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BOSTON HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS PUSH FOR AN END TO RACIAL PROFILING

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VOL 18 + ISSUE 19

MAY 12, 2016 - MAY 19, 2016 EDITORIAL

DEAR READER

EDITOR + PUBLISHER Jeff lawrence

When you surround yourself with creative, driven people, magic tends to happen. Since day one, we’ve always prided ourselves on the fact that we were lucky enough to do exactly that at DigBoston, and do it time and time again. Sometimes it was planned from the start, maybe in a staff meeting and then rolled into the big picture; while other times it was completely spontaneous but didn’t fit within the company’s walls, so it branched out to become its own thing. That’s what happened with Together Boston.

Co-created by David Day and Mike McKay, both former employees, it quickly went from an idea to a reality, a side project to a full-fledged organization, complete with partners and a volunteer staff and all long before a single ticket was ever sold. The early years were tough because the idea was always fermenting and evolving, but the crew would meet in our office at night or on weekends and pour hundreds of hours into planning each festival every year. The passion and commitment were incredible, and ultimately that paid off as sponsorship and revenue grew, the lineup expanded, and the festival stood on its own.

It’s not the largest music festival in Boston, it’s simply one of the best. It’s also a proud member of our extended family of ideas created by people that came up through the ranks of DigBoston. May 15-22, Together Boston will once again take over venues across the city. Make a point of getting together with our friends during that week and support some of the best people we’ve ever known.

NEWS + FEATURES EDITOR Chris Faraone ASSOCIATE MUSIC EDITOR Nina Corcoran ASSOCIATE FILM EDITOR Jake Mulligan ASSOCIATE ARTS EDITOR Christopher Ehlers COPY EDITOR Mitchell Dewar CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Emily Hopkins, Jason Pramas CONTRIBUTORS Nate Boroyan, Renan Fontes, Bill Hayduke, Emily Hopkins, Micaela Kimball, Jason Pramas, Dave Wedge INTERNS Becca DeGregorio, Anna Marketti

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Dear Pickup Dick, Hey there neighbor. I’m afraid to confront you in person since you are the type of savage animal who drives around with empty beer cans in the back of your pickup truck. Unlike everybody else in Allston, you and your idiot family have an entire house to yourselves. Your wife is a loudmouth pile of garbage who watches The View loud with the windows open in the nice weather, and you only top her with your Ford tough schmuckmobile. It doesn’t even fit in your goddamn driveway, so you park it in front of my house, essentially on my lawn, blocking the only bit of grass I have in this trash heap. I’ve called every city department on you and it never sticks. And I’m sure that it has nothing to do with your equally stupid and loud brother who stops by in his police cruiser every other day to illegally park in the same exact place. Come to think of it, he’s fucking your wife.

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Boston high school students push for an end to racial profiling Anyone who works with high school students knows that there is definitely more talent in Boston Public Schools than there is in the local media. So when we get a letter like the one that we received last week—from a class of Brighton High School students asking if we’d run their column—we take the inquiries seriously (as we do with college students, whose work we have proudly published more of than any other non-campus outlet in Boston over the past decade). Like a number of important issues that are at risk of slipping through the cracks of yet another legislative session, racial profiling is something that lawmakers can actually do something about—all they have to do is move on the bill mentioned in the student-written piece that follows. Roadside harassment is tragic and even life-changing for those who are affected; if you’ve never been harassed that way yourself, just imagine having your personal space entered for no reason at all, your belongings torn apart along with your pride.

Thanks to Desean and his classmates for reaching out to us. We’re rooting for them as they generate awareness and bring it to the clowns on Beacon Hill. -Dig Staff My name is Desean Bey and I am a senior at Brighton High School. One day a few months ago, two friends and I were sitting in our car near the basketball court where we had just finished playing. Suddenly, we saw bright lights; a police car approached and pulled up next to us.

A police officer stepped out and walked towards our car.

He motioned for us to get out, and the next thing I knew, he had slammed us to the ground with our hands behind our backs. He then proceeded to search the vehicle. But 4

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there was nothing to be found; no drugs, no weapons, no contraband whatsoever. The officer freed us and drove away, unaffected by the incident. We, on the other hand, will remember that day vividly for the rest of our lives.

We’re aren’t alone. According to the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, 63 percent of policecivilian encounters from 2007 to 2010 have targeted blacks, even though blacks make up less than 25 percent of Boston’s population. Even after controlling for crime, Boston police officers are found to be more likely to initiate police encounters in black neighborhoods and with black people. The main problem is that the police give no reasonable justification for 75 percent of these encounters; they simply warrant these searches by citing them “investigations.” Over 200,000 of these encounters have led to no arrest, and only 2.5 percent of them actually resulted in the seizure of contraband.

As a class, we believe that this issue must be addressed immediately, as such encounters are serious violations of the civil rights of minorities in Boston. For this reason, we are working on project to end racially-motivated traffic stops as part of the Generation Citizen action civics program that works in our school. The primary way that we think this issue can be resolved is through the passage of House Bill 1575. This bill focuses on data collection and fair treatment of drivers, and is currently undergoing review by the state legislature.

There are two aspects of this bill that are especially important to us. The first is the fact that it requires police to provide documentation in the form of receipts

to any civilians they stop and frisk. We believe that this will hold the police more accountable for the stops/ searches they conduct, because it requires officers to provide specific reasons for their actions. The other aspect of the bill that we especially support is its call for data collection on traffic stops. Bill 1575 would require all police departments in the Commonwealth to record information in a reviewable database. Data collected would include race, gender, location, and reason for the stop, and can be reviewed by the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security.

We firmly believe that this legislation will lower the amount of racially-motivated traffic stops in Massachusetts. Our goal is not to antagonize Massachusetts police officers or to make them less effective at doing their jobs; rather, we hope to prevent civilians from being stopped, searched, and potentially arrested based on their race alone. As a class, we have advocated in many ways for the passage of Bill 1575.

We have discussed it with our peers, with community police officers, and even members of the state Senate.

We have contributed to a meaningful dialogue on policecommunity relations, but we need your help if we are to successfully turn this dialogue into legislation.

If you support an end to racially-motivated traffic stops, you can sign a petition created by the authors at change. org/p/the-judiciary-committee-why-select.

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I’m stepping into big shoes as I write my first Free Radical column, which has been helmed by the whip-smart and wonderful Emily Hopkins until now. But I’m also humbled to be allowed access to this space to share my buzzkill tendencies and unpopular opinions. So why not start by taking on the Boston Police Department and its reluctance to join the 21st century by adopting body cameras?

The BPD body camera pilot program has been “happening” for what seems like forever. The launch date was pushed back from April to May, and then again (for now) to June. Police Commissioner William Evans has been quoted as saying that he hopes the pilot program will prove that it’s not needed here. But methinks thou doth protest too much, and so does Segun Idowu, co-organizer for the Boston Police Camera Action Team (BPCAT). “If officers are really good at their jobs and they are ‘a class act,’ like Evans insists, then what do they have to hide?”

