Nick Jonczak’s Doppelbanger is an intimate, one-man Cincy Fringe show at MOTR Pub on Main Street in Over-the-Rhine. The standard dictionary definition of "doppelganger" is “an apparition or double of a living person”; the Urban Dictionary defines doppelbanger as “a person who has sexual intercourse with someone who looks identical to them but is not related.”
Jonczak is a freelance producer, director, creator and teacher of devised performance from Philadelphia. Personable, engaging and talented, he takes Doppelbanger audiences on a journey back to his childhood, adolescence and young adulthood. As he entertains with autobiographical tales, both funny and poignant, he interacts with those in attendance. As audience members arrive, each person chooses a tarot card. During the performance he selects individuals and interprets their card in front of everyone.
Performed in the basement at MOTR, Doppelbanger is original, and Jonczak is a delight. As he “conjures look-alike ex-lovers through storytelling and movement/dance” (his words), he takes us on a quest to answer the question, “Do I want to be with him or do I want to be him?”
Using pre-recorded voiceovers, Jonczak introduces eccentric individuals including “Hollywood,” whose canine teeth were his most attractive feature, and “Dakota,” a 6-foot, 5-inch motorcycle maniac with a Ph.D. “I’m the best version of myself when I’m with you,” he reminisces. “Do you ever hear yourself say something out loud and know it’s a complete lie?”
Jonczak is a graduate of Philadelphia’s Pig Iron School for Advanced Performance Training, a “space for rigorous experimentation, playful theatre-making and long lasting collaboration.” He’s worked for Arena Stage, trained FBI agents and founded a theater company. Through New Paradise Laboratories, an experimental Philadelphia theater ensemble that brings together web designers, visual artists, writers, philosophers, composers and architects, as well as performers, he’s created sprawling immersive, interactive theater works. Doppelbanger is the embodiment of all of Jonczak’s experiences. He’ll draw you in to collaborate and become part of his playful theater making. You’ll even learn to open a bottle of beer with your own two hands.
Jonczak’s show contains LGBTQ themes, violence, partial nudity, simulated sex acts and adult language.
The Cincinnati Fringe Festival runs through June 10. Find showtimes, tickets and more info here.
