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Underground Absolute Fiction: A Video Zine

17:34min, digital video with sound
Rumble Theatre's Tremors Festival
In association with the frank theatre company
Oct 28th, 2020 - Nov 11th, 2020

Queers in Communist Poland used self-published magazines to organize, get laid, and forge a sense of identity. In the wake of the arrest of Polish trans activist Margot, a Polish-Canadian settler uses a fractured, video narrative to seek answers. Through letters, social media posts, and the music videos of a queer punk band, Underground Absolute Fiction complicates notions of “queer.” Created by Anais West, co-writer of Jessie Award-nominated musical Poly Queer Love Ballad, the show questions whether queerness can connect us across cultural rifts, or if it is just another site of Western Imperialism.

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Creative team:  
Anais West (Writer, Lyricist & Producer),
Fay Nass (Director), 
Christian Yves Jones (Videographer),
khattieQ (Music Director),
Veronique West (Dramaturg),
Julia Siedlanowska (Cultural Consultant),
Claire Love Wilson (Performer),
Sara Vickruck (Performer/Music Adaptation & Transcription),
Eric Biskupski (Audio Engineer),
Kimberly Ho (Stylist).

​Originally developed in a reading, as part of the 2020 Queer Arts Festival