Andy Warhol's Pork

Pork was based on tape-recorded conversations between Andy Warhol and his superstars Brigid Polk and Viva.{{Cite book |last=County |first=Jayne |url=https://archive.org/details/manenoughtobewom00coun/mode/2up?q=jed |title=Man Enough to be a Woman |last2=Smith |first2=Rupert |date=1995 |publisher=London; New York: Serpent's Tail |others= |isbn=978-1-85242-338-4 |pages=74-76}} During his conversations with Polk, she would play her tapes of phone calls between herself and her mother, socialite Honey Berlin.{{Cite web |title=Andy Warhol's PORK - Roundhouse - Celebrating 50 Years |url=https://50.roundhouse.org.uk/content-items/andy-warhols-pork |access-date=2021-07-21 |website=50.roundhouse.org.uk}}

Warhol provided 200 hours of tape, which was edited down to 3 hours. The first act took two weeks, and the second act took two and a half weeks to complete. "Near the end of that time, I discovered that though the play was about Pork, it was B. Marlowe (based on Andy himself) who controlled Pork and all the rest of them ... And that was the genius of Andy Warhol. He listened and looked, and he painted what was familiar to all of us," said director Anthony Ingrassia.{{Cite web |title=Andy Warhol's Pork (aka Pork) original program - The Round House London 1971 |url=https://saint-martin-bookshop.com/products/andy-warhols-pork-aka-pork-original-program-the-round-house-london-1971 |access-date=2025-06-15 |website=Saint-Martin Bookshop |language=en}}

B. Marlowe, a deadpanned voyeur who always has a Polaroid camera on hand, is the charismatic head of the group. Two antagonistic sidekicks are playing up to him: Amanda Pork, a plump overachiever involved in drugs and sex, and Vulva, a caustic, boisterous vamp in drag with a Southern accent. Pork is estranged from her husband and attended by the Pepsodent twins, two nude men with pastel powdered genitals. A sly topless dancer named Josie discusses her clients while "douching" with her back to the audience. Marlowe is chauffeured around in a wheelchair, snapping photos and listening to gossip. The set is a combination of Marlowe's studio, Amanda Pork's bedroom, and Max's Kansas City.

The play featured Cleve Roller as "Amanda Pork," a character based on Brigid Polk, Tony Zanetta as Andy Warhol called "B. Marlowe," Wayne County (aka Jayne County) as "Vulva," who was a depiction of Viva.{{Cite web |title=Reportage photo of Geri Miller as Josie, PORK by Andy Warhol, Roundhouse... 03... |url=https://www.reportdigital.co.uk/reportage-photo-geri-miller-as-josie-pork-by-andy-warhol-roundhouse--03-jul-1971-photojournalism-image00124136.html |access-date=2021-07-21 |website=Report digital |language=en}} The "Pepsodent Twins" represented Warhol's boyfriend Jed Johnson, and his twin brother, Jay Johnson.{{Cite book |last=County |first=Jayne |url=https://archive.org/details/manenoughtobewom00coun/mode/2up?q=jed |title=Man Enough to be a Woman |last2=Smith |first2=Rupert |date=1995 |publisher=London; New York: Serpent's Tail |others= |isbn=978-1-85242-338-4 |pages=74-76}}{{Cite book |last=Bockris |first=Victor |url=http://archive.org/details/lifedeathofandyw00bock |title=The life and death of Andy Warhol |date=1989 |publisher=Bantam Books |isbn=978-0-553-05708-9 |location=New York |pages=263}} Geri Miller played "Josie," and Via Valentina and Cyrinda Foxe played two S&M girls.{{Cite news |last=Glueck |first=Grace |date=1971-05-23 |title='Pork' Is Not The Kosher-est Show in Town |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1971/05/23/archives/-pork-is-not-the-kosherest-show-in-town-warhol-and-pork.html |access-date=2020-05-30 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} Other cast members included Jamie de Carlo Lotts, Julia Breck, Suzanne Smith, and Harvey Fierstein.{{Cite web |title=Obituary: Julia Breck – TV and stage comedy actor who was a favourite of Spike Milligan |url=https://www.thestage.co.uk/obituaries-archive/obituaries/obituary-julia-breck--tv-and-stage-comedy-actor-who-was-a-favourite-of-spike-milligan |access-date=2020-05-30 |website=The Stage |language=En}} Kathy Dorrite (aka Cherry Vanilla) played "Amanda Pork" in the London production.{{cite web |title=Talk on the Wild Side: The Effect of Andy Warhol's PORK on the evolution of Glitter, Glam and Punk Rock |url=http://www.warhol.org/responsive/event.aspx?id=2215 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160126195518/http://www.warhol.org/responsive/event.aspx?id=2215 |archive-date=January 26, 2016 |access-date=January 19, 2016 |work=warhol.org}}

