A one-woman magic show about agency, consent and animal rights is coming to Cincinnati’s 20th annual Cincy Fringe Festival.
Magic For Animals comes from the production designer of Oscar-nominated film Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, Liz Toonkel. The show, in partnership with Los Angeles Performance Practice, will include thought-provoking acts of magic that mirror Toonkel’s passion for animal rights and personal autonomy of humans and animals.
Magic For Animals premieres in Cincinnati on June 3 at 7 p.m.
As a professional magician, Toonkel never uses live animals as props. The feats of magic performed urges viewers to explore issues of animal welfare, climate change and sexism with emphasis on invoking empathy and self-awareness, according to a press release. The show is part political protest and part hilarious spectacle.
“I am excited to bring Magic For Animals to the Cincy Fringe because historically, womxn and animals have only existed in magic as props to be cut in half or miraculously disappeared,” Toonkel said in a press release. “But in this show, they are fully embodied subjects given space to speak and swim. As a queer female magician, I welcome audiences who feel alienated at traditional magic shows that often employ racist and sexist language and behaviors.”
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Toonkel’s work ranges from performance and installations to video art, and thrives on the storytelling power of design. She aims to serve the LGBTQ community, BIPOC and women. According to the press release, Magic for Animals premiered in 2021 at the Live Arts Exchange Festival presented by Los Angeles Performance Practice. It debuted internationally at Aarhus Festuge — an arts and culture festival in Denmark — in 2022. After it visits Cincinnati, the show travels to Edinburgh Fringe in Scotland.
“It brings me so much joy to perform a show that not only entertains but also educates and inspires my audience,” Toonkel said in the release. “It will be so rewarding to get to share my work with a new community and I am so grateful for the opportunity,”.
Magic For Animals‘ Cincy Fringe dates are Saturday, June 3 at 7 p.m., Sunday, June 4 at 4:15 p.m., Friday, June 9 at 7 p.m., Saturday, June 10 at 4:15 p.m., and Sunday, June 11 at 7 p.m. Cincy Fringe is produced by the Know Theatre at 1316 Main St. in Over-the-Rhine. Find tickets here.
Read more about Liz Toonkel’s work here.
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This article appears in May 17-30, 2023.
