How To Catch A Karen

Naked Empire Bouffon, August 2021

streaming producer, leanna keyes smiling inside a green bordered circle

Leanna
Says .... ....

Karen was an incredibly fun project because we were constantly playing ‘extra chicken.’ I’d come up with an idea that was extra, then the director and performer would reply with an idea that was very extra, then I’d come back with an idea that was extremely extra… and we never really stopped. This project THRIVED in its interactivity. Audience members could watch on Vimeo or from a ‘digital front row,’ where they could be seen and heard by the performer. Both sets of audience even got to vote on how the play would unfold! Bouffon work is a form of clowning and it was essential that we find a way for Sabrina (the performer) and the audience to bounce off each other. Seven virtual audio cables and half a dozen monitors later, we pulled it off!

How To Catch A Karen

A one-person satirical comedy about capturing the “progressive” Karen in all of us, this project featured first-of-its-kind audience interactivity.

From the company The Huffington Post hails as, “devilishly dangerous theatre,” comes HOW TO CATCH A KAREN, a one-person satirical comedy performed by Sabrina Wenske. This show brings the immortal trickster witch, Baba Yaga, relishing in the dangers and pleasures of outing the closet, “progressive” Karens among us. Charming, savage, and irreverent, Baba Yaga makes the thrill of the hunt palpable as she exorcises hidden Karens from Instagram live feeds, kinky play parties, immigrant households, liberal arts college campuses, tech conferences, and even tear-ducts themselves. Join us, and if you’re lucky, Baba Yaga may coax the Karen hiding in you as well.

Founded in 2009 with an activist mission to devise hilarious, cutting, and visually-provocative satires to catalyze urgent discourse, Naked Empire has become North America’s premier bouffon company. We have had the privilege of touring North America with multiple award-winning productions winning Best of the Fringe twice in San Francisco, the Talk of the Fringe Award in Vancouver, the Artist’s Choice Award in Edmonton, as well as Official Selections from the Toronto Festival of Clowns, Vancouver’s Dancing on the Edge Festival, Victoria’s UNOFest, Berkeley’s Blast Festival, and Xfest in Edwardsville, Illinois. We are also dedicated to expanding the practice of bouffon. www.nakedempirebouffon.org

How To Catch A Karen Creative Team:

Sabrina Wenske – Co-Creator, Performer

Nathaniel Justiniano – Co-Creator, Director

Lindsay A. Jenkins – Dramaturgy

Lena Sands – Costume Designer

Transcend Streaming – Streaming Producer