BATH HOUSE
2022
Created for the 2022 Philadelphia Fringe Festival, BATH HOUSE drew from the history of bathhouses as spaces where queer sexuality could exist freely and without shame. The production celebrated desire, connection, and the freedom to experience pleasure on your own terms.
But Montana’s bathhouse was designed for everyone. The production challenged conventional ideas about which bodies are considered beautiful or desirable, creating a space where people could exist without being judged against those expectations.
The experience began in a dim corridor lined with oversized bathrobes before audiences emerged into the bathhouse itself. At the center of the room stood a 20 foot grid like steel structure that the entire cast transformed into a queer jungle gym. Three working showers were built directly into the stage, with performers showering throughout the production as the performance continued around them.
The physicality of BATH HOUSE was pushed to an extreme. Three muscular women brought gym equipment onto the stage for an erotic trio that turned working out into choreography. Another number featured two men in a six minute duet built almost entirely around lifting and acrobatics, using their strength and weight against one another.
Religion also found its way inside. Nuns revealed bondage beneath their habits while holy water was sprayed across performers and audience members. Montana took imagery traditionally associated with shame and morality and placed it inside a world where queer sexuality was treated as something worthy of celebration rather than condemnation.
Underneath the sexuality was something more intimate. BATH HOUSE looked at the different ways people use their bodies to find one another and what can remain after those encounters are over. Pleasure could be temporary, but the desire to be seen and wanted often stayed behind.
-
The production became one of the standouts of the 2022 Philadelphia Fringe Festival. The Philadelphia Inquirer selected BATH HOUSE as one of ten Fringe productions its theater critic would not miss, citing Montana’s reputation for “lavish sets and sexy theatricality.”
Broad Street Review called BATH HOUSE “a must-see for the 2022 Fringe Festival,” praising the production’s immersive world and elaborate design. Following its Fringe run, BATH HOUSE extended performances through November 12, 2022.
BATH HOUSE asked what might happen if desire were stripped of shame and every body entering the room was treated as worthy of being wanted.
