Exposed

by | Aug 8, 2020

Exposed: Experiments in Love, Sex, Death, and Art

Our first two-person theater piece we made together was Exposed: Experiments in Love, Sex, Death and Art. This theatre piece was a response to Annie’s breast cancer diagnosis, and the subsequent adventures that we went through together during treatment and recovery. We created it during Annie’s chemo and radiation treatments. When cancer happens, let’s put on a show!

Exposed told our love story. It included a reenactment of our domestic partner ceremony, an audience participation scene where we demonstrated how we chose our sperm donor through a sperm dance-off contest. In another scene we asked audience members if we could take polaroids of their breasts for an art project. Many were happy to collaborate. At the end of the show, we projected the digitized artwork created from all the polaroids. The dramatic high point that occurred when we shaved each other’s heads with a straight razor while reciting poetic phrases that described how we felt during breast cancer treatments. For the finale, we made a witchy love potion with dry ice, juice and grapes, and served it to the audience communion style, while looking into each person’s eyes, and telling them, “One of the things I love about you is . . . (fill in the blank)” as they came to the stage to receive their elixir. It was a feel good show about how love hurts.

The director we chose for this production was our friend Neon Weiss. She helped us work with all of the emotional baggage and drama that cancer brought up. We got positive reviews, including in The New York Times by the famous theater critic Charles Isherwood.

After touring the show for two romantic and healing years, were definitely ready to explore other material, make new work, and let our hair grow out.