“We wanted to write something that is simultaneously a shitpost and a critique of how we talk about race. Cue the Fair Use Grinch.”
Responder: Adam / Tom Friedman / Zhang, Co-Creators
Name of Company: Christmas Eve Dinner
Name of Show: How the Grinch Reversed Racism
- Why should people see your show?
Do you like fun?? Do you like irreverent, stupid comedy with a point??? Are you disillusioned with the way conversations about race tend to go???? Do you want to see a sexy Asian (fair use) grinch and a trash rocket?????
Then this might be the show for you!!!!!!!!! Jury’s still out, but it’s dumb, yet poignant. What more could you want?
- What about festivals intrigues you? Any why the Atlanta Fringe?
Festivals are great, because we literally would not be allowed to do this anywhere else. More specifically, they give burgeoning artists like us a chance to mess around with form, substance – really anything!
We both have ties to Atlanta, and Adam has participated in Atlanta Fringe before (shout-out to 2016). It’s a wonderful community, and the festival has always done such a good job of supporting the artists that take part.
[Above: Adam’s previous show, Ember, performs at the Preview Party for the 2016 festival]
- What inspired you to create this?
Tom thinks the Grinch is Asian. Adam has never seen it. The two have an equally confusing (and/or confused) relationship with the absurd.
We wanted to write something that is simultaneously a shitpost and a critique of how we talk about race. Cue the Fair Use Grinch. Initially, Tom pitched the Grinch as an anti-capitalist icon, before it evolved (devolved?) into a racial reading of the piece. Adam however, has neither seen nor read The Grinch, leaving an opportunity to examine how white people often enter conversations about race in bad faith, willfully or no.
- This year ain’t normal and there’s no sense pretending it is. How has Covid affected what you’re doing for this festival?
We had to remove the 30-minute makeout scene, cutting our runtime in half. Real tragic stuff.
One serious thing is that we’re both big audience-interactors, and Covid has forced us to change how we do that in a way that is safe, while still being engaging. This didn’t necessarily change the show, but we approached it from a different angle.
- What have you learned from working on your show so far?
Adam: That a piece of art doesn’t have to be serious/dramatic/tragic/refined to be making a significant point. Also, the plot of The Grinch.
Tom: The Grinch pulls.
- There’s a mysterious stranger in the back row of your show, wearing a big ol’ N95 mask and a baseball cap and there’s something weirdly familiar about them, and then they come up afterwards to tell you they loved your show. In your WILDEST DREAMS, who is this mysterious stranger? (Bonus points if your mysterious stranger is an Atlanta celeb.)
Donald Glover (obviously).
- Fringes are the place to really push the boundaries so we gotta ask: are you inviting your family to this show are “Hey, maybe sit this one out you guys…”
Def maybe sit this one out, y’all.
- We’ve asked this question every year for the past ten years or so but it hits different this year: Will your show change the world?
Honestly, we aren’t sure if any show can change the world. But it might make some people feel better. Or think more. Or neither. Theater can be just as much for the artists as it can be for the world – and that’s okay! This show was genuinely a joy to create, and perhaps the most we could hope for is to share that joy with you.
- Zoom meetings: dress up head to toe or Donald Duck it?
Tom: Head to toe. I’m a young teacher – if I don’t dress up, people think I’m a student.
Adam: Neither? I wear a Hawaiian Shirt every day.
- We’re making an excellent Fringey Feelings playlist. Describe your show in two or three songs we can add to keep the jams flowing.
All Star by Smash Mouth
Pillow Talking by Lil Dicky
This is Halloween by Danny Elfman
Sounds incredible, right? Gonna need to nab those tickets, right? Click here to reserve your seats today!
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