A word to describe iconoclast performance artist Holly Hughes? "Unapologetic" comes to mind. Liberals and conservatives alike agree on that. From there, language generally turns vitriolic as you head Right, effusive if you turn Left. One of the infamous NEA four, Hughes began her performance life at New York's WOW Café, an enclave both lesbian and thespian. Since, she has crisscrossed the US, writing and performing extensively. Back in her birth state, Hughes is now an associate professor at the University of Michigan, about which she says, "Teaching is a kind of performance but without the flattering lighting." Still actively creating, Hughes spoke to WCT about the Aug. 14-16 "Rustbelt Revival" show, which she co-curates at Chicago's Links Hall.
Windy City Times: Why were you interested in working with Links?
Holly Hughes: Links is a legendary space, nationally known for being open to a wide range of performance and dance work, a critical place for new voices to emerge and for more established artists to take risks and make breakthroughs. It's an example of the artist run space, of which there used to be many more across the country, where there isn't a wall between the administration and the artist; artists work to run the space and also perform there. I think this model allows for more risk taking, and is friendlier to the new voices.
WCT: As curator of "Rustbelt Revival," what is your role?
HH: I actually co-curate with my dear friend, Kestutis Nakas, who teaches in the MFA program at Roosevelt. Both of us are originally from the Midwest, spent many years on the coasts, and are back. We think that the work being done here is as strong as anywhere, and want to celebrate it. I've been inspired by some great variety shows. "Milly's Orchid Show," starring and curated by the wonderful Brigid Murphy at Links is a model, as is Michelle Tea's "Sister Spit" literary salon of bad girls who are good writers. I think [ variety shows are ] a concept uniquely suited to the Midwest with our mile long salad bars—a little of the three bean salad, some cottage cheese, some raw vegetables, and twenty kinds of desserts.
WCT: How did you go about choosing performers?
HH: People slipped me a five dollar bill, but Kestutis charged more. No, we called people we knew, and we put out the word. We both do monologues and so we invited some great [ monologists ] but we wanted burlesque, music, failed magicians. We wanted variety in our variety show. There's everything from Dave Kodeski's poignant monologues, to Jenny Magnus's vocal and new media work. No show is complete ( to me ) without puppets and drag, so we have puppet burlesque, and we are pleased that Senita Bath and Sno White and the Seven Drag Kings will add a touch of glamour and hopefully decadence.
WCT: In your book, "Clit Notes" you talk about loving your participation in the story telling tradition. What was the first story you ever told?
HH: I was a pioneer in the Creative Nonfiction genre, which used to be called "lying." I think it would have more appreciated in say, the rural South, where the attitude is, the truth can always be improved upon, reality is something you can rise above. Actually, I didn't tell many stories till I got to college, when it was safe, but I had accumulated lots of material and I knew there would be no fact checking.
WCT: And from there?
HH: I fell in with the wrong crowd, the WOW Cafe in NYC. I thought I was a painter, in fact I still might be a painter, a painter in remission, but I saw a sign that said "Double X Rated Xmas Party for Women," So I went down that rabbit hole, and never really came up. It was basically a group of very strong feminists who had been kicked out of other feminist groups, often for having the wrong hair style or not wearing enough clothes. I didn't think I would be doing theater, but there was this peer pressure. I did my first show and people liked it. It was very long, Eastern European-style long, but still they stayed. No one stayed for the paintings, so I took it as a sign... of something.
WCT: As a playwright, you learned as you wrote. Do you look back on older plays and think, "I would do that differently now?"
HH: There's some incredibly dated stuff in earlier work, but I kind of think, well, it's a snapshot of that time. The first full length solo I wrote was about my mother, written after she died, and it was my way of walking through a sea of grief. We had a terrible relationship. Anyway, I wouldn't write it the same way today but I wouldn't write it today.
WCT: Some queer artists worry about making queers palatable for the mainstream by providing positive representations. You've gone out of your way to be truthful rather than safe. Any qualms about making lesbians look even scarier to the Religious Right?
HH: I have no interest in making positive images because those are the worst kinds of lies. I understand where the impulse to make positive images comes from, because you are reacting. Any marginalized group is either erased or distorted, dehumanized, but I want to be visible in our fullness, our darkness, our complexity.
WCT: Your Facebook profile lists you as married. Legally? Spiritually? Domestic-partnership-ly?
HH: All of the above.
WCT: How important is the gay marriage fight?
HH: It's critical. It's what's for dinner. It's also the subject of a new show I'm doing with Megan Carney in October at About Face Theater. We really want to stage the discussion about gay marriage but also serve spaghetti and have a bar band. Stepping away from the shameless self promotion for a moment, I understand the critiques of gay marriage from other progressives, it's the throbbing nerve center of LGBT organizing at the moment, and so takes focus from other issues, and there is a fear that our sense of community will disappear, that gay people will suddenly blend in and put all their energies into getting rid of crabgrass instead of social justice, and even more importantly, camping it up. I don't think these fears are unfounded, and I have a big critique of how the fight is being fought, but also respect for the hard work. To borrow from my friend Lane Fenrich, there are two principal ways that citizenship is constituted, through military service and through the right to marry, if you can't do those things, you are not a citizen. Queers are not citizens in this country, we simply are not.
WCT: Rumor is Obama's one of those arts-supporting presidents. Then again so was Clinton, but that administration appealed the federal court ruling that returned your NEA funds in '93. What are your expectations for the Obama's relationship to the arts?
HH: I was completely surprised that he added money in the stimulus plan for the arts. I think we need a massive public works program in this country, everything from green technology, to rebuilding infrastructure, to funding the arts and schools. Will it happen? I worry it won't, but I think the American people really get that the only way out of this recession is to put people to work, that and maybe giving them health care and don't get me started on the banks. GM says they aren't going away, they will be a new stronger auto company, well, I would like to see less automobiles and more autobiography. In fact, this show is part of the stimulus plan.
WCT: Last question, of what accomplishment ( career or personal ) do you feel most proud?
HH: Finally getting caught up on my income taxes. And getting much better about the flossing.
