PROFILE: Zoe Freedkin’s ‘Obscene Phenomena’ premieres virtually

Growing up in California, creativity surrounded Zoe Freedkin. 

“My mom is an extremely creative spirit. I definitely have a lot of her tenacity and zest,” Zoe said. “Her and the friends I was surrounded with really supported my creativity.”

As a child, Zoe enjoyed writing and making up stories, even if they did not make any sense. In second grade, she was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder. In order to “get out all of that kinetic energy” as a kid, she played soccer, learned martial arts and danced.

Zoe said she always had a knack for writing, making things up and creating. “Creation is a big part of me. I couldn’t draw for the life of me, which I was so saddened by, but writing was a good outlet, especially when it turned to poetry. Poetry became a big stress reliever for me when I moved to Texas. During that time, my parents were going through a divorce, so it really helped me whenever I wrote. It was kind of like a friend almost.”

In high school, Zoe joined the marching band as a member of the color guard. “I was a band kid and I loved to perform. That is really where I got my performance from. Being in band out on the field, I would always be a ham, my teachers would always call me that because I just loved to get out there.”

In 2017, Zoe graduated high school and rekindled her love for writing after leaving an unhealthy relationship and taking a writing class over the summer. 

“I was in a really shitty relationship, I was really depressed and my anxiety was at an all-time high, so I wrote, and I wrote and I wrote,” she said. “The words I was writing, looking back I still feel the emotion and the residue of what was going on, which ultimately became some of the poems that inspired my show.”

The same year, she enrolled at UHCL after her dad encouraged her to apply. 

“UHCL wasn’t my first choice. I wanted to go to college in Austin or at the University of Houston (Main Campus). I wanted to be out of Pearland, I wanted to get out so bad,” she said. “My dad is the one who pushed me to go to UHCL and I am glad he pushed me.”

In UHCL Storytellers’ first production, Freedkin auditioned and got a role in the show. This gave her an opportunity to pursue drama and theater, which she always wanted to try but never could because she was involved in band in high school.

“Freshman year I did not take college seriously at all,” said Freedkin. “Things really changed when I took Dr. Baldwin’s class and she started talking about ‘Rememberall’ and I was like oh, okay, I want to try this!”

After her first performance, she traveled with members of UHCL Storytellers to the Petit Jean Performance Festival, an event for students and professors to practice, celebrate and learn about performance studies. 

“When I went to Petit Jean for the first time I thought, this is my group, these are the people I want to hang out with and be with,” Zoe said.

At the Patti Pace Performance Festival in 2019, Zoe inquired about planning a solo performance with UHCL Storytellers Adviser and Lecturer in Communication Andrea Baldwin.

“After ‘Rememberall’ I knew that she was going to keep coming around because she seemed to really enjoy it and have a good time. It was more than just that one show,” said Baldwin. “She traveled with us to the Petit Jean Performance Festival and I could see her just really blossom and grow. I could see it in her face where she was like ‘look at all these people that think like me and speak like me and are interested in performing’”

“After that point, I really started to enjoy UHCL and made a ton of friends,” Zoe said. 

Following her roles in “Rememberall,” “Wild Ducks Flying Backwards” and “Kill Mii,” Zoe will debut her first solo performance “Obscene Phenomena” Oct. 15 at 7 p.m. during a live-stream event on Youtube. 

The performance was originally scheduled to take place on campus following spring break in the Bayou Side Gallery. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic shut the venue and campus down, leaving the fate of the show up in the air.

“Seeing something that I worked so hard for and that I was extremely excited for people to see and all of the sudden the bottom fell out and it’s like ok well now you can’t perform it,” she said. “Suddenly people couldn’t see it anymore and I got really emotional. It’s right there and it’s so close and within your grasp, and then it’s not anymore. I was really upset for a while.”

Despite the initial frustration and show-stopping, Zoe turned things around and continued working with Baldwin and UHCL Storytellers founder and Graphic Design alumni Andy Robb to turn her live solo performance into a live-streamed multimedia performance.  

“It quadrupled the work to prepare for the show. Each scene had multiple options for filming because of the potential issues,” said Baldwin. “We were very fortunate. It’s still an intimate experience but it was such a challenge. I am so honored that we rose to the challenge, but it was a challenge to do.”

While filming the show Zoe, Baldwin and Robb socially distanced, wore masks and planned shoots carefully to work efficiently and ensure compliance with safety precautions. Although challenging, the new format granted a renewed vision for Zoe’s show. 

“It was more fun than I expected because it gave me a lot more creative control. I could have things cut and spliced if I wanted to that I couldn’t do in a live show. It was exciting because it was like it was turning into a movie or a film. It turned out a lot better than I expected and we have done so much more than what the original script called for and it makes it so much better,” said Freedkin.

Zoe graduates this semester with a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology and a double minor in literature and writing. Next, she will pursue a Master’s Degree in Communication Studies with a focus in performance. 

“This is something that I created. It is something that I took from my poems about the abuse, neglect and objectification of my body going on in the relationship and taking really heavy, sad, depressing material and turning it into something of beauty and challenge,” Zoe said. “You get a feeling of closure and a lot of inner peace, which really helps a lot.”