Show: 27
Title: What We Wore
Category: Comedy / Drama / Solo Show / Storytelling / Historical content
By: Ethan Nienaber/ GJ Media
Created by: Gabi Jones
Location: Open Eye Theatre
Summary: A solo storytelling piece from a vintage clothing social media star that's about so much more than clothes.
Highlights: I went to this show for the vintage clothing, but I came away moved, inspired, and with tears in my eyes from Gabi Jones' epic storytelling that weaves together so many relevant topics. A Minnesota native with a theater degree from a California university now based in Illinois, she begins by distinguishing between her online persona @gabis_vintage, who's always perfect and polished, and herself, Gabi, who is a real human with issues and flaws just like the rest of us. This solo show is very well constructed (with direction by Ethan Nienaber) in a mix of "live videos" about a vintage piece (from her Grandma's extensive collection), like she posts on social media, combined with personal stories, photos and videos displayed on the back wall of the theater, quotes, and statistics. Behind every piece of clothing (hung on a rack and donned throughout the show) is a story, a history, and that's where the juicy stuff is. Gabi uses clothing to connect to her female ancestors, because as we know history mostly only talks about the men. She tells us stories of some of these women, and some from her own life (including an alcoholic mother and an abusive boyfriend), and talks about how as a theater student, and as a woman in this world, we're taught to look at ourselves through others' (men's) eyes instead of our own. She connects everything together with statistics (a girl after my own heart) and quotes from feminist books like The Feminine Mystique and The Second Sex (joking, after so much time online, do you all know how amazing books are?!). Sometimes when someone tries to cover so many topics (addiction, domestic abuse, the dangers of social media, the male gaze, sexual harassment, feminism) in a one-hour show, it can feel shallow or like things are getting short shrift. But that's not the case here; this show feels full and complete and satisfying. What We Wore is one of my surprise favorite shows of the festival. Her final show is today (Saturday) at 7 and it's very much worth the quick drive to Open Eye.
