{"id":343451,"date":"2023-07-17T17:07:14","date_gmt":"2023-07-17T21:07:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/?p=343451"},"modified":"2023-07-17T17:07:14","modified_gmt":"2023-07-17T21:07:14","slug":"2023-capital-fringe-review-nasty-white-folx-and-other-filth-by-sidney-monroe-williams-3-12-stars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2023\/07\/17\/2023-capital-fringe-review-nasty-white-folx-and-other-filth-by-sidney-monroe-williams-3-12-stars\/","title":{"rendered":"2023 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Nasty White Folx…and other filth’ by Sidney Monroe Williams (3 1⁄2 stars)"},"content":{"rendered":"

I<\/span>t\u2019s a bold move for writer-performer Sidney Monroe Williams to name their DC show Nasty White Folx\u2026 and other filth<\/em>\u2014so bold, in fact, that the Capital Fringe Festival stylizes the play as NWF<\/em> on their website. Yet the title\u2019s a misnomer: those expecting a confrontation of whiteness will instead find a show primarily focused on Blackness, and the pressures for cleanliness within the community. Though the play\u2019s themes can be challenging, Williams\u2019 performance proves welcoming and achingly sincere.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Much of Williams\u2019 show recounts life stories. Williams explores their childhood in Arkansas\u2014where their grandmother enforced strict cleaning practices and exclaimed \u201cI can\u2019t stand nasty white folks!\u201d\u2014and soon takes the audience to their time in college living among \u201cwhite crusty punk kids,\u201d and later in time to Williams\u2019 interracial sexual experiences.<\/p>\n

Williams is a charismatic, buoyant speaker. They command the stage like a great stand-up comedian, making multiple anecdotes blend seamlessly and building a warm rapport with the audience. Williams\u2019 role as a theater professor is also evident when they ask audience members to share their own life stories, which they weave into the show skillfully.<\/p>\n

The research in the show can overwhelm the production. The play\u2019s middle section analyzing literature and social media felt like a dramaturgy session instead of a piece of dramatic storytelling. Much of the show relied on interviews and voice messages, making me wonder if an audio format would\u2019ve served the story better (NPR\u2019s Code Switch<\/em> played in the pre-show, and having worked on that podcast, I can confidently say Williams could craft an excellent episode). Fixing technical issues, like making the voice messages louder and having a completely blank surface to project videos, would help the performance as well.<\/p>\n

Similar to Williams, other Black scholars have written about cleanliness (and filth) in the Black community. In her book Funk the Erotic<\/em>, L.H. Stallings proposes the idea of “funk” (as a smell and mood) as a creative tool, writing, “Funk produces alternative orders of knowledge about the body and imagination\u2026 predating empires of knowledge.\u201d I\u2019d love to see Williams take up Stallings\u2019 challenge, and abandon the \u201cempires of knowledge\u201d people are familiar with (close readings, analysis, discussion) in favor of the \u201calternative orders of knowledge\u201d that performance can offer: rhythm, ritual, movement, haunting. Nasty White Folx<\/em> is already intellectually rigorous and beautifully performed. I\u2019d love to see its structure reach the messiness and provocation of its subject matter.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Running Time: 75 minutes.<\/p>\n

NWF<\/strong><\/em><\/a> plays July 22 at 6:45 pm at Sweet – 3rd Floor – 1050 Thomas Jefferson<\/a>.\u00a0Tickets are $15 and can be purchased online.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Genre:<\/strong> Comedy
\nPerformer:<\/strong> Sidney Monroe Williams
\nComposer:<\/strong> Rhythm Science Sound
\nAge Appropriateness:<\/strong> Appropriate for adults only
\nProfanity:<\/strong> Yes<\/p>\n

The complete 2023 Capital Fringe Festival guidebook is online\u00a0here.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A provocative solo performance that explores histories of racialized filth and cleanliness.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":343454,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1822,18],"tags":[2001],"class_list":{"0":"post-343451","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-2023-capital-fringe-festival","8":"category-reviews","9":"tag-sidney-monroe-williams"},"acf":[],"apple_news_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\n2023 Capital Fringe Review: 'Nasty White Folx...and other filth' by Sidney Monroe Williams (3 1⁄2 stars) - 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