HAMSTERMACHINE, theatrical performance. 13th St. Repertory theatre. For Conflict Situations / Situational Conflict curated by Nick Faust for Act Up.

HAMSTERMACHINE is a two-woman, four-act artist’s play whose critical framework lies somewhere between Saturday Night Live and a bastardized Brechtian epic. The play borrows its dialogue from the political terminologies offered up by the online communities of the Alt-Right and attempts to bridge a dangerous new patriarchal consciousness with the mainstream, liberal mindset of the girl next door.

Taking place against the political crises of early 2017, HAMSTERMACHINE centers around total ennui. Two women are trapped in a room with a papershredder. It’s unclear if they’re at work, at home, or in hell-- let alone, how long they’ve been on hold with their local senator. The only thing that seems to be going downhill faster is everything else: “If you’re not totally exhausted by now, you’re probably not that empowered, either.” 

As Chey and Soloway spiral into ontological crises, it becomes hilariously clear that the political conflict is not between Left and Right, men and women, privileged and underprivileged, but a social contract between audiences and actors.