One of Nashville’s most daring performing arts events is back this week, offering a four-day celebration of bold, boundary-pushing work. The ninth annual Kindling Arts Festival features 22 unique projects, spanning theater, dance, comedy, burlesque, improv and even opera — all created in response to a central “Utopias” theme.
“For this year’s festival, we were interested in looking at how our artists might reenvision the world,” says producing artistic director Daniel Jones, who co-founded Kindling with Jessika Malone in 2018. “We’re living in such dark times, we wanted to really imagine what might be possible — ways we can work together to build a better, more just and beautiful world, and what that might look like.
“Over the last several years,” he continues, “we’ve been so inspired by the power of theming the festival, offering a prompt and then seeing all the different ways that our artists might respond or interpret that theme. Of course, there’s no single ‘utopia’ — it’s varied and multiple, but that’s what makes it so exciting. It unites the festival’s program, but still allows for individual expression, creating a wonderful rainbow of wildly imaginative work.”
One of those works is Fairy Floss: A New Musical(July 24-25 at OZ Arts) from Kindling favorites Madeleine Hicks and Kara McLeland. Described as “a deliciously queer and wildly inaccurate new musical about the history of cotton candy,” Fairy Floss balances local history with Hicks’ and McLeland’s signature style, complete with fanciful puppets and a sweet, dreamy aesthetic.
“I had been looking for new ideas when I stumbled on this odd bit of local history — the electric cotton candy machine was patented right here in Nashville,” says Hicks, a prolific writer, director and performer known for her work in both theater and film. “I soon discovered that the inventors were actually friends — a dentist and a candy maker — which just felt so Romeo and Juliet. I mean, total star-crossed lovers vibes, right?
“They worked together for years,” she continues. “They went to Paris together — which really solidified the love story angle for me. They made it all the way to the World’s Fair in St. Louis in 1904, where there were all these kooky, crazy inventions and exhibits — the first wireless telephone, babies in incubators, a talking horse. So I was immediately transported into the magical realism of it all. It seemed like a perfect project for us, but I felt like it should be a musical, and that there needed to be puppets — think Heated Rivalry, but through a Muppets lens.”
And while Hicks had never written or directed a musical before, she knew she could count on her friend and frequent collaborator McLeland, who has taken a decidedly playful approach to the show’s music.
“I think we quickly realized that this was going to be sort of like a work of fan fiction,” says McLeland, a multitalented writer, musician and performer. “Yes, there’s a lot of true history that is woven throughout, but as soon as we decided that we didn’t have to stick only with the facts, that gave us a lot of freedom. So the music doesn’t have to sound like it’s from 1904. We can have traditional musical theater songs, a more classical waltz, a club banger, an old Nashville-style country ballad. While we’re at it, maybe the people don’t have to be people — they can be puppets.
“And maybe our characters don’t have to experience period-accurate discrimination against a gay couple,” McLeland continues. “We can just let them live in this candy-coated, maximalist world. To have that kind of queer joy without so much of the weight of history on it just feels really important right now. And to be able to take that kind of big creative swing is pretty wonderful.”
Big creative swings have always been central to Kindling’s identity, and this year’s festival features some of the city’s most innovative makers. Found Movement Group’s Tea (July 23-26 at the Curb Center at Vanderbilt University) offers a site-specific dance-theater experience that takes on Southern ideals and social norms. Off the Clock (July 25-26 at Darkhorse Theater) highlights edgy new performance-art pieces from Landry Butler, GrandmaFun, Chris Strauss and Jennifer Whitcomb-Oliva. And Clay Steakley’s new play The Wreck of the Manifest Destiny (July 25-26 at The Barbershop Theater) follows mythological rule breakers like Medea, Sisyphus and Grendel, who “are caught between the end of one world and the beginning of another.”
“It’s such an incredible lineup,” Jones says. “And it’s been really exciting to see these brilliant artists pushing the envelope, constantly rethinking what’s possible. I think that’s one of the things that makes Fairy Floss so special. It’s sweet and fun. … It centers celebration, joy and community, plus it’s super interdisciplinary and collaborative, pulling together an amazing team of artists. But it also invites us to step beyond the limits of an imperfect world. It reimagines a piece of local history — reaching back in time to envision a better future.”
