THE WAGGING CRAZE

“Believe me, if you haven't seen THE WAGGING CRAZE yet, you absolutely need to.” — Barry Michael Okun, Go Out

Ars Nova / ANTFest: 06.13.2019
Ars Nova / One Night Stand: 01.10.2020
Prague Fringe Festival: 09.26.2022—10.01.2022

Written/Composed/Performed: Joseph White
Direction/Media: Anne Cecelia DeMelo
Lighting: Andrew DG Hunt + Jasmine Lesane

An absurdist operatic re-writing of American social and political history in the 1960s, The Wagging Craze leaps down a dizzying rabbit hole of masculinity and spiritual awakening, raising questions about the nature of U.S. public policy. Using monologue, pop songs, and documentary reporting, the work traces the history of a mysterious male bonding ritual called “wagging” as it electrifies the Johnson and Nixon administrations, plunging America into a frenzy of chaos and decadence.

“A sense of delight permeates THE WAGGING CRAZE… There’s joy to be had in listening for the steadily morphing electronic music underneath the narration. A finger-snapping charm, as well as flights of complexity.” — Seth Colter Walls, The New York Times