All Stories Are Fiction

A short piece performed at Rattlestick Playwright’s Theater wherein the passing of an old friend is mourned, the essential horror of relationships is dealt with, the wonders and ecstasies of Spa Castle are revealed, and an unexpected encounter opens an unexpectedly French door. I love you, Rob. I will never forget racing that other car down Second Avenue, you shouting maniacly “I’VE EARNED THIS!” Goddamn, son, you really fucking did. I’ll see you on the other side.

These are brief comments made during an art opening on March 2nd, 2017 at the St. Ann's School in Brooklyn. It was an opening featuring the work of Larissa Tokmakova, who was the painter who helped create ALL THE FACES OF THE MOON. They touch on the nature of art and why we hate it, future anthropology, how the perfect must be the enemy of the good, fieldstripping your AK-47 in the girl scouts, the limits of our imagination, the seduction of narrative, and how we put garbage on stage each and every day.

The day after the election, Mike travelled to Burlington, Vermont to perform his remixed version of Moby Dick, which combines Melville’s classic with STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN. This the is the opening of that show, in which he talks about the election and where it has left all of us.