The Burbank International Film Festival starts September 15th and opening night is Kristina Wong’s Wong Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Her one woman show sold out in cities all over the USA and was captured in her first-ever movie which makes its premiere at the festival on Thursday. Kristina is in a far away land and wasn’t available for a camera interview, but we still managed to get her to answer some questions!
#1. You describe yourself as a “performance artist.” How do you define that and how is it different from being an “actress?”
An actress takes lines someone else wrote and interprets them and gets residual checks. A performance artist covers herself in animal parts/ excrement/ blood/ other fluid while talking about racism/ sexism/ sex/ something that should have been resolved already in childhood and gets grant money.
#2. Your stage performances have very strong, serious messages mixed with comedy. Which came first, your subversive way to educate or your desire to make people laugh? How did these two seemly different things manage to become one in your writing?
I think I grew up a pretty tragic and emotional little lady and humor was the only way I could laugh at myself and gets friends to laugh with me. When Wong Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest was first in development it was not fun at all. I’d spend most of my process crying about these sad issues (of depression and suicide) and freaking out about how I’d pull off making a watchable show on such a dark topic. But over time and many non-funny long initial performances, I found ways to imbue the show with humor so it could be enjoyable to perform. Most of the humor comes at making fun of myself at trying to be superwoman all the time.
#3. Your concert film “Wong Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” is being premiered at the Burbank International Film Festival. Tell us how the idea to do a concert film developed and what we can expect to see in the film.
My good friend Mike Closson was looking to shoot a feature and had been a longtime fan of my work. I had always wanted to create a more permanent archive of my work but was too emotionally exhausted (from touring the show) to take on trying to shoot a show for camera. However, this has been the most popular of all my shows and the demand for it warranted finding ways to make it accessible without my live body always performing it. Mike was really great about taking on a lot of the production work and three years and thousands of hours of sweat equity later… We have a film premiere! The live show is pretty insanely interactive and I was reluctant to bottle that energy for a home audience. But short of me crawling out of the screen and dancing with you, it really captures the tour de force that is the live show.
#4. What projects do you have upcoming or in the works?
I have been touring two new shows that I premiered in the last year. One is called “Going Green the Wong Way” about the hilarious triumphs and pitfalls of sustainable living. The other is “CAT LADY” which is my first ensemble show about the existential loneliness I experienced touring Wong Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest for four years. I’ve become interested in issues of sustainability and have been developing a web series around that. I am also doing more blogging and writing for other entities like the “Marketplace” show on American Public Media. I’m also performing in other people’s projects which I am pretty happy about.
For more information about the festival and the premiere of Kristina’s film visit the website: BIFF
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