UNATTENDED BAGGAGE

Why do we eat? Why do we stop eating? This solo autobiographical show travels from early childhood experiences of queerness and lessons on body image to a college eating disorder to the present challenges of eating and living in a human body. I'm Smiling Because I'm Uncomfortable is a site-specific show that takes place in real kitchens., Emma tells her story to an audience sitting in and around the kitchen while she cooks stir-fry and pops popcorn. The show premiered on September 8th, 2017 in a kitchen in NYC and so far as traveled to kitchens in Maine, San Diego and a dorm-sized kitchen at Dickinson College as part of "Love Your Body Week." Our performances in San Diego as part of the 2018 San Diego International Fringe Festival won Outstanding Site-Specific Performance! 

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"I'm so excited to present Emma's story, which is a narrative that's not being told right now, in people's kitchens to create an intimate theatrical experience.” Sean Pollock, the co-director of the production, remarked as to why the show is staged in such an unconventional way. “I figured that if we could tell a story about binge eating disorders anywhere, it would be in kitchens--a place so commonly associated with food, but seeing theatre in a kitchen is also sort of an uncomfortable experience because it's so unusual, and discomfort is such a central theme of our show.”