BLACK TRASH BAG MAGIC
Written by Alina Garcia-Burke Directed by Maggie Dunn
Presented by the New York City Fringe Festival
Performance Dates including year. April 1 - 19th 2026
Adolescence is hard. As we age, we build a wall around bad memories like rings on a tree. Once they’re encased so far inside, we either forget or rewrite them. Natalie is conjuring up her best friend, but why did they stop being friends? Garcia-Burke’s take on a memory play, Black Trash Bag Magic, is described as a “witchy 2010s tumblr-core almost comedy.” I had to Google “tumblr-core”, but I quickly translated it to approximately 1994 but for Gen Z. But while I can’t relate to tumblr, I can relate to the traumas we bury in an attempt to move on.
Natalie and Serena become best friends. They do all the best friend stuff. The talk about boys and sex. They go to parties and get drunk. They fight over some guy. Of, and they decide to create a love potion. Do they have feelings for one another, or is kissing something girls just do?
Memory plays are a flashback to an important time in that character’s life. Whether it’s Tennessee William’s Glass Menagerie or Brian Friel’s Dancing at Lughnasa, the character is now older, and if not wiser, then somehow changed. Here, Natalie would mask part of her past, so Serena steps in to force her to remember the truth. Tom Wingfield looks back on a night where he unintentionally hurt his sister – he cannot face her now, so he remembers her then. Michael never appreciated how his mother and his aunties had to sacrifice to keep the family whole and secure. So, I’m not sure how Serena making the revelation about Natalie’s assault, helps Natalie on her journey. On the same note, why is Natalie flashing back if not to confront the truth?
Garcia-Burke first brought Black Trash Bag Magic to life in 2023. This work shows an evolving artistic vision,and a new take on an old form. Maggie Dunn’s use of sound and scoring adds to the sense of memory vs reality. It’s a testimony to the importance of fringe festivals that developing artists have a relatively inexpensive way to produce new works. They are the future of the medium.
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Review by Nicole Jesson.
Published by Theatre Beyond Broadway on April 19, 2026. All rights reserved.
