by Genie Cartier

The Rogue Festival is almost here! Here is another of several Rogue Performer Preview articles that will be going up between now and March 3. You will be able to find all of them, along with a preview article about the Festival itself, in our Rogue Festival category and you can find more info on our Rogue Festival event page over on KRL News and Reviews. Tickets for the Rogue Festival can be purchased on their website and you can find this year’s schedule.

I am nearly 35 years old and have been doing acrobatics since the age of four. I started with gymnastics, like many four-year-olds. Then, at six years old, I started going to SF Circus Center for acrobatics classes, and that was the real beginning. I am American, born and raised in the Haight Ashbury district of San Francisco. But I was trained in Chinese acrobatics, a distinct style that was brought to America by the world-renowned circus trainer, Master Lu Yi. My training—with Master Lu Yi and beyond—is where the story of the Curve begins. (What is the curve itself? You’ll have to see the show to find out.)

Genie Cartier

I made this show as a challenge for myself. I have assisted in the creation of many ensemble shows with varying levels of involvement, from devising to producing and directing. I co-created and performed two duo shows. Could I cut it down to only myself on stage for an hour? Not only talking, but dancing, reciting poetry, doing acrobatics, sometimes all at once? I thought I’d find out.

The rehearsal of a solo show is a more similar process to writing than it is to theater—alone in a room, speaking words out loud to the walls. My MFA thesis, Circus Poems, served as the basis for the script, but over time, as with any creative work, things were removed, changed, put back in and taken out all over again. New ideas emerged out of the air—“that’s what I’ll do!” I’d exclaim to an empty room—until the show became something I never thought it would be, in the best way possible. I’m the type of performer who will not rest until every person in the room is enjoying themselves, so this show has a little something for everyone.

What should you expect from the Curve? You will see a lot of sweat dripping from my brow, and you will understand why. If everything goes as planned, you will laugh, and then cry, and then laugh again. You will be surprised more than once, and a few times you will know exactly what’s coming, but you will enjoy the anticipation. Oh, and there will be puppets. Not very good ones, but puppets nonetheless.
Although my circus training was very serious, I do not take myself seriously, and so comedy is woven into everything I do. However, I am very serious when I say that now is the time to support live performance art, more than ever. I hope you will come out to see this show, and many other shows at the Rogue Festival. Live theater will never bounce back from Covid without the audiences that support our work. And why wouldn’t you show up, when there’s the promise of sweaty performers with bad puppets?

the Curve plays at Dianna’s School of Dance as part of the 2023 Rogue Festival: March 3 at 10:00 PM; March 4 at 5:00 PM; March 5 at 3:30 PM; March 10 at 5:30 PM; March 11 at 8:00 PM. You can buy tickets on the Rogue Festival website.

If you love local theatre, be sure to check out Mysteryrat’s Maze Podcast, which features mysteries read by local actors. You can find the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play, and also on podbean.

Check out more theatre reviews & other local entertainment articles in our Arts & Entertainment section. You can also find more theatre coming up on KRL’s Local Theatre event page.