The play opened on May 5, 1971, at La MaMa Experimental Theatre in New York City for a two-week run.{{Cite news |last=Glueck |first=Grace |date=1971-05-23 |title='Pork' Is Not The Kosher-est Show in Town |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1971/05/23/archives/-pork-is-not-the-kosherest-show-in-town-warhol-and-pork.html |access-date=2020-05-30 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} It was brought to the Roundhouse in London for a six-week run in August 1971.{{Cite journal |last=Lokke |first=Geoffrey |date=2019-01-01 |title=The Theatre of Andy Warhol: Pork in New York and London |journal=PAJ: A Journal of Performance and Art |volume=41 |issue=1 |pages=54–75 |doi=10.1162/pajj_a_00452 |issn=1520-281X |s2cid=59337107}} The production was controversial due to the nudity and simulated sexual acts performed on stage. In London, Warhol superstar Geri Miller caused a scandal when she was arrested for exposing her breast during a photo session in front of Clarence House, the residence of the Queen Mother.{{Cite book |last1=McNeil |first1=Legs |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UbHeAQAAQBAJ&dq=geri+miller+warhol+pork&pg=PT131 |title=Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk |last2=McCain |first2=Gillian |date=2014-01-28 |publisher=Grove/Atlantic, Inc. |isbn=978-0-8021-9276-9 |language=en}}{{Cite book |last=Matlock |first=Glen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kPvvEAAAQBAJ&dq=geri+miller+bowie&pg=PA29 |title=Triggers: A Life In Music |date=2024-02-20 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=979-8-88674-181-0 |pages=30 |language=en}} Musician David Bowie was a fan of the play, and he later hired several of the Pork cast members to join his management firm MainMan.{{Cite book |last=Weiss |first=Curt |title=Stranded in the jungle : Jerry Nolan's wild ride--a tale of drugs, fashion, the New York Dolls, and punk rock |date=September 2017 |isbn=978-1-5400-0493-2 |location=Milwaukee, WI |oclc=1031401746}}{{Cite web |last=Development |first=PodBean |title=Tony Zanetta - talking Andy Warhol, David Bowie, Pork & much much more |url=https://www.c86show.org/e/tony-zanetta-talking-andy-warhol-david-bowie-pork-much-much-more/ |access-date=2020-05-30 |website=www.c86show.org |language=en}}

Reviewing Pork for The New York Times, journalist Grace Glueck wrote, "All in all, it's a cozy bunch; take out the fornication, masturbation, defecation and prevarication with which 'Pork' is larded and you might have a certain similarity to the juvenile gang in 'You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown.'"File:TonyDanaBowie_1971_LoRes.jpg, Tony Defries and David Bowie at Pork at London's Roundhouse in 1971.]]

The British press panned the play except for Nicholas de Jongh of The Guardian who wrote, "both for the exuberant and accurate caricature of sexuality and its larger purposes it must be seen."{{Cite news |last=Jenour |first=Kenelm |date=1971-08-03 |title=Sex Show 'Pork' Is The Top Of The Flops |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-mirror-andy-warhol-pork-at-the-rou/143583448/ |access-date=2024-03-18 |work=Daily Mirror |pages=9}}{{Cite news |last=de Jongh |first=Nicholas |date=1971-08-03 |title=Andy Warhol's 'Pork' at the Roundhouse |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-guardian-andy-warhols-pork-at-the/174544003/ |access-date=2025-06-15 |work=The Guardian |pages=8}}{{Cite news |date=1971-08-04 |title=London Broils Warhol Sex Play 'Pork' |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-san-francisco-examiner-london-broils/174544368/ |access-date=2025-06-15 |work=The San Francisco Examiner |pages=28}} Journalist Valerie Jenkins wrote for the Evening Standard that "Pork's redeeming essence is that it finds itself so ridiculous; from start to finish it demands not to be taken seriously; it's Warhol people debunking themselves."{{Cite news |last=Jenkins |first=Valerie |date=1971-08-03 |title=Valerie Jenkins at the Round House |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/evening-standard-andy-warhol-pork-at-the/143582462/ |access-date=2024-03-18 |work=Evening Standard |pages=13}} Keith Nurse of The Daily Telegraph likened the play to "the nearest thing to a theatrical emetic ... It's a sort of avant-garde candid camera which takes a venereal and bizarre look at the backside of life. And the net effect is more purgative than funny; inescapably boring rather than titillating."{{Cite news |last=Nurse |first=Keith |date=1971-08-03 |title=Animal Urge Is The Of 'Pork' |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-daily-telegraph-animal-urge-is-the-o/174544282/ |access-date=2025-06-15 |work=The Daily Telegraph |pages=7}}

Musician David Bowie was a fan of the play, and he was influenced by the London production.{{Cite book |last=Reed |first=Katherine |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/David_Bowie_and_the_Moving_Image/oEKcEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=warhol+pork+david+bowie&pg=PA28&printsec=frontcover |title=David Bowie and the Moving Image: A Standing Cinema |date=2022-12-15 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing USA |isbn=978-1-5013-7127-1 |pages=28 |language=en}}{{Cite book |last=Popoff |first=Martin |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/David_Bowie/5QfzEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=warhol+pork+david+bowie&pg=PA32&printsec=frontcover |title=David Bowie: Rock 'n' Roll Chameleon |date=2024-09-17 |publisher=Motorbooks |isbn=978-0-7603-8936-2 |pages=32 |language=en}} He later hired several of the Pork cast members to join his management firm MainMan. In an interview with William S. Burroughs published in the February 28, 1974 issue of Rolling Stone magazine, Bowie stated:

Remember Pork? I want to get that on TV. TV has eaten up everything else, and Warhol films are all that is left, which is fabulous. Pork could become the next I Love Lucy, the great American domestic comedy. It's about how people really live, not like Lucy, who never touched dishwater. It's about people living and hustling to survive. That's what Pork is all about. A smashing of the spectacle.{{Cite web |last=Copetas |first=Craig |date=1974-02-28 |title=Beat Godfather Meets Glitter Mainman: William Burroughs Interviews David Bowie |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/feature/beat-godfather-meets-glitter-mainman-william-burroughs-interviews-david-bowie-92508/ |access-date=2025-04-27 |website=Rolling Stone |language=en-US}}

{{reflist}}

{{Andy Warhol}}

Category:1971 plays

Category:American plays

Category:Works by Andy Warhol

Category:Nudity in theatre and dance