Penis envy
Written & Performed by Becky Bondurant
UNDER St. Marks | 94 St Marks Pl, New York, NY 10009
November 13, 2025
Opening with St. Vincent’s “Birth in Reverse,” King Missile’s “Detachable Penis,” and Lizzo’s “Like a Girl,” the piece immediately set a sharp and provocative tone. The stage picture was striking: a tiled wall of watercolor portraits of the 47 United States Presidents, a single table and chair, and a bust of George Washington. Visually, it promised cohesion and thematic intention.
I was excited to make it down to Gotham Storytelling Festival at wild project, but I found this particular piece surprisingly difficult to sit through. Though it started strong, especially with the invocation of Sigmund Freud and his theories on complexes, transference, and psychological patterning, very quickly, I felt the throughline slipping away. Many topics were introduced in rapid succession, a number of them graphic, and I was unclear how stories around circumcision, flag burning, 9/11, etc. connected to each other. I don't believe an audience always needs to be comfortable. The world is not always comfortable. But this piece felt like a gratuitous amalgamation of material meant only to shock.
There was a sense of privilege in the way Bondurant framed her personal narratives that left me unsettled. Everyone has their own lived experience, but I kept wondering who the audience was for this piece. I could hear people around me laughing and clearly enjoying the piece while I found myself pulled out of it. References like her blue eyed blonde haired children being called refugees or her casually discussing the option of obtaining foreign passports felt out of touch with our current political climate. Taken aback by the juxtaposition of topics, she spoke about the mistreatment and sexualization of women including rape and the trauma surrounding it, and then described her daughter’s self exploration in explicit detail. The tonal shifts were jarring and often disconcerting.
Visually, the backdrop of 47 presidents was a fascinating concept, and the bust of Washington on the desk practically invited a dramaturgical connection. She never referenced Washington at all. Instead, the monologue returned repeatedly to Freud. Bondurant remained seated the entire performance. The static staging combined with the dense and winding text created the feeling of watching a talking head. The piece would have genuinely benefited from having a director who could help shape the arc, refine the pacing, clarify intention, and guide both the performer and the audience through the narrative. The alignment between the visual world and the narrative world never fully came together.
The unfocused and contradictory storytelling left me as an outsider. There were strong ideas, strong aesthetics, and strong starting points, but the execution left me confused, unsettled, and ultimately disconnected.
Review by Malini Singh McDonald.
Published by Theatre Beyond Broadway on November 13, 2025 All rights reserved.