story by jkjk
script by Jenny Larson-Quiñones | lyrics by Jenny and khattieQ | original music by khattieQ, Anton Berrios, and Jenny
June 21-25, 2023 produced by Trinity Street Players
Desperately Seeking Comfortable Shoes is a love story with song as told through the queering of Viking mythology.
Miya, a 30-something single mom, auditions for non-binary rocker Jonny’s new band. Sparks fly between the two, but their flirting is interrupted by a robbery. Jonny’s bulldog Jude Garland and Miya’s Dansko clogs are stolen. The duo takes off on a wild chase across the city trying to recover their precious belongings. Little do the two know, Jonny’s roommate and band mate Norena, a witch from Old Norse Mythology, is actually weaving the pair into a binding love spell. This seemingly simple story of falling in love is wrapped up in questions of time, fate, and the supernatural. It is loosely inspired by the true story of Jenny’s own coming out and by the story of Odinn’s quest for the “mead of poetry.” As in Odinn’s myth, the lovers encounter twin robbers, angry giants, enchanting songs, a bit of magic, and a lot of love.
Desperately Seeking Comfortable Shoes is ultimately about internalized homophobia and unpacking the trauma of our ancestors, while we fall in love with our radical queer selves. The piece explores essential conversations with queer communities, BIPOC communities, artist communities, and parents. It is a play with music that puts LGBTQIA+ and intercultural families center stage. It is a performance that celebrates radiant queer love in the name of our queer ancestors. Ancestors who were denied the right to shine. We shine in honor of their silence.
Desperately Seeking Comfortable Shoes was developed through The Arts Club’s Emerging New Playwright’s Unit and with support from dramaturges Joanna Garfinkel and James Dean Jay Byrd. The piece was also developed as Artists in Residence at the Eagles Estate on DeerLake.
poster art by Sarah Zeringue
The cast of our December ATX 2022 workshop. Rosalind Faires, Kate Taylor, Christine Hoang, and khattieQ
Christine Hoang, as the character Norena, snaps a selfie with the audience. December 2022, Austin Texas workshop.
July 2021 reading as part of The Arts Clubs “Emerging Playwrights Unit” in Vancouver, B.C. Cast from left to right: Elizabeth Young as Gunnlod, Carly Pokoradi, khattieQ and Jasmine Chen