Idowu asked me in a phone interview.

And that is the question, isn’t it? For a police department that prides itself on its good relationships with the community (which is downright laughable in reality), why wouldn’t they be open to doing something that could improve trust and relations between the department and Boston residents? And for a city that considers itself to be a hub of innovation, it’s suspicious that Boston remains one of only four of the 25 largest U.S. cities that have yet to adopt a police body camera program.

Not only that, but as the city prepares to roll this pilot program out, they’ve deliberately avoided the community members who want to help them get it right. BPCAT activists, who have released reports on body cameras and written an entirely comprehensive policy, have yet to sit down with anyone from the police department or the mayor’s office, despite numerous attempts, Idowu tells me.

This means that the body camera pilot program has been created without the input or approval from the voices in the community who know the most about the issue.

Despite Evans’ insistence that Boston police officers will prove themselves to not need body cameras, he’s ignoring a ton of evidence that proves that body cameras improve police and community relations, and also reduce incidents of police misuse of force as well as complaints of officer misconduct. The commissioner is also ignoring the research that’s been released locally in which the ACLU of Massachusetts found that BPD racially profiles black and brown residents with its stop and frisk policy. There are also police-involved killings to consider; according to the Mapping Police Violence Project, which pulls from three databases of police shootings, between January 2013 and March 2016, Boston police fatally shot seven people, all of whom happened to be black or Latino.

With the community meetings that happened at the end of April and the City Council hearing that took place during the first week of May, the public is finally getting a chance to weigh in, even if activists haven’t been able to get their own voices heard by the establishment. Whether or not Evans and the BPD likes it, a body camera program will be coming to Boston. It’s on them whether they choose to embrace the new tool for what it is—something to provide greater accountability and protections for both community members and police officers, if they really are behaving in line with protocol—or fight it every step of the way.

Allowing activists and community members to have a say in what the policy looks like would be a good faith move on behalf of the police department to show that they are committed to doing what’s best for the residents of this city. But, of course, that means they’d actually have to want to be committed to that in the first place.

Free Radical is a biweekly column syndicated by the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism. Copyright 2016 Britni de la Cretaz. Licensed for use by the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism and media outlets in its network.

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In 1929, Swann Chemical Company began commercially producing polychlorinated biphenyls for industrial use as an electrical insulator and as a coolant. PCBs were immediately a huge success, and Monsanto bought Swann six years later. From 1932 to 1977, the big General Electric plant in Pittsfield, Mass used large quantities of the chemical in manufacturing electrical transformers and other products. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, as much as 600,000 pounds of PCBs was dumped into the adjacent Housatonic River and the surrounding soil over that time. In 1979, the EPA banned PCBs as a definite animal carcinogen and a probable human carcinogen. One which can take hundreds of years to naturally degrade to nontoxic levels\ As GE finished winding down its Pittsfield operation over the next couple of decades—ultimately eliminating 13,000 mostly unionized jobs, and driving a spike through the economic heart of the Berkshires—state agencies and the EPA initiated a number of regulatory actions culminating in a 1997 proposal by the EPA to add the Housatonic site to the Superfund National Priorities List. After long negotiations, the company managed to stop the site from being tarred with the Superfund designation and in 1999 agreed to what the EPA called a “Consent Decree” to cleanup PCBs in the Housatonic from the former site of GE’s Pittsfield plant to a couple of miles downriver in a first phase that has since been completed. And then to cleanup what was termed “Rest of River” in a second phase.

Having spent $100 million on the first phase (as part of the initial Consent Decree settlement), GE is now fighting to be able to cheap out on cleaning up the rest of the river. Mainly by trying to save the estimated $250 million cost of shipping PCB-contaminated river sediment and surrounding soil by rail to a huge toxic waste storage facility in Texas, as demanded by the EPA’s current “Rest of River” plan, via an alternative proposal for three new dumps in Western Mass. Two of which are right near the Housatonic. Yet are somehow expected to store a chemical infamous for its ability to leech out of dumps, spread miles underground—possibly right back to the river it was dredged from—and also evaporate and travel long distances in the air. GE appealed the EPA’s plan last October. A move that could land the whole affair in the US Court of Appeals in Boston, and drag a process that will take at least 13 years to complete out even longer.

Local communities are understandably furious, and river advocates have started holding protests at the proposed GE dump sites. It should be understood that the effects of PCBs on the environment are dire. And that so-called Rest of River cleanup is meant to fix some (but nowhere near all) of the damage done up to 140 miles downstream through Western Mass and Connecticut into Long Island Sound. PCBs—found in the Housatonic at levels far above the EPA safety threshold—not only raise cancer risks in humans and animals alike, but also cause direct immune, reproductive, endocrine, and neurological effects. With children being the most vulnerable human population.

But even the planned EPA approach to Rest of River cleanup on the Housatonic—which activists think is woefully insufficient—is still too expensive for GE’s taste at an estimated $613 million. The corporation won’t rest until it knocks at least $250 million off the top. And damn the environmental consequences.

Meanwhile, it remains to be seen whether—given the buzz coming from Western Mass—there might be a connection between the Housatonic situation and the $270 million in public funds, services, and tax breaks that Gov. Charlie Baker and Boston Mayor Marty Walsh have agreed to lavish on GE to induce them to move their headquarters to the Hub. But one has to wonder—in light of the recent investigation by the International Business Times showing that GE employees and the employees of GE’s lobbying firms donated nearly $1 million to the NY Congressional delegation over last three election cycles—why so many Empire State pols just happened to stand down from the fight to stop EPA approval of GE’s halting its dredging of PCBs in the Hudson River Valley last year? And if a scheme like that could happen one state over, why couldn’t it happen here?

Apparent Horizon is syndicated by the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism.

Jason Pramas is BINJ’s network director.

COPYRIGHT 2016 JASON PRAMAS. LICENSED FOR USE BY THE BOSTON INSTITUTE FOR NONPROFIT JOURNALISM AND MEDIA OUTLETS IN ITS NETWORK.

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Social and economic insecurity in Caracas has a significant impact on venezolanos en Mass

BY ALEJANDRO RAMIREZ @RAMIREZALEJ One late March morning, corridos—the socially conscious ballads popular throughout Central and Latin America—blared throughout the blue and gold basement chapel of Tremont Temple Baptist Church.

About 21 people mingled around a table of coffee and breakfast pastries, exchanging pleasantries in Spanish, name tags on their chests listing their names and occupations. It was a networking event for Venezuelans in the Boston region. And while ostensibly nonpolitical, it was organized and attended by outspoken critics of the current socialist government like local activist Cristina Aguilera and journalist and scholar Ana Julia Jatar. Many participants had taken part in local protests in solidarity with antigovernment demonstrations in Caracas, and in oneon-one interviews most didn’t hesitate to call the Venezuelan government authoritarian, criminal, or corrupt.

