Review: “Puffy Hair” by Zoë Geltman presented at The Tank

Walking into Midtown’s The Tank seems cozier than normal this week. One of its black box spaces beckons an audience in with red fabric-draped seating while a diva-drenched playlist pulses in the background. When writer and performer Zoë Geltman steps out in sequins and a smirk, the audience is in for an hour-long unescapable existential excavation of one woman’s ego. From its first moments, Zoë Geltman’s “Puffy Hair” transforms beyond stand-up comedy to shocking and delicious intimacy, as mesmerizing as drunk-meeting the girl in the bathroom simultaneously melting and grandstanding for boy advice that never fails to bond the toilet’s tenants together.

The evening of unfettered familiarity directed by Julia Sirna-Frest feels like being invited into the real-life version of that Annie Murphy Phexxi commercial— sequestered and invited into Geltman’s extravagant mind palace of feminine guts and glory (a feat intertwined in the warmth and vivacity of set and costume design by Enver Chakartash). Lighting design by Sarah Lurie also illuminates Geltman’s sporadic trains of thought as she zips and bops around the space, capturing a caricatured showman’s energy akin to Joan Rivers meeting Liza Minnelli.

There’s a lot of talk of gastrointestinal turbulence alongside the emotional and relationship pressures of her existence; no topic is off-limits in this catharsis of self-hatred as Geltman sheds metaphorical and literal layers to get close to us in what we hope is eventually her true self. The writing plays like a vigorous plea for intimacy with herself, a self-deprecating, self-aware routine as investigative and piercing as anyone’s truest inner monologue talking to themselves in a mirror. But for an audience, the piece is thus oddly paced with piecemeal anecdotes that never quite land long enough to savor or shock, like stepping into a warm bath only to find out the water is actually draining beneath you before you can get comfortable. But Geltman thrives in this fast-paced discomfort. Her passionate cadence washes over you, each new thought bubbling to the surface doomed to face her enthusiastic popping, ultimately leaving both audience and actress dripping with a world-weary malaise.

PUFFY HAIR

“Puffy Hair” is written and performed by Zoë Geltman. Directed by Julia Sirna-Frest. Set & Costume Design by Enver Chakartash. Lighting Design by Sarah Lurie. Production Stage Management by Lenyn Hernandez. Run time is 55 minutes, with no intermission.

Nine performances of Puffy Hair take place Thursday through Saturday at 7pm from November 4–20 at The Tank, located at 312 W 36th Street in Manhattan. Tickets, priced at $15–$25, can be purchased online at www.thetanknyc.org or by calling (212) 563-6269.

Photo of Zoë Geltman by Kevin Frest