Connor Hogan on Edu Díaz
Dear Edu;
Though the audience was packed into the white-washed walls of the Asian Arts Initiative Project Space, I felt transported. With a flick of her iPhone strapped wrist, suddenly, we were paddling through a dank forest. With another, the roar of a royal crowd brought me to the halls of Catherine D eMedici’s menagerie. With eyes ablaze, corset strapped and a roll of gaff tape around her waist, she did it all Oh, forgive the overly flowery beginning, but I must speak in poetry when I’m addressing a Queen.
This afternoon, Edu, I saw your show, The Queen presents PETRUS. While we didn’t get to exchange words, the warmth of your performance made me feel we’d known each other for years. From the first moment in which you galloped through the woods, I knew “This was deeply my kind of shit.”
As a solo clown who has made shows in which I am the performer, stage manager, producer, and lead artist, I felt deeply seen by the iPhone running QLab affixed to your wrist. The way you show us a queen out of her depths as a theatrical producer thrills me. I wish I could enforce a death penalty for those who didn’t see my fringe show. But alas, power systems protect the powerful. Fringe hubs promote the fringiful. And sometimes, a Queen has to do what a Queen has to do to get her show done.
On the surface, your show is a brilliantly executed clown piece that charms and seduces the audience. Yet buried throughout was the question: “Who is Petrus?” A question that you subtly hint at throughout, and I feel is deeply important to you as a person from the Canary Islands. What is Petrus’ story? How did he come to live in the DeMedici menagerie? What does he have to say about these performances he’s forced into?
As you keep building this piece, I’m excited to find out. I will anxiously await my next audience with the Queen.
Connor
Connor Hogan is one of three performer / creators of Offstage Onstage: Everything You Didn’t See the Greeks Do.
Edu Díaz is the creator/performer of Your Queen Presents: PETRUS.