One month later, in April, the recently formed Venezuelan Solidarity Committee screened Oliver Stone’s My Friend Hugo to commemorate the anniversary of the 2002 coup attempt that forced the late President Hugo Chávez out of office (and suspended the constitution) for three days. The documentary was controversial for its humanizing and favorable portrayal of the commandante, a muchmaligned figure in mainstream English-language news media. While about 20 people went to the evening screening at encuentro 5—a “space for progressive movement building in the heart of Boston”—most weren’t Venezuelans, and most Venezuelans in attendance were from the consulate.

The disparity isn’t too surprising. “The majority [of Venezuelans] here tend to support the opposition,” Jorge Marin said. Marin has lived in the US since 1974 and formed the Boston Bolivarian Council (named in honor of Chávez’s Bolivarian revolution), which ran from 2002 to 2011. The new committee, made up of 15 people, aims to resurrect his previous campaigns of education, discussions, and gathering delegations to visit Venezuela.

Marin’s political stance is somewhat rare among Venezuelan immigrants, highlighted by the fact there are so few venezolanos in the area.

Overall, Venezuelan immigrants are usually better off than most other Latin American immigrant groups, often from middle or upper-class families, well educated, and light skinned or identifying as white.

According to Pew Hispanic, Venezuelans’ median earnings were higher than the general Hispanic population’s (though still lower than the overall US median). Traditionally, Venezuelans, the 13th-largest population of Latino origin, come to America either for work or education, but a turbulent political and economic climate at home has resulted in an influx of immigrants applying for asylum.

In fact, Venezuelans are now the fifth-largest group of asylum seekers.

“In the last three years, Venezuelans filed 7,000 applications,” says Aguilera’s husband, Julio Henriquez, an immigration lawyer who also handles Venezuelan asylum cases with the Refugee Freedom Program.

Part of Henriquez’s job is to educate people on asylum. The majority of Venezuelan asylum seekers may not meet the requirements, leading some to resort to illegal means to secure that status with false claims or evidence. Most Venezuelans are coming over

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VENEZUELAN INDIGENOUS YUKPA LEADER SABINO ROMERO for either political or economic reasons, Henriquez notes.

Politically, many are upset with President Nicolas Maduro’s tenure, which critics say has been strict.

“This government has shown itself to be far more authoritarian than the previous one,” Henriquez says.

He describes clashes between protesters and security forces, which led to many arrests, injuries, and even deaths. Crime is rampant: Caracas is now among the most violent cities in the world.

On top of that, Venezuela’s economy is in a tailspin.

This is popularly attributed to a drop in oil prices (or even government mismanagement), though the Council on Hemispheric Affairs notes other factors that US outlets often ignore. Namely, it describes the elites’ stranglehold on importation, distribution, and wholesaling of all goods, and their willingness to hoard goods to combat government policies—starving the nation in the process. At the beginning of 2016, Maduro declared an economic emergency. Other factors are making the collapse worse, like a poor exchange rate (the Venezuelan Bolivar values less than a US penny) and a lack of food production. Most recently, in response to a drought, the government declared all Fridays holidays, hoping a four-day work week will lessen the use of hydroelectric power created by its dams.

About 75 percent of Venezuelan immigrants settle in Florida, says Henriquez, especially in and around Miami. In fact, the population down south is so concentrated that Weston, FL earned the nickname “Westonzuela.” It’s a different story in Boston.

“There is no Venezuelan community in Boston, in the sense that there are no towns or neighborhoods that are predominantly Venezuelan,” says Henriquez.

Most Venezuelans in Boston are students, according to Omar Sierra of the Venezuelan consulate in Back Bay. In fact, before the current financial crisis, many Venezuelan students received financial help for studying abroad. Sierra also notes that Rhode Island is home to a more working-class Venezuelan population.

Despite the increase in tension and violence, this year the elections were much more peaceful, says Sierra. “Jimmy Carter said we have the best system in the world,” he added, referring to glowing praise from the ex-president in 2012 following the Carter

Center’s survey of 92 elections worldwide. (According to Associated Press, the Carter Center closed its Caracas office last May “to concentrate its limited resources in other countries that have solicited its support.”)

Sierra and others interviewed for this story say US outlets are biased on Venezuelan affairs. For all the predictions that Maduro would rig, steal, or ignore the election after his party lost two-thirds of the National Assembly, Sierra says, “the left acknowledged its defeat.” He also claims many outlets were silent when hitmen assassinated indigenous Yukpa chief Sabino Romero in the midst of land struggle between indigenous people and ranch owners.

“They only care about white political prisoners,” he says. Additionally, the fact many policies aimed to reduce the power of Venezuela’s historically white ruling class to empower those of indigenous and African heritage complicates the usual narrative most English-speaking media provides.

Many would also point to a steady decrease in wealth as a result of government policies since 1997.

But again, the story’s a bit more complicated. From 1997 to 2011, the top 20 percent’s share of Venezuelan wealth dropped from from 53.6 to 44.8 percent; over the same period, the poorest 20 percent’s share increased from 4.1 to 5.7 percent, the number of people in extreme poverty decreased, literacy rates increased, and infant mortality decreased.

“I still think the Bolivarian way is the best way,” says Marin, referring to such achievements. But “Maduro has a tough job.”

Cristina Aguilera, the organizing director of the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition, was the main organizer behind March’s event. Sporting a turquoise blazer and bouncing a baby in one arm, she gathered everyone in front of the chapel’s stage where two rows of seats faced each other. Everyone took a chair and introduced themselves to the person they were facing, eventually shifting to their right every two minutes—“speed networking,” Aguilera called it.

It’s not just professional networking: Here people could get help with asylum; learn about good schools, neighborhoods, and restaurants; and maybe even find friends. While the Greater Boston area is home to many clusters of immigrant neighborhoods, Venezuelans are

40 percent of imported goods were estimated to have been smuggled out again in 2014). The government introduced a new exchange rate to help resolve the situation, but it also led to an overcirculation of dollars, which accelerated inflation. TeleSur sums it up as “a vicious cycle of inflation, shortages, black market devaluation, and renewed inflation” (a cycle it also credits to the opposition group’s destablization attempts).

“Corruption was not only in the governemnt, but also in the private industries,” said Marin.

Another factor, Marin notes, is DolarToday, an anti-Bolivarian website that consistently devalues the bolivar, strengthening black market rates. The site’s been criticized by both sides: One article in the rightwing paper El Universal denounced the website for causing “irreparable damage.”

Mark Wiesbrot of the Center for Economic Policy and Research believes that Venezuela should unify exchange rates, which would combat the black market.

That’s not an unrealistic goal: In March, Venezuela introduced the new DIPRO rate of ten Bolivars per dollar, which consolidated two of its exchange rates.

