Sticky fingers club

I almost got flowers and I almost know what the champagne tasted like.

I mistook the brake for the gas.

I'm the first one off the podium. I was ahead of everyone who was behind me. I almost have something to be proud of.

I got lost in the same place again.

Those ovations were almost standing

Sticky Fingers Club is a show about failure, where the characters are always the background. They are notoriously ranked fourth, and in the fight for the Oscar they compete with the unsurpassed Meryl Streep. Faced with constant setbacks, they create a space of celebration in which they are the stars. On their own terms, they celebrate being imperfect, support each other and challenge themselves. Among the expressive characters, there is an opera singer who loves music without reciprocity, a neurotic lady, a seasoned star and a dancer who has never been allowed to dance a solo stage.

Both in the movement sphere and in the expressive frontal “attitude” of the performers, the performance refers to queer culture, ballroom and vogue dance itself. Here, for social exclusion and non-normativity, space is opened to reveal a colorful identity. Pop-culture references to the queer mainstream, popular fashion shows or Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody add a huge dose of humor and self-irony to Sticky Fingers Club. The play addresses the broader problem of failure, and the exclusion and forgetfulness that follow, without resorting to generalizations or moralizations. Theatrical and choreographic tools are used in it, so it is difficult to categorize and classify it. By undermining social norms, it becomes a critical choreography.

The play received the 2nd prize in the National Competition for the Best Performance of Independent Theater “The Best OFF”.

Zygmunt Duczinski Award as part of the 55th Review of Small Form Theatres KONTRAPUNKT 2021 in Szczecin.