Black Wool Jacket was my thirteenth Rogue show over the course of three days. I had seen bands, a game show, tear-jerking performances, hilarious monologues, and some wonderful dancing. Black Wool Jacket became the top show I had seen of the festival, and I knew it within the first ten minutes. Natalie Frijia is an unsung hero of solo performers, a gift to the Rogue Festival lineup.
Whether you’ve been to a nightclub or not, you will enjoy Natalie’s performance. As a PhD student, she needs some extra cash, so she’s hired by a downtown night club to be a coat checker. The stories of the people, the jackets, the attitude, the coworkers, the everything associated with nightclub life make for one of the juiciest, most intriguing monologues I have ever encountered. Natalie has beautifully constructed a string of tales and terrors from her shifts as a coat checker that entertains and informs the crowd.
Natalie is an alluring storyteller with a profoundly-entertaining and strong structure to her script. She cleverly utilizes gloves and coats to further along the imagery she describes throughout her piece. Her red trench coat story does hit a well-earned, tender chord among the goofy anecdotes and intelligent comparisons between elephants and humans (she REALLLLLY likes elephants). Natalie effectively takes a subject like being a coat checker and turns it into an intriguing, tour-de-force performance that she charmingly delivers without a single hiccup in poise or break in comedic pace. It bears repeating: this show cannot be missed.
Black Wool Jacket will perform at Mia Cuppa Caffe’ on 3/10 at 6:30pm and 3/12 at 2pm. Don’t miss this show! Go see this show! Go!