Dollars from DIPRO are used to purchase imported vital goods like food and medicine and help students abroad pay tuition. However, black market rates still remain five times higher than the highest official rate.

“My ex-girlfriend [in the US] hired a babysitter who made more per hour than her father, who is a doctor back in Venezuela,” says Witschi, referring to the black market rate.

Venezuelans abroad often participate in solidarity protests to raise awareness of such issues. Some even start their own movements. For example, Ana Julia Jatar, chief editor of El Planeta and outspoken critic of Venezuela’s government, started the NGO Venezuelan Women in Action Against Violence. Founded two weeks before the networking event (which Jatar also attended), the NGO focuses on Venezuela’s imprisoned women and the unique abuses they suffer, including “white torture”—physical abuse that leaves no bruises, like smothering someone in a mattress and beating them.

“Some women told me it’s a generalized practice to starve them,” said Jatar. “NGOs have done a great job tracking political prisoners … [But] we believe that there has not been enough attention paid to gender issues in Venezuela. We strongly believe most of these women do not have a voice and [are] ashamed of describing out loud their treatment.” When asked whether her NGO would feature any specific focus on indigenous women, Jatar said it will and added that it will also help women from the government’s party who need it.

“Venezuelan society is a very mixed society—it’s difficult to find pure races,” she added. However, such a claim clashes with the efforts and statements of Afro-Venezuelans like congressman Modesto Ruiz, who once said “Racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, and endo-racism are components of Venezuelan society that obey historic arguments.” However, Jatar

acknowledges that “there are indigenous communities that have kept their identities that get overlooked.”

Marin adds you could see the racial contrast between Chávez supporters and his opponents.

Venezuelans are also able to vote abroad. Sierra said most 2015 voting efforts were helmed by students, from registration to counting the ballots, cooperating with the embassy. Aguilera and Henriquez also founded Voto Boston, an offshoot of VotoDondeSea, to encourage people to register in the elections. It’s a nonpartisan group, says Aguilera, but Marin notes they never seem to attend his events—“They know what the majority thinks,” he sighs.

Marin doesn’t dismiss the criticism of the Bolivarian government, and he understands that such frustrations come from a real place—like waiting hours in lines for food and essentials. “People are tired of shortages of food.…You can’t compare a developed country with a third world country,” he says, describing easier access to facilities and goods. “I can’t deny it’s easier.”

While every immigrant group varies, there are always familiar themes at play. Like the common expectation that one will return home at some point, their time in the US either a brief adventure or a temporary escape—an expectation that gets complicated, either as life in America improves or the situation in their home country remains unsafe or undesirable. And that’s why connections can be so valuable.

Henriquez, for example, followed Aguilera to the States when she took a job with a labor union.

“I thought it would be just for a couple years— experience life in the USA and have fun.” He wound up working with labor unions for six years, attended law school here, and began practicing in Boston. Eventually, Henriquez found himself helping many Venezuelan clients with immigration issues. Soon, it clicked.

“I needed to be more connected to my community, “ Henriquez says. “Maybe I didn’t realize that.”

Marin himself came over as a kid following his parents’ separation, joining his father in America.

“I never saw myself coming here. I skipped English class—I had no need for it,” he says. Marin was an undocumented immigrant for a while, but he worked, graduated from Northeastern University, and became a successful mechanical engineer with several patents.

Of course, such parallels don’t really need to be drawn for both sides to coexist. “I have friends who are in the opposition,” says Marin. “That doesn’t mean we can’t do things together. There’s a large community that’s growing—people want to stay here.”

This article is part of ‘A Higher Allegiance: The Rise of a Transnational Identity in Boston’s Immigrant Communities,’ a series by the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism. ‘A Higher Allegiance’ was funded with a $10,000 crowdfunding campaign by BINJ on Beacon Reader. Copyright 2016 Alejandro Ramirez.

Licensed for use by the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism and media outlets in its network.

PHOTO BY RONALD BAUTISTA

more spread out and fewer in number, which makes connecting with people from the patria (“homeland”) difficult. That Saturday morning in March was a rare opportunity for many local Venezuelans.

It’s the second time Aguilera’s organized the event, bringing people from Boston, Medford, Melrose, and other communities together.

“I think the fact this is happening within the Venezuelan community gives a level of comfort in speaking because we’re the same culture, speak the same language,” says Aguilera.

Aguilera herself benefited from last year’s event, discovering a scholarship opportunity for an MBA program that could bring her brother to the States.

“It’s a dream come true for him and me, because he’d be safe here,” she says. “There’s currently no path for him to come here. I am a US citizen. If I petition for him, it’ll take him 12 years with paper to get to this country. I always explain that to people when they say ‘get in the line.’ There’s no line—just people who cannot come here at all!”

It’s safe to say Marin and Sierra wouldn’t find too many sympathizers at the event. While group conversation revolved around employment, opportunity, and old and new homes, in interviews most people cited concerns with safety or the economy as a reason for coming to this country, and didn’t shy away from criticizing the government.

“Having a gun pointed at you is not something you want to experience twice in your life,” says Kelly Rengel, an optometry coordinator for a South End Health Center. “That happened to me. Thankfully I haven’t been kidnapped.” Rengel traveled back and forth for 13 years, eventually settling in Boston when Venezuela became too dangerous. It wasn’t easy to leave friends and family behind. “At the back of your head, in the bottom of your heart, what you look for is warmth from your city, from your country,” she says.

The crash also hurt students studying abroad.

Some are lucky enough to go to schools that understand the situation. For example, Alejandro Witschi received a lot of aid from Brandeis University and recently graduated.

In 2015 and the first few months of 2016, many students resorted to the black market’s currency exchange rates, which are far from favorable—one dollar fetches 900 Bolivars. This was a lot more expensive than any official exchange rate (about 172 Bolivars per dollar). As TeleSur notes, Venezuela imposed specific restrictions on who could access official exchange rates—students studying abroad, international travelers, and those importing essential goods. For a while, the exchange rate was roughly 2.15 bolivars per dollar, and it stayed stable until 2008’s global economic crisis. When that happened, the demand for dollars increased while bolivars devalued, and as the gap between official and unofficial rates widened, people took advantage of the gap—which worsened after Chávez’s death.

This was especially true for those importing goods, who gamed the system by purchasing subsidized imports and then exporting them for a profit (about

NEWS TO US

FEATURE

DEPT. OF COMMERCE

ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT

11

HONEST PINT

COPENHAGEN BEER CELEBRATION Boston Calling meets Mikkeller

BY JEFF LAWRENCE @29THOUSAND A few years ago, I found myself getting lost in San Francisco with the sole purpose of finding a new bar to hide in. The goal was to disappear for a few hours and waste away the afternoon with new friends.

I ended up at Mikkeller Bar, and I was hooked instantly.

