We've all had crushes and transformative moments of love. Now nine diverse writers will share their stories and bare their souls in "Crushing," a live monologue show which will have its West Coast premiere on Thursday, February 27 and Friday, February 28 at the Bayfront Theater in San Francisco's Fort Mason.
Helmed by San Francisco's Carly Steyer and Megan Calfas, and executive produced by Rosario Dawson, the show will include performances by nationally acclaimed queer Bay Area writers Garrett Schlichte and Sam Sax. In a recent phone interview with the Bay Area Reporter, each of them shared what brought them to "Crushing," and what they plan to reveal on stage.
Cooking up stories and entrees
Garrett Schlichte's writing has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Jezebel, Teen Vogue, Slate, and The Advocate, among other publications. An accomplished chef, he was a top three finalist on Freevee TV's "America's Test Kitchen: The Next Generation." He now serves monthly pop-up dinners at the Virgo Supperclub in San Francisco.
Born and raised in Florida, Schlichte has lived in San Francisco for the past five years, having started his writing career in Washington, D.C.
"I started writing when I was very young," he said. "I went to school for journalism, and I did film and TV reviews and contributed to a dating column while in D.C. But San Francisco is my favorite place in the entire world."
A writer friend in the Bay Area sent him a post about the "Crushing" casting, so he applied, sent in a video, and was chosen.
"I'll be doing a piece about a breakup," he said. "It's a story about the transformation I went through with an ex-partner. The theme is sometimes it's okay to change who you are for someone you're in love with. I found myself making some real changes, and ended up becoming a better version of myself. It's a story that only could have happened in San Francisco."
Schlichte has performed his work at the San Francisco reading series "Happy Endings;" he recently signed with a literary agent; and he's currently working on a collection of essays.
"It's interesting to work in both writing and cooking," he said. "Cooking is fleeting. Once you serve people, it's gone, but writing lasts forever. Both are about feeding people and making a connection. Cooking has taken up a lot of my time lately, so it's nice to put down the spatula for a bit."
Poetry, plaudits and pigs
Sam Sax is an Oakland-based poet and novelist who identifies as queer, Jewish, and nonbinary. They're the author of "Yr Dead," which was longlisted for The National Book Award, and "PIG," named one of the best books of 2023 by New York Magazine and Electric Lit.
They're a two-time Bay Area Grand Slam Champion, with poems published in The New York Times, The Atlantic, Poetry Magazine, and elsewhere. An Interdisciplinary Arts Lecturer at Stanford University, Sax has a long history of performing in front of an audience.
"I was a theatre kid, and I used to devise monologues and pieces with my friends at Oberlin College," Sax recalled. "I lived in a car with three of my friends after college, and we drove around, performing poetry at punk houses, pizza places, and open mics. I joined the poetry slam world in the Bay Area when I arrived in San Francisco in 2010."
Sax has published three books of poems, and their first novel was published in August.
"My last poetry book, 'PIG,' is about pigs – how we say men are pigs, cops are pigs, and we use the term 'pig bottom.' It's about gender construction and how we conceptualize pigs in our culture. The novel is a queer coming of age story."
Sax also runs a monthly open mic. For information on dates and venues, follow their Instagram account. For "Crushing," Sax is writing a new piece about obsessive desire, and another piece about being in an eight-year partnership.
"We're both queer, polyamorous, and nonbinary, so it's about how to reinvent models for how we care for each other. It's about navigating a different language around our love."
'Crushing,' $31-$50, Feb. 27 & 28, 7:30pm, Bayfront Theater, Fort Mason, 2 Marina Blvd, Building B, Floor 3.
www.crushing.show
www.garrettschlichte.com
www.samsax.com
www.instagram.com/samsax1
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