A Performance About Male Body Image
    by Alan Reade



    Photo by Liliana Rodriguez, 2001.


    Tour Dates

    Summer 1999: Commissioned by the Jon Sims Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA
    March 11,2000: Appearance in "Bear Icons: Art + Artifacts of Queer Masculinity," sponsored by the Bear History Project, Mount Ida College, Boston, MA
    June 2001: National Queer Arts Festival "Best of AIRspace" series, San Francisco, CA
    February 17, 2002: Excerpt at LitBEARary Salon, part of IBR, San Francisco, CA
    April 11, 2002: Zeitgeist Multi-Disciplinary Arts Center, New Orleans, LA
    May 25, 2002: Reading at Fetish Nite, Body Perve Social Club, Vancouver, B.C.
    July 18, 2002: Club Fab, Guerneville, CA
    July 19, 2002: Appearance in Viva Variety 26, Club Fab, Guerneville, CA

    Synopsis

    From an obese and isolated 19-year-old stuck in the suburbs to an out-and-proud "Bear"-ish lothario, Reade takes on the conventions about gay men and body image by humanizing his characters and giving voice to an under-recognized segment of gay culture. Bear-A-Go-Go! pulls no punches as it reveals how one subculture marginalizes another through body fascism. Funny, playful, and touching, the show features furry go-go dancers lap-dancing for the audiences during Alan's costume changes and concludes with the stirring poem "Holiday at the Baths".


    Written Excerpts

      From the character "Leon":

      So I finally get my coffee, and I look above the counter, and what do I see? A symbol of gay pride! Yeah, in poster form. You want to know what that symbol is? Okay, I'll tell you! It's four twinkies lifting up a rainbow flag. Yeah, that's right. Four twinkies. That's my symbol of "pride." And I thought, "IF YOU'RE SO FUCKING STRONG, WHY DOES IT TAKE FOUR OF YOU TO LIFT A FUCKING FLAG?!"


      From the character "Mamabear":

      Tonight, I want to tell you about the second "Bear-In." Now, some of you already know about this event and were there last year--yes, I see you, dear!--but for those of you who don't, this is an event where we demand sexual visibility for big boys in a public way. Who says thinnies should be having all the fun--and all the press--for public sex?! Last year's Bear-In went really well. We all showed up at the park nearly nude, and then spread out and demanded sexual visibility, out there in the bushes there. And some people got more visibility than they thought--in the form of a police record--when the cops showed up. But I say it's all worth it, for bear pride! Isn't an eensy-weensy police record a low price to pay for complete sexual freedom?


    Biography

    Alan Reade is a writer and performance artist whose work examines how body image, language, and mass media are internalized. Alan's work has appeared all over the United States and Canada, and his spoken-word CD, "4 Seasons in a Day," was released in the spring of 2002 on Pop Squared Records. You can find a selected history of Alan's past performances here.







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    For more information about Alan Reade's work, click here to e-mail him.

    © Alan Reade, 2011