Mikkeller is a Danish beer company founded in 2006 by two kitchen brewers. They made an immediate statement with their Beer Geek Breakfast stout, a clean flavorful drop. In 2007, co-founder Kristian Keller departed for a career in journalism (well played!) and the other, Mikkel Borg Bjergsø, took their boutique brand to the next level. Since then, he’s collaborated with some of the best brands and brewers in the world, opened several Mikkeller Bars around the world, and five years ago launched the super-successful Copenhagen Beer Celebration in his hometown. While Mikkeller may be a “contract brewer” by definition and to the chagrin of some, the beers that the company brews, along with Bjergsø’s passion for experimentation, have made both world renowned and that buzz is coming to town.

The folks behind the Boston Calling Music Festival, Crash Line Productions, are bringing Mikkeller and the Copenhagen Beer Celebration to Boston this Sept 23 and 24 on City Hall Plaza. In partnership, Crash Line and Mikkeller/CBC are combining a beer fest with a music festival, producing three different tasting sessions that includes live acts such as Yo La Tengo, Lucero, the Barr Brothers, Mariachi El Bronx, Tigerman WOAH! and much more. The two parties worked together to select the musical lineup, but Mikkeller/CBC curated the brews, which include local brewers Boston Beer Company, Jack’s Abby, and Trillium, and will be joined by a list of more than 50 beers from around the country and the globe. At first glance, and with a current “more to to be added!” note on the website, the selection is worthy and growing, and definitely a fresh take on the usual mix of predictable options from generic local beer festivals.

Check out the website for specific session details and a complete lineup of music and beer, but it’s worth noting that this is not the typical unlimited sampling experience unless you’re willing to pay for it: $125 per session, or $250 for all three with the VIP bracelet. You can also pay $50 per session, or $125 for all three for a General Admission bracelet, but you’ll receive a limited amount of sampling tickets and need to buy more once you run out. In addition to a rotating selection from each session to the next, there will be several limited small-batch options available. It sounds like those with the VIP bracelet will get most of those, however, as that option also allows for early entry 30 minutes before the general admission enters.

Thankfully, there will be full-pour stations set up throughout the festival as well, with select offerings in full pints and available to all attending to purchase. Every sampling festival should have this option.

I don’t remember what I drank that day in San Francisco, but I stayed for about four hours and tried quite a few beer flights, sampling from a list of beers that were unfamiliar but almost all fantastic. Several of them were Mikkeller beers, and they all stood out for their unique flavor and character. The Danish have not exactly been leaders in the beer community, and prior to my visit I’m pretty sure I’d never actually had one, but Mikkel has his shit together and along with his personal brews, I’m looking forward to enjoying his curation—again— and trying some exceptional beers that I’m sure I’ve never had before.

Thankfully, there will be full-pour stations set up throughout the festival as well, with select offerings in full pints and available to all attending to purchase. Every sampling festival should have this option.

>> COPENHAGENBEERCELEBRATION.COM 12

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FEATURE

DEPT. OF COMMERCE

ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT

13

ARTS ENTERTAINMENT

THU 5.12

FRI 5.13

SAT 5.14

SUN 5.15

MON 5.16

TUE 5.17

Bob’s Burgers Thursdays @ Bella Luna

Garden Mixology @ St. Rose Street Garden

Azize’s First Birthday Party @ Franklin Park Zoo

Together 2016 @ The Sinclair

Tacos! @ Once

Black Madonna + DJ Minx @ Middlesex Lounge

When Bob’s Burgers first aired, it kind of sucked.

The writing wasn’t that good, and it strained for comparison with other animated shows like Family Guy. Thankfully it got better. A lot better.

Local boy Eugene Mirman has taken the character Gene Belcher to another level, turning the only boy amongst the siblings into a focal point of kickass sarcasm. Come watch BB and sample a new burger each week with likeminded freaks.

Now that the trees are starting to bloom and the pollen is bringing us to our knees in swollen agony and nasal defeat, we might as well have a drink. Hell, we might as well have drinks outside and just embrace our changing landscape.

In a garden maybe? No wait—how about this: We should bring in experts to teach us how to make new cocktails, do it all in a cool, local public garden, and invite distillers like AstraLuna to sponsor the night. We should limit it to just 25 friends, though.

Keep it tight. What do you think?

You can cancel your plans for Saturday right now, because this little shit is celebrating a big day in the life of a gorilla, and you want to be there. No need to worry about a present; the zoo staff has gift-wrapped some goodies and party favors for all the gorillas, and you get to watch them party it up in true jungle style. The first 200 people through the gates also get a slice of the birthday cake. The little fucker is going to be so happy to see you!

Founded in 2010, Together is a week-long music celebration that wraps technology and art into its core mission and celebration. What makes it unique is that it’s not a one-venue-trick pony or limited to just one style or genre. Sure, electronic music is the driving force, but influences are far and wide and the artists varied.

Check out Floating Points (Live) to kick it off and hit the website for a complete lineup and schedule.

Everyone loves tacos, and Tuesdays have them cornered, so why the hell not have a Monday night taco party?! Doors kick open at 5 pm and the menu and selection changes every week, so there’s every reason to make this a regular event on your weekly calendar.

They will serve until they can’t serve no more, but the bar stays open to 1 am and there’s plenty of local beers and mixed drinks to keep your ass parked for hours. They also have some sweet board games.

Day two of Together Boston kicks in with a sick lineup at Middlesex with ladies’ night on the decks. A legend of Chicago house music, Black Madonna is a force on the floor and will leave you bleeding with happiness. Joined by DJ Minx and supported by Byoosik, the night will go deep into some serious fun.

Show up early as the line will be long and starting early, but it’ll be worth the wait to find your space inside and get down.

Bella Luna Restaurant & Milky Way Lounge.

284 Amory St., Jamaica Plain. 5pm/all ages/FREE. milkywayjp.com

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St. Rose Street Garden.

36 St. Rose St., Jamaica Plain. 6pm/21+/$40. eventbrite.com

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Franklin Park Zoo. 1 Franklin Park Rd., Boston.

10am/all ages/$13+. franklinparkzoo.org

The Sinclair. 52 Church St., Cambridge. 8pm/18+/$18. togetherboston.com

Once @ Cuisine en Locale.

156 Highland Ave., Somerville. 5pm/all ages/menu priced. cuisineenlocale.com

Middlesex Lounge.

315 Mass. Ave., Cambridge.

8am/21+/$. togetherboston. com

NEWS TO US

FEATURE

DEPT. OF COMMERCE

ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT

15

MUSIC

MUSIC

Eight must-see acts at Boston’s best electronic festival

Hallelujah The Hills still slay over a decade into its career

BY NINA CORCORAN @NINA_CORCORAN

BY NINA CORCORAN @NINA_CORCORAN

ALL TOGETHER NOW

THE GOSPEL OF ROCK

Together Boston is back, and the festival isn’t showing any signs of slowing. In fact, it’s doing quite the opposite, grabbing some of electronic’s biggest names so that the city can experience underground techno, gorgeous minimalism, and throbbing house without having to travel to Barcelona or Los Angeles. The week-long series of live performances, panels, art installations, and film screenings scattered in different venues kicks off this Sunday and lasts on through the 22nd. To help make scheduling easier, we chose eight acts you should pencil in with Sharpie because, trust us, you won’t want to miss them. since 2009. He’s finally bringing that melting pot of deep house, slow funk, and disco to Boston, possibly with instruments to be played live in tow.

