Long before Amy K. Kilgard was an associate professor of communication studies at SF State, she worked at a Target store. Her retail experience gave her keen insight into American consumerism, inspiring her solo show Triskaidekaphobia: 13 Consumer Tragedies, being performed at the 2013 San Francisco Fringe Festival. Triskaidekaphobia, named for the fear of the number 13, plays five times at the festival, including September 18 and 21.
In Triskaidekaphobia, 13 characters face the perils of consumerism. A cashier becomes consumed by her big-box store. A compulsive collector reconciles his obsessions. From her own retail experiences to others’ (sometimes) bizarre customer service interactions, Kilgard explores how Americans consume today and how people might change consumption tomorrow. Lecturer Alex Litzky is the director.
Kilgard is a performance artist, director and scholar with an emphasis in performance studies. Her recent performance work and research is focused on everyday and aesthetic performances of consumerism. For example, she has examined her own and others’ work experiences at Walt Disney World in a show she directed, Slippin' Mickeys, and she has explored the performances of retail clerks in solo performance work such as "Hitting the Bull’s Eye and Target Practice. She is embarking on a major performance ethnography exploring people’s embodied experiences of shopping. Kilgard teaches courses in oral interpretation of literature, performance art, gender and communication, and qualitative methods. She joined SF State in 2004.
Now in its 22nd year, the San Francisco Fringe Festival brings fresh, daring, exciting theatre of all varieties to open-minded audiences of all persuasions. Often over-the-top and under-the-radar of traditional theatre, “The Fringe” has its rabid devotees—and wins more fans every year.