What I liked
The tiny pancakes, monologues from the top of a van, moments of audience togetherness, the tension between humor and loss, theater in the LA sun, and the pedagogy about the reality of living unhoused as LGBTQ2IA+ people.
What I didn't like
More people having the opportunity to experience this important piece of queer theatre.
My overall impression
Vanlyfe offers an intimate portrait of an often undiscussed facet of LGBTQ2IA+ life. This queer narrative containing humor and heartache provides multifaceted depth to a story of four unhoused members of a chosen family who traverse the brutal reality of policing, neoliberalism, and attempted erasure. The actors and Evans/Fuchs’ writing, skillfully create an immersive theatrical experience that allows the audience members to ride alongside them and feel each of the small things that provide another reminder to breathe. Art offers alternatives to systems of oppression, and Vanlyfe is a testament to the power of queer joy as an artistic gesture of utopian possibility.