LOCAL!

LYCHEE

5/19 @ Lilypad EARMILK columnist and Virtuality crew member Lychee can beat you in a disc-spinning contest, so don’t bother challenging her. The Boston DJ selects everything from melodic house to dark bangers to build an emotional atmosphere that overtakes you in minutes.

Guitar rock is dying. While it’s hard to argue with, that statement doesn’t hold true if you know where to look, especially in Boston. We’re a city ripe with remarkable rock acts like Pile and Lady Bones—and local treasure Hallelujah The Hills sits at the top of that throne.

“These [are] the instruments we play, so we can’t help it,” says frontman Ryan Walsh. “The way we try to stand out is by being the band we know we are. Everyone has influences, but there’s no need to chase them too hard. You’ll come up with something interesting when you’re naturally working towards it.”

Now a decade into its career, Hallelujah The Hills has found the sweet spot between enjoyable punk, guitar-heavy rock, and poppy melodies on its sixth full-length, this year’s contagious A Band Is Something to Figure Out. The dark loops of “Hassle Magnet” and gleeful romp of “We Have The Perimeter Surrounded” recall the Fall, Titus Andronicus, and the Hold Steady. Energy like that is a direct result of recording in upstate New York for five days straight. That, and it’s fruitful work that stems from staying together so long—something the band always knew it would do.

“In our first press release, we said we would be together for 33 albums and then break up,” laughs Walsh. “It was a silly thing to suggest, but it meant that we were together for a love of art. I think that’s why people love TV shows they binge watch: They’re stories that develop over a long time. I was interested in telling this story of the band over a long period of time.”

Time is a valuable commodity Hallelujah The Hills’ members never waste. For one, drummer Ryan Connelly, guitarist Joseph Marrett, bassist Nicholas Ward, and newfound synth master Brian Rutledge keep Walsh on his toes. “They don’t let me bring in garbage, they call me out when I’ve written something bad, and they take these song-skeletons and bring them to life in ways I would’ve never imagined,” he says. “I write the initial take of the songs and do most of the interviews, sure, but without them, all of this would be far, far less interesting.” Perhaps that’s the real key to making rock music that lasts—finding a crew of musicians who not only mesh well together, but who push one another to keep going. Hallelujah The Hills may pretend to not have the whole band thing figured out, but if anything, it knows the answer better than any other act here..

origins, Byoosik imbues hints of psych rock and orchestral sweeps into her underground dance music without crowding the beat, the end product of which is a perfect fit for Berlin clubs at 3 am.

RIOBAMBA

5/17 @ Phoenix Landing Taste the tropics before summer hits.

The Ecuadorian-Lithuanian DJ spends her time in Brooklyn building artistic beats that recall bodega yelps as much as they do Colombian dance, urban bass, and traditional Spanish guitar.

JPHLIP

5/21 @ Middle East Downstairs Jessica Phillippe uncovers rare gems in record stores and brings them to life in new form at her turntable. No one works harder in the game than her, and she pushes you to bring equal game to the dance floor with her warped beats in return.

NATASHA DIGGS

5/21 @ Zuzu Party like you’re in Tokyo... or Sydney... or Prague. Natasha Diggs has been soundtracking events around the world for over a decade, dressing an old-school sound in modern twists— so well that Erykah Badu, Mark Ronson, and more have asked her to play beside them.

BEN UFO

5/22 @ Middlesex Lounge The Hessle Audio co-founder drops ground-breaking mixes with ease nowadays. Living in the UK allows him to keep close tabs on what’s rising, which, in turn, earned him the title of Fourth Best DJ in the World on Resident Advisor.

LOCAL! ACID G

5/20 @ Middle East Upstairs A local beatmaker too shy to flaunt his work. See him live and you’ll soon do all the street team shouting for him, his unrelenting basement house winning you over immediately since it’s tailor-made for posh club outings.

LOCAL!

FLOATING POINTS

5/15 @ The Sinclair Last year, Floating Points’ debut LP won critics over across the board, but he’s been garnering a cult following ever

BYOOSIK

5/17 @ Middlesex Lounge Thanks to her Boston-via-Philippines

>> HALLELUJAH THE HILLS, SWALE, BEACH TOYS. THU 5.12. GREAT SCOTT, 1222 COMM. AVE., ALLSTON. 9PM/18+/$10. GREATSCOTTBOSTON.COM FULL INTERVIEW ONLINE AT DIGBOSTON.COM

>> TOGETHER BOSTON. SUN-SUN 5.15-5.22. VARIOUS VENUES AROUND BOSTON. TOGETHERBOSTON.COM

MUSIC EVENTS FRI 5.13

ALT-COUNTRY FROM ’93 OLD 97’S + HEARTLESS BASTARDS + BJ BARHAM [The Royale, 279 Tremont St., Boston. 6pm/18+/$30. royaleboston.com]

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SAT 5.14

DANCE YRSELF CLEAN FREEZEPOP + THE STATIC DYNAMIC + CMB + SYMBION PROJECT [The Sinclair, 52 Church St., Cambridge. 8pm/18+/$15. sinclaircambridge.com]

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SAT 5.14

PRETTY IN POP PEACH KELLI POP + SECRET LOVER + GRAVEL + THE ELECTRIC STREET QUEENS

[Middle East Upstairs, 472 Mass. Ave., Cambridge. 7pm/18+/$12. mideastoffers.com]

SUN 5.15

PERFECTLY PEACHY ROCK FROM GEORGIA NEW MADRID + LOST FILM

[Great Scott, 1222 Comm.

Ave., Allston. 9pm/18+/$8. greatscottboston.com]

TUE 5.17

WED 5.18

[Middle East Downstairs, 472 Mass. Ave., Cambridge. 8pm/18+/$25. mideastoffers.com]

[The Sinclair, 52 Church St., Cambridge.

