists’ remarkable ability to interact with the audience, a feat particularly impressive in a virtual setting. Besides allowing the audience to literally determine the course of the show, “The World Pride Wrench” also supported an audience chat feature and heavily relied on audience participation. In Play 12, “Queer Fantasy Line,” the entire two-minute runtime was set aside for the audience to call a given number and listen to recordings of cast members detailing their queer fantasies. You could choose which ones to listen to, but you couldn’t get through all of them, making each audience member’s experience different. Play 16, “Match That Nip,” called for an audience member to join the livestream and participate in a game, matching photos and drawings of nipples to their respective Neo-Futurist.
The audience interaction kept viewers engaged throughout, bringing a much-missed liveliness into the digital show. While the transition of theater from onstage to online in the face of the pandemic is one that is difficult on paper and in practice, the SF Neo-Futurists seem to have figured out how to make the livestream format work for them.
“The World Pride Wrench” is everything right with queer performance art. The show was a celebration of thriving pride, and in turn, a righteous condemnation of everything that prevents this liberation. The SF Neo-Futurists show the world that queer individuals are smart, funny, creative and human, and their Pride special was both a beautiful demonstration of how far LGBTQ+ acceptance has come and a reminder of how much work is left to be done. Keep an eye out for “The World Pride Wrench” when it comes around next year — it will no doubt be different and transformed, but will certainly remain clever, entertaining and very, very queer.
Contact Joy Diamond at jdiamond@dailycal.org.