La MaMa Blogs: 6 Questions for David Cerda of THE DRAG SEED

Tuesday, March 29, 2022

6 Questions for David Cerda of THE DRAG SEED

 

Photo by Joe Mazza - Brave Lux

David Cerda is the co-founder and Artistic Director of Hell in a Handbag Productions in Chicago. He’s also the resident playwright. Cerda has written SuperPussy Vixens, Go Faster! Kill!, SCARRIE-The Musical (1998, 2003, 2015), Rudolph the Red-Hosed Reindeer (1997–2018), Joan Crawford Goes to Hell, Touched by Jayne Mansfield, The Birds (2001, 2014, 2015), Poseidon! An Upside Down Musical (2001, 2010, 2019), How ‘Whatever Happened to Baby Jane’ Happened, Caged Dames, The Rip Nelson Halloween Spooktacular, Lady X, and TROGG! A Musical, Sexy Baby, Scream, Queen, SCREAM!, Christmas Dearest, Lady X-The Musical, The Rip Nelson Holiday Spectacular, The Golden Girls-The Lost Episodes, Vol. 1, 2, 3, 4, The Golden Girls Holiday Special 1 and 2, The Golden Girls Valentine Edition, The Golden Girls-BEA AFRAID, The Facts of Life-Satan’s School for Girls, and The Drag Seed.
There are 8 performances of The Drag Seed, directed by Cheryl Snodgrass, in the Downstairs Theatre from March 31–April 10. Tickets can be purchased here.

1. How would you describe your work?
Ridiculous and truthful. Smart and stupid, and camp—lots of it.
2. What inspired you to write The Drag Seed?
Being told I couldn't use cross gender casting by the staff who knew about the drag casting out there but could care less at Dramatist Guild when I looked into doing The Bad Seed.
3. What can audiences expect from these performances?
EXPECT TO SEE THE WAY THE SHOW SHOULD BE PERFORMED IN THIS MODERN AGE.
They should expect unflattering drool and snot out of the nose laughs.
To laugh so hard they might fart next to their date. They should expect to forget about a lot of the nonsense going on in the world.
4. How has the production developed since its premiere in 2019?
While the production is pretty much the same, the acceptance of Drag has skyrocketed because people have ways to monetize it, Drag has turned into a product for middle America which is why they look like OVER-SEXUALIZED Disney characters now. The world has caught up with the play, but fear not, we shall find new ways to assault their senses with a bucket of EXTRA CRISPY CAMP THAT NOT EVEN THE MOST Avant Garde Variety Types can resist!
5. It's Hell in a Handbag's 20th anniversary season! What are your upcoming plans for the rest of the season?
After New York, we're queering up Agatha Christie with A Fine Feathered Murdered-A Miss Marbled Mystery. The Fowler estate seems idyllic what with enormous cocks strutting about the place servicing all of the high society Mother Cluckers until biggest is found dead.
After, we plan going far away into outer space with I PROMISED MYSELF TO LIVE FASTER, a wild sci action space opera and love story by Gregory Moss and The Pig Iron Theatre Company.
You can also see Dorothy, Rose, Sophia, and Blanche performing as Miami's favorite seniors in the only critically acclaimed Golden Girls parody with original scripts. The world's first worldwide Golden Girls Convention—Thank you for Being a Fan at Navy Pier in Chicago.
6. What does working at La MaMa mean to you?
It still feels like a dream. Like I'm going to wake up from a coma, tell the nurse that I have to go—I'm doing a show at La MaMa—and they all laugh at me and say, "You got a light bulb stuck in your butt!" Then they keep laughing and laughing until I make them stop—don't ask.
It also feels like the culmination of 20 years of hard work, and it makes me proud fo be sharing the stage with the people who believed in me when I had trouble believing in myself.
ALL the feels, My character, Miss Charles is dedicated to the holy trinity of Charles Ludlum, Pierce, and Busch, who all performed in this sacred space. I'm grateful as hell.

Photo by Rick Aguilar Studios

La MaMa presents

The Drag Seed


Written by David Cerda
Directed by Cheryl Snodgrass

March 31 – April 10, 2022

The Downstairs 
66 East 4th Street, basement level
New York, NY 10003

Thursdays – Saturdays at 8PM
Sundays at 4PM

Tickets:

Adults: $25 in advance; $30 day of show
Students/Seniors: $20 in advance; $25 day of show

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