8pm/all ages/$15. sinclaircambridge.com]

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GHASTLY FRI 5/13

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FEATURE

DEPT. OF COMMERCE

ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT

17

FILM

AS RED AS THE DEVIL’S Belladonna of Sadness gets revived at the Brattle

BY JAKE MULLIGAN @_JAKEMULLIGAN Satan is a talking phallus, then a labia transforms into a flower. The dominant visual symbols in Belladonna of Sadness—a feature-length anime work from 1973 that’s receiving a long-awaited US release this year and is playing at the Brattle Theatre throughout the weekend— are ones you’ve maybe seen before. (The second one, at least.) Same could be said for its stories, excessively bleak though they may be. Like so many cinematic tales of female repression—and the empowerment that may result from vanquishing it—it glowers at the inherent misogyny of a chosen society while reveling in the eventual vindication of its wronged naif. Like so many witch narratives, it is a critique of religious hysteria that sides with those who might be burned at the stake. And like so many works of erotica, it inconclusively wrestles with the twin attractions it holds toward a featured female player—carnal desire on one side, sheer awe on the other. A virtual compendium of artworks and historical myths concerning the unjust subjugation of women at the hands of overcompensating men, Belladonna of Sadness emerges as a rare jewel: a singular aesthetic vision born of elements you’ve long been familiar with.

Jeanne (voiced by Aiko Nagayama) is set to marry Jean (Katsutaka Ito), but the offering they make to their feudal lord (the value of one milk cow) fails to curry his favor (he demands 10). Director Eiichi Yamamoto—who helmed Belladonna of Sadness for Mushi Pro, one of the pioneering studios within the tradition of Japanese animation—imagines the young couple as mere blotches at the heels of their imposingly rendered autocrat. It’s an image that seems traditional of early anime, emphasizing select physical features within a roughly drawn composition. A “prima nocta” scenario is then demanded.

The young bride is cruelly raped on her wedding night.

That experience is depicted with a demonic surrealism— her body is literally torn, with bats pouring out of the orifice. In the grief of this flickering and unreal trauma, she slowly acquiesces to the dark lord himself, accepting a post as one of his lapdogs. He grants her the eponymous flower and immense power along with it. Jeanne’s figure eases once it has consumed this inhuman strength; her hair turns lighter; her skin becomes pale enough to blend in with Yamamoto’s many unanimated spaces. Granted the rare power of self-agency, she achieves the softness of a figure painted in watercolor.

That’s one of various forms employed in the service of depicting Jeanne’s transformative sexual experiences (most of the time the frame itself is moving across still imagery, though the movement of the characters becomes literally animated at emphatic moments). Pop art and psychedelia reign supreme during moments of violation, heartache, and despair, with psychedelicrock soundtrack cuts (composed by Masahiko Sato) amplifying the uncomfortably modern intrusions. More

serene moments—marked by calmer depictions of Jeanne’s beauty—take the compositional form of erotic woodblock art.

Humiliating trips spent among judgmental townsfolk are most often represented horizontally, as in handscroll painting, with the camera panning across the still animation from right to left. In its kinetic movement to and from various artistic disciplines, the film achieves exactly what Jeanne cannot: a sense of freedom.

Given three words, you’d describe this as “erotic Japanese animation.” But “erotic” typically connotes the intention of titillation, and even at its most leering, Yamamoto’s film has priorities that outrank turning you on. Certainly the film is Japanese in origin—but it’s not set in the same nation, and the influences on its art style are explicitly international. And while the movie is “animated,” it approaches that form with an aesthetic liberty that’s rarely been paralleled, ultimately expanding our understanding of what an animated film might be. Better, then, to describe the film by its tenor: pure intensity. The sequence where Jeanne is ultimately turned away by her own husband is rendered with a litany of visceral formal techniques. She is chased from the town by the grotesque close-up faces of her peers, with stones tearing away the skin at her feet and her green dress already torn to shreds. Her body seems to run in slow motion, while the impressionistically drawn backgrounds—rushes of rough landscape rendered in blood-red—move in fast motion behind her. Flash cuts to more literal depictions of her violation begin to intercede for split seconds. Lucifer’s dogs give chase, seen at angles that suggest the viewpoint of a downed victim. When we return to her slow-motion sprinting—toward her own door, which has been locked shut in shame—the last shreds of the dress seem to melt off her body. When the film cuts back to a more natural form of dialogue and movement, the effect proves almost unbearable. These traumas are such that we need them obscured.

Yamamoto picks and chooses what it is that gets obscured. The inherent contradiction is that the artwork seems to sympathize with its heroine while also fetishizing her victimization. “You are mine now—your body, your soul,” says a man; “women are always the ones left behind to suffer,” says a woman; and the very nature of visual art demands that we observe the former while processing the latter, providing for a viewing experience that’s necessarily contradictory. Jeanne is scourged by the forces that have long carried out such acts—at the hands of Church, state, peers, leaders, and by her own husband. The film renders their effects

in images much more than in psychology. Perhaps Belladonna of Sadness does not provide a profound insight into the minds of women that society has cast aside. But in seeing his own story through so many lenses—through artistic forms old and new, through historical references both remembered and forgotten— Yamamoto does provide a profound insight into something else: the works of art our culture has created in our vain attempts to comprehend our own cruelty.

The Brattle Theatre’s Belladonna of Sadness run will kick off a series of late-Saturday-night shows that feature a relation to Lewis Carroll’s Alice stories. To be specific, it’s called “Reel Weird Brattle: Through the Looking Glass, Down the Rabbit Hole,” and other films include Daisies, A Nightmare on Elm St., and Drop Dead Fred. Jeanne’s exploits are marked by visual designs and symbolic qualities that are indeed reminiscent of the enlightenment that Alice found below the rabbit hole—at the film’s midpoint the devil-conscripted Jeanne finds herself clad in green and in combat against a Red Queen.

But it would be unwise to limit ourselves to one homage in thinking about Belladonna of Sadness, for the film has more sources than an overwritten term paper. It cites a 19th-century text by Jules Michelet—“La Sorciere,” or “Satanism and Witchcraft”—as its origin (the text itself claims to offer an objective document of a sorcerer’s way of life). It also exists as part of a trilogy (“Animerama”) that sought to create highly erotic works of animation based on high-minded sources (the other two are A Thousand and One Nights and Cleopatra). And it finds a finale that cosmically connects Jeanne to two other enduring figures of spiritual female strength. Yamamoto’s gliding rhythm obscures the many tangled connections he weaves between Belladonna of Sadness’ many ancestors, but the film proves expansive and dense, both in retrospect and in research. Its conclusion even cuts to yet another aesthetic form—an oil painting, courtesy Delacroix—to cement the links that it has created between historical narratives and art history. If the film has “worked,” that final allusion carries the emotional heft of generations along with it.

>> BELLADONNA OF SADNESS. BRATTLE THEATRE. 40 BRATTLE ST., CAMBRIDGE. PREMIERE SHOW ON FRI 5.13 AT 10PM. PLAYS THROUGH MON 5.16. NOT RATED. SEE BRATTLEFILM.ORG FOR OTHER SHOWTIMES.

FILM EVENTS THU 5.12

REWIND! FILM SERIES PRESENTS SHE’S ALL THAT

[Coolidge Corner Theatre.

