In a magical reimagining of a real-world event, Ngofeen gets his first big assignment at The New Yorker. It’s about the global monkeypox outbreak, and he’s the ideal reporter: his parents are from Congo (the virus’s origin), and infections have reached his NYC queer community. But having recently left the evangelical church and broken his vow of lifelong celibacy, Ngofeen risks a public confrontation with the world he’s abandoned – while fearing the gay man he’s becoming. A coming-of-later-age story with nerdy tangents, adapted from the new podcast.
Would you mind giving us a brief insight into what your show/event/performance is?
The Monkeypox Gospel is a podcast-play in which my collaborator Ngofeen, an experienced podcast producer and writer, tells a really rich and emotional story about his time reporting on the 2022 global monkeypox outbreak for The New Yorker. We’re leaning into the audio design of the show, in order to give the audience a kaleidoscopic experience that reflects Ngofeen’s own experience during that time.
Tell us about the creative team and the process involved?
Ngofeen had been talking to me about a podcast memoir he was working on, and one day I asked him if he’d be interested in adapting it for theatre. That was in January, and since then, he and I have essentially been having one six-month-long conversation about the show, interrupted only by our day jobs and (sometimes) sleeping.
He comes from the world of podcasts, and I’m a theatre director (focused on musicals), so amidst discussions of his life and the events in the show, we’ve talked about what our respective mediums do best, how they differ, and where there’s overlap. We get excited when we discover the ways that audio and theatre can enhance each other.
We did one performance at Ars Nova in NYC in mid-June with a wonderful team of designers and collaborators, and since then we’ve been furiously revising and reworking ahead of our arrival at Fringe, where we’ll really just be a 2-man band.
How does it feel coming to the Fringe?
Never been! I went to theatre camp when I was 14, so I’m expecting it to feel a little like that, though hopefully with less awkward sexual tension and more open, good-natured sexual tension.
With shows from all over the world at the Fringe, what sets yours apart?
Ngofeen is opening up his audio diary to audiences, and it’s full of fascinating entries – real interviews, off-the-record revelations, news reports, re-enactments, favourite arias (paralleling his own life), formative emails and texts, true events re-imagined as mythological lore, and emotional break-throughs caught on tape.
And it’s all in the name of capturing why writing an article on mpox was such an explosive prospect for Ngofeen:
Early infections were spreading through his queer NYC community through sexual contact, and the government’s response and messaging was seriously lacking
He had recently broken a lifelong vow of celibacy at age 31, and remained deeply conflicted about leaving his evangelical world behind and embracing a new gay life
The virus originated in Congo, where Ngofeen’s parents come from (and where he had seen firsthand the world’s disregard for human life and health)
This was to be his first written piece for The New Yorker, a major magazine with a high profile…
Meaning thousands might read it, including evangelicals who would brand him a heretic
But if he did it right, he could tie the threads of his life together around an urgent issue and speak publicly after a life of telling partial truths.
Is there anything specific you’re hoping the audience will take away?
Ultimately I hope they feel they’ve had an intimate experience with another person, a person who dares to be frank, silly, operatic, furious, innocent, yearning, open-hearted. And in that way, I hope they can feel emboldened to tap into those sides of themselves again too.
Your Ideal audience is in attendance, who’s watching? Or more importantly – who isn’t…?
The story touches on global inequities in public health, and how the queer community rallied to defeat an outbreak with vaccines, testing, and treatment. We figure RFK Jr. won’t make it, but for the good of America’s and the world’s health, one wishes….
It’s an intense month, so where you’re able, how do you plan to relax, and are there any other shows you intend to see or want to recommend?
My friends Rae Binstock and Brandon James Gwinn are premiering their musical Midnight at the Palace, about the infamous performing troupe the Cockettes! And the Bengsons are wonderful NYC-based theatre and music makers I’ve seen many times; they’re bringing a new show called Ohio to the Fringe before a run at the Young Vic.
In your ideal world, how can we improve the Fringe, performance, and the industry?
Like NYC and the US, it seems housing is a major issue around the Fringe – without affordable accommodation, artists are made to turn away from the arts, and we all suffer.
The Monkeypox Gospel runs at Venue 61:Belly Laugh at Underbelly
Photo credit: Geve Penaflor
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