CAMBRIDGE
MAMA COD DRAG SHOW
Protect her spawning ground!
Big Mama Cod schools the audience on overfishing and protecting a vital breeding ground on the Atlantic Coast.
NOTE: We originally envisioned Mama Cod to be out lounging in the lobby, interacting with people directly in a less scripted way, but due to COVID we moved the performance to the stage. Performer: Evan Spigelman. Costumes: Olivera Gajic. Sets: Jian Jung. Lights: Thomas Dunn.
Goal 𖤣𖥧.𖤣𖥧.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧
Educate audiences about best practices when fishing/eating Cod; sign a petition to protect “Cashes Ledge,” an important breeding ground for Cod.
Process 𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟
The ART connected us with the Conservation Law Foundation (CLF), a frequent community partner of theirs. We were inspired by the creative ways they already worked to raise awareness. Their campaign to protect Cashes Ledge, the vital Cod breeding ground off the coast of Cape Cod, included a brilliant comic strip featuring a “BOFFFF”: a Big Old Fat Fertile Female Fish. After our first discussions, we came back with proposals for a variety of stations. Luckily for us, one of our team, Evan Spigelman, is a drag performer. Aha! There was quick consensus around turning their BOFFFF character into a Drag Queen who could talk to the audiences directly.
One member of CLF became our main contact and spent time teaching us all about Cod, their habitats and life cycles. We learned about the problems of overfishing and began to understand why allowing fertile females to live to old age is key to cod populations thriving (a 65 year old female spawns how many eggs????). We sourced images of cod for our costume designer, who created a wonderful gown and wig for Evan. Meanwhile, Lisa took the research and turned it it into a character-based monologue with Evan’s help. Finally, our composer wrote some great Mama Cod theme music. It was a hilarious part of the show that was also really successful at getting the audience to take action (Mama Cod made everyone pull out their phones for the QR code and sign the petition during her act).
Partners 𓇢𓆸
Magical Moments during our Process
☁︎
Magical Moments during our Process ☁︎
☁︎ When the Conservation Law Folks showed us pictures of cods and we saw they have this great leopard print skin–perfect for a drag queen dress!
☁︎ When we realized Evan, playing Big Mama Cod, could pelt the audience with ping-pong ball eggs from their cod “egg sac.”
Budget ༄
Our producers, the American Repertory Theater, covered the cost of designing and building the Cod costume, drawing it from the costume and outreach budget for our production. The performer was already part of the show.