Interview: Winnie Stack @Jenna
@Jenna is a one-woman show written and performed by Winnie Stack, who explores her queer awakening through the lens of a childhood obsession with Pam from The Office. Wrenched from her own unedited childhood diaries, this achingly funny coming-of-age story blends home videos, digital artefacts, and raw journal entries to chart an accidental roadmap to self-understanding.
Featuring a menagerie of characters, the Second City New York alum uses humour and brutal honesty to dive into a story shaped by longing, performance, and first love. It is a hilarious, cringeworthy, and reflective exploration of how we find, lose, and continually re-fashion ourselves in the pursuit of desire and self-acceptance.
Ticket link: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/jenna
Venue: Studio at C ARTS | C venues | C aquila
When: 5 - 30 August
Could you tell us a bit more about yourself and what @Jenna is about?
Yes! I'm an actress and comedian based in Brooklyn, NY, and I'm pumped to be heading to Fringe! @Jenna is about how Pam from The Office was my gay awakening at age 11. The show includes original journal entries, drawings, and home videos throughout that act as a map for this coming-of-age play.
You’re coming all the way from New York! How did you first get involved with the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and how does it feel to bring your show to the fringe?
I'm so excited (and nervous!) to be heading to Fringe! I quit my day job a few months ago and submitted to Fringe on a total whim around the same time, so I'm eager to start this new chapter and get a total education in theatre while I'm there!
Your show uses your real childhood diaries to look back at your "gay awakening" at age eleven. How did it feel to look back at those unedited journal entries and decide to share them with the world?
The first time I performed the show I felt incredibly strange afterward. I became so wrapped up in creating it that I forgot to consider how sharing these deeply honest and vulnerable entries with strangers might affect me. As I've continued to perform it, though, I've grown more comfortable with the material and more eager to connect with audience members who have had similar experiences. I hope the show can resonate with people regardless of their sexuality, offering something relatable and, ultimately, as cathartic for everyone as it is for me!
Since this is a one-woman show, you are on stage completely by yourself. How does it feel to perform alone and feel that direct connection with the audience, but not have a co-star on stage to share it with?
I do a lot of improv comedy in Brooklyn, which requires a great deal of trust and connection with a scene partner—something I really love. I definitely miss performing with someone else onstage; there’s something so special about experiencing a show together. At the same time, I’m grateful to have incredible voice actors supporting me offstage, and their presence makes me feel supported throughout the performance. Being alone onstage has taught me a lot about confidence and about taking a leap of faith, trusting that the audience will catch you in ways a scene partner normally would.
What are you most excited about when it comes to sharing this very personal story with an international audience?
I'm most excited to chat with folks after the show and hear about their coming-of-age experiences, crushes, cringe moments, or anything else they might relate to in the show! It feels really special to connect with the audience members who have just graciously listened to me talk for an hour, so I'm excited to connect with the people who I share this vulnerable story face-to-face!
If you had to describe the show in only three words to make people eager to come and see it, what would they be?
Hilarious, poignant, 2007!
