About the Project
“What a TRIUMPH of a show… whip smart, funny, deep, compelling, genre-breaking, and pure genius. A MUST SEE!” – Rachel Troy, (2024 Top of Fringe Winner for “Baby”)
“WTF the best show I’ve seen this season HANDS DOWN.” – Patrick Boylan, One Up: The Musical
“This is a work of genius.” – Cam Poter, Just To Be Close To You
“Absolutely spellbound from the moment the pre-show announcement began to the moment the lights faded out.” – Mark Vigeant (2024 Best Comedy Winner)
“A captivating experience. See this show!” – Hal Rudnick, Jersey Devil
QFWFQ is loosely based on Italo Calvino’s If On a Winter’s Night a Traveler. A labyrinthine, surrealist journey that touches on the politics of gender, music, international relations and storytelling itself, QFWFQ is a show that never begins nor ends. You’re confused. So are we.
Co-directed by Hannah Pilkes. Structurally adapted from the Italo Calvino novel If On a Winter’s Night A Traveler, as well as other Calvino works, QFWFQ is a solo performance without a fourth wall. Taking its nonsensical title from the name of Calvino’s ageless, timeless main character of the bulk of the collection The Cosmicomics, QFWFQ is an adaptation of themes and structure, in a similar manner that Charlie Kaufman once adapted the non-fiction The Orchid Thief into Adaptation. In place of much of the hard plot points of Calvino’s novel, QFWFQ thematically links stories from the performer’s life, all of which deal with questions of political and artistic permission. Touching on architectural marvels, improvised jazz concertos, gender identity, suicide, reckoning with Zionism, Judaism, Gaza and everything in between, QFWFQ is a meditation on the politics of storytelling, showing that the artist’s assumption that stories remain in silo is a fallible one, and that all of our stories necessarily connect through tissue both invisible and visible.
“I felt like I had just seen an Oscar-winning feature film, not a solo show in a black box theatre. What a triumph!” – Suzannah Longman
“QFWFQ has everything you want in a show, including things you never realized you wanted.” – Daniel Shar, Near Sex For Work
“The show feels transformative and like honey on your soul.” – Emily Maverick, Slürt
“For a moment, and with relief from the demands of life, I lost my sense of time and place.” – Amber Glancy
“One of the most impressive one person performances I’ve seen, at Fringe or otherwise.” – Jack Bennett
“I’m a bit speechless about this show, as it’s so beautifully crafted and so powerfully embodied and spooled and unspooled.” – Charlotte Moroz
Gregory Nussen (they/he) is a non-binary multidisciplinary artist who has performed off-Broadway, internationally and across Los Angeles and New York stages. They originated the role of Christopher in the regional premiere of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time at the Phoenix Theatre Company. A contributing critic to Deadline, Backstage and Slant Magazine, they are a New York Film Critics Circle award winner. AEA, SAG-AFTRA.
MFA: Columbia. MA: NYU, BA: Emerson.
More at gregnussen.com
“The existential questions are heavy ones, but in Nussen’s capable hands, are rendered in carefully exquisite, ontologically hysterical set pieces.” – Travis York
“Greg stays on the pulse consistently, never wavering emotion and instead glides through each moment with effervescence and humor throughout the piece. Enjoyable to watch and a must-see this Fringe season.” – Ashley Karp
“Gregory Nussen delivers what is sure to be a major contender for Best Solo Show at Fringe. Full of both laughs and profundity, Nussen skates through very personal stories in a way that feels universally relatable. They are a nuanced and intelligent writer and a vibrant, heartfelt actor with a massive amount of charm.” – Richardson Cisneros-Jones
“The word ‘brave’ gets thrown around a lot with solo shows, but this one deserves it. This is mind-expanding work that I’ll be thinking about for a long time.” – Erin Callahan
“Greg has been visited by the genius. QFWFQ is a beautiful labyrinth of words and play.” – George Aivaliotis, Soft Animal
“What I do know is that QFWFQ instantly became one of my “must-see” recommendations for HFF25.” – Drew Petriello, Except Myself
“ts the most present piece of art i’ve seen in recent years.” – Jaymen Caplan
“One of a kind, singular show. Wholly original, hilarious, and heartbreaking. Highest possible degree of recommendation that you go!” – Blaise Hemingway
“The writing is quick, whimsical, funny, tragic, absurd and everything I’ve ever wanted out of a solo show.” – Kris Buxton-Dean
“A cohesive, thorough, compelling, genuine, heartfelt exploration of the self—as an artist, as a nonbinary queer person, as a Jew. It’s beautiful to watch such self-reflective and self-aware art as it’s rare and rarely done this well even when it happens.” – Mia Schachter, Squirm
“Greg stays on the pulse consistently, never wavering emotion and instead glides through each moment with effervescence and humor throughout the piece. Enjoyable to watch and a must-see this Fringe season.” – Ashley Karp
“Gregory Nussen delivers what is sure to be a major contender for Best Solo Show at Fringe. Full of both laughs and profundity, Nussen skates through very personal stories in a way that feels universally relatable. They are a nuanced and intelligent writer and a vibrant, heartfelt actor with a massive amount of charm.” – Richardson Cisneros-Jones
“The word ‘brave’ gets thrown around a lot with solo shows, but this one deserves it. This is mind-expanding work that I’ll be thinking about for a long time.” – Erin Callahan
“Greg has been visited by the genius. QFWFQ is a beautiful labyrinth of words and play.” – George Aivaliotis, Soft Animal
“What I do know is that QFWFQ instantly became one of my “must-see” recommendations for HFF25.” – Drew Petriello, Except Myself
“ts the most present piece of art i’ve seen in recent years.” – Jaymen Caplan
“One of a kind, singular show. Wholly original, hilarious, and heartbreaking. Highest possible degree of recommendation that you go!” – Blaise Hemingway
“The writing is quick, whimsical, funny, tragic, absurd and everything I’ve ever wanted out of a solo show.” – Kris Buxton-Dean
“A cohesive, thorough, compelling, genuine, heartfelt exploration of the self—as an artist, as a nonbinary queer person, as a Jew. It’s beautiful to watch such self-reflective and self-aware art as it’s rare and rarely done this well even when it happens.” – Mia Schachter, Squirm
Hannah Pilkes – Co-Director (she/her) – is a comedian and Independent Spirit Award nominated actress. She will be appearing opposite Leanne Morgan in the upcoming Chuck Lorre-produced sitcom “Leanne,” for Netflix. Most recently she opened for Paul F Tompkins on his nationwide Varietopia tour and has opened for comedians like Meg Stalter and Nick Kroll. She is a Just For Laughs Character New Face. You may have caught Hannah on Dropout TV, Comedy Bang Bang, the CW’s Would I Lie To you, CBS’s After Midnight, SXSW’s Max and Molli in The Future, Max’s Yearly Departed, or in Chloe Fineman’s Audible series, Excessive. She considers herself “mostly muppet, and New York magazine called her the next Kristin Wiig”, and a “Comedian You Should and Will Know”
KJ Johantgen – producer – (she/they) is a newly diagnosed neurodivergent, non-binary producer, comedian, and activist. They’ve appeared in films, Off-Broadway, and their work has been featured in the New York Times, on CBS, and beyond. They like helping their friends tell stories and making people laugh. @katiejoyofosho
Production Team