290 Harvard St., Brookline.

7pm/PG-13/$11.25. 35mm. coolidge.org]

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FRI 5.13

AREA PREMIERE OF JIA ZHANGKE’S MOUNTAINS MAY DEPART

[Brattle Theatre. 40 Brattle St., Harvard Sq., Cambridge. 8pm/PG13/$9-11. Screens until 5.16. brattlefilm.org]

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COOLIDGE AFTER MIDNIGHT PRESENTS AN OFF-SITE DOUBLE FEATURE “FRIDAY THE 13TH: CAMP CRYSTAL LAKE AT ROCKY WOODS RESERVATION PART 2” [The Rocky Woods Reservation, Medfield.

8pm/R/$25. See coolidge. org for further directions.]

NIGHT ONE OF A COMPLETE SEIJUN SUZUKI RETROSPECTIVE TOKYO DRIFTER

[Harvard Film Archive. 24 Quincy St., Harvard Sq., Cambridge. 7pm/NR/$7-9. hcl.harvard.edu/hfa]

SUN 5.15

THU 5.19 NEXT WEEK!

[Somerville Theatre. 55 Davis Square, Somerville.

2pm/NR/$15. 35mm.]

[Coolidge Corner Theatre.

290 Harvard St., Brookline.

7pm/NR. 16mm. coolidge. org]

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ARTS

UPON THE DRUNKEN STAGE One year into its run, Shit-Faced Shakespeare is going strong

BY CHRISTOPHER EHLERS @_CHRISEHLERS

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“You don’t know what’s going to come out of you when you’re drunk.”

>> SHIT-FACED SHAKESPEARE. LOCATIONS AND TIMES VARY. SHIT-FACEDSHAKESPEARE.COM 20

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PHOTO BY NILE HAWVER / NILE SCOTT SHOTS

WHEN YOU GIVE, YOU GET!

Most actors prepare for a show by getting into costume, putting on their makeup, or maybe doing some kind of warm-up. For one lucky cast member of Shit-Faced Shakespeare, an improv-style show that has been running in Boston for the last year, their pre-show prep also involves getting drunk.

Currently playing at Laugh Boston and the Davis Square Theatre, Shit-Faced Shakespeare has been playing in the UK since 2010 where it has been seen by over 40,000 people.

The conceit is this: A group of actors perform a streamlined, one-hour-long version of a Shakespeare play. At each performance, one actor performs drunk.

According to actor Mac Young, a Shit-Faced Shakespeare vet who was terrifically drunk at a recent performance that I attended, drinking begins four hours before showtime. “We all spend time together with the drunk,” Young said, “make sure they get a nice dinner, put some music on, hang out, do other fun things, and the end result is usually somebody who’s drunk and in a really good mood by curtain.”

The idea is that the drunk is pretty well-cooked by the time the show begins, but a small bar sits just offstage if the audience feels that the actor isn’t drunk enough: The action is stopped, they are handed a beer, and the show continues.

“It’s really fun,” Young said, “but you better not have anything terribly important to do the next day.”

Producer Berger-Jones heard about the UK production and got in touch with the British company that originated the show at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

“They were kind of skeptical at first,” said Berger-Jones, “and said ‘Why should we come to Boston?’ And we said, ‘Well, it’s a drinking town!’ I think even we’ve been surprised by the longevity of it.”

Skepticism comes up a lot with ShitFaced Shakespeare, even for Berger-Jones, who was skeptical about the concept early on. “It’s a marketing gimmick, let’s be honest,” he said. “And then you get into the theater and you realize that there are two things that happen: One is that people who would never otherwise go to the theater are suddenly sitting there and—whether they like it or not—receiving the story of a Shakespeare play in Elizabethan language. For me, that kind of sealed the deal. The other thing that happens is that these actors are putting themselves in their most vulnerable position. You don’t know what’s going to come out of you when you’re drunk.”

“There’s so much humor in watching a show get disrupted,” said Young. “I’m an actor in other contexts, too, and you just never see a show on stage go that far wrong. I get really into the humor that comes out of that kind of unexpected disruption, and then you have the other people having to deal with that in the moment. For me, that’s the fun part.”

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SAVAGE LOVE

MATING GAMES

WHAT'S FOR BREAKFAST

BY PATT KELLEY WHATS4BREAKFAST.COM

BY DAN SAVAGE @FAKEDANSAVAGE | MAIL@SAVAGELOVE.NET Straight male, 48, married 14 years, three kids under age 10. Needless to say, life is busy at our house. My wife and I have stopped having sex.

It was my decision. I get the obligation vibe combined with a vanilla sex life, and it just turns me off. We’ve had many conversations about it and we want to find a balance. But it always defaults back to infrequent and dull, making me frustrated and cranky. For the past two months, I’ve tried to just push sex out of my mind. We live mostly as parenting roommates. We used to be pretty kinky—dirty talk, foursomes, toys, porn, etc.—but all those things wear her out now, and her interest has disappeared. My guess is that she was just playing along with my kinks to keep me happy and is now over it. Is this just life as a 48-year-old married father of three? Am I being selfish for wanting more in my sex life than my wife is willing to offer?

Hard Up Husband Is sex wearing your wife out, HUH, or is raising three kids wearing your wife out? I suspect it’s the latter.

But in answer to your question: Infrequent and underwhelming sex, sometimes with an obligatory vibe, is not only the sex life a 48-yearold married father of three can expect, it’s the sex life he signed up for. There’s nothing selfish about wanting more sex or wanting it to be more like it was. Kids, however, are a logistical impediment—but a temporarily one, provided you don’t go nuclear. A couple’s sex life can come roaring back so long as they don’t succumb to bitterness, recrimination, and sexlessness. To avoid all three, HUH, it might help to ask yourself which is the likelier scenario: for years your wife faked an interest in dirty talk, foursomes, toys, porn, etc., in order to trap you, or your wife is currently too exhausted to take an interest in dirty talk, foursomes, toys, porn, etc. Again, I suspect it’s the latter.

My advice: masturbate more, masturbate together more, lower your expectations so you’ll be pleasantly surprised when a joint masturbation session blows up into something bigger and better, carve out enough time for quality sex (weekends away, if possible, with pot and wine and Viagra), discuss other accommodations/contingencies as needed, and take turns reminding each other that small kids aren’t small forever.

On the Lovecast, Dan chats with writer Anna Pulley about all things lesbian: savagelovecast. savagelovecast.com com.

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BOWERY BOSTON

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ROYALE 279 Tremont St. Boston, MA • royaleboston.com/concerts THE

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Damien Jurado & The Heavy Light

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Tickets for Royale, The Sinclair, and Great Scott can be purchased online at Ticketmaster.com or by phone at (800) 745-3000.

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TUE. JUNE 21 MIDDLE EAST DOWN

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RATBOYS HORSE JUMPER OF LOVE

SUNDAY, JUNE 26 MIDDLE EAST UP

FOR MORE INFORMATION AND A COMPLETE LIST OF SHOWS, VISIT BOWERYBOSTON.COM