On view at the Main Library, The Cockettes: Acid Drag & Sexual Anarchy, co-curated by Jim Van Buskirk and original Cockette Fayette Hauser, remembers San Francisco’s outrageous hippie theater troupe

SAN FRANCISCO, January 18, 2022 – Formed in late 1969, the Cockettes originated as a group of hippie-artists living communally in Haight-Ashbury who shared a love of psychedelics, “High Glam Fantasy” and dressing outrageously. Eventually, their style made it to the stage spurred by the encouragement of the group’s charismatic “Shaman” Hibiscus (George Edgerly Harris III). Male/female, queer/straight and everything along the continuum, they broke every social, cultural and sexual barrier in their path, epitomizing the countercultural Free Love movement. 

On view March 12-August 11, 2022, in San Francisco Main Library’s James C. Hormel LGBTQIA Center, The Cockettes: Acid Drag & Sexual Anarchy celebrates the avant-garde psychedelic theater troupe’s 50th anniversary, in conjunction with original member Fayette Hauser’s recently published pictorial history by the same title. As Hauser fondly recounts in her book, “Our métier was High Drag. We were what we wore, and we wore a lot. We brought all that we were becoming and creating at the time and put it onto the stage. Our lives and the stage became one.”

Co-curated by Hauser and local author and scholar Jim Van Buskirk, this site-specific installation invokes the Cockettes’ adage “too much is never enough!” Tracing the pioneering group’s impact on San Francisco’s cultural scene and beyond are dozens of rare photographs, posters, flyers, correspondence, costumes, newspaper clippings, memorabilia and audio-visual materials from the Library’s Hormel LGBTQIA Center archives, which include the personal collections of Peter Mintun (aka Peter Arden), the troupe’s piano accompanist, and performer Kreemah Ritz (né Daryl Simmonds) as well as Hauser’s personal collection. 

“We were the first to break through the boundaries of gender, socio-political norms and divisions of race. We were all inclusive and pioneered the gender fluidity that abounds now, 50 years later. Our unique style has influenced fashion, theatre, costume and street wear so that today you can see a Cockette wherever you look!” says Hauser.

At North Beach’s Palace Theatre, which Hauser describes as a “favorite location for a lustful encounter” and a “wonderful” place “to take acid and melt into the movies,” the Cockettes presented eclectic, ad hoc, LSD-laced performances with original songs that parodied old movie musicals. Shows like Gone With the Showboat to Oklahoma, Tinsel Tarts in a Hot Coma, Journey to the Center of Uranus and Pearls Over Shanghai gained them an underground cult following that led to mainstream exposure. 

According to Hauser, “To us, every show was about creating Magick on the stage. That meant that we were not concerned with the result, had no plans for the outcome. The shows were not preconceived, only themed. We were so individuated by then, all of us so diverse yet enlightened, that we each had something unique to say and were brave enough to say it. There was no right or wrong in our house, we only wanted to be true to ourselves and of course, be more fabulous. We wanted to live at the end of our imaginations, and so we did.”

Fayette Hauser grew up on the East Coast and came of age as the fertile underground of the 1960s was blossoming. She is a graduate of Boston University, College of Fine Arts with a BFA in painting and sculpture. A founding member of the pioneering, experimental theatre group The Cockettes (1969-1972) in San Francisco, she recently authored the book, The Cockettes; Acid Drag & Sexual Anarchy, 1969-1972, published in 2020. In 1972, she went on to perform with Ze Whiz Kidz in Seattle, WA and continued performing in the New York Underground when she and her partner, Tomata Du Plenty, went to Manhattan in the fall of 1972 and became one of the first to grace the stage of the seminal club CBGB. In 1975, she moved to Los Angeles to write for CBS Television. As a photographer, she has documented much of the scenes she has experienced and has exhibited her photography in over 10 museum shows.

A multi-disciplinary artist at heart, she is also an award-winning costume designer for film and theatre for which she won two Dramalogue Awards for Costume Design. Her contributions to counterculture have been documented in 5 documentary features (3 American and 2 European feature films). Find out more at fayettehauser.com.

More details about the Kreemah Ritz Papers and the Peter Mintun Cockettes Collection in the James C. Hormel LGBTQIA Center archives can be found in a series of blog posts authored by SFPL Librarian & Archivist Tim Wilson or at sfpl.org. 

EXHIBIT DETAILS:

The Cockettes: Acid Drag & Sexual Anarchy
On view March 12-August 11, 2022 - Main Library, 100 Larkin Street, James C. Hormel LGBTQIA Center, 3rd floor

RELATED PROGRAMS: 

Celebration: The Cockettes: Acid Drag & Sexual Anarchy
Opening Reception, Thursday, March 17, 6-7:30pm, Main Library, James C. Hormel LGBTQIA Center, 3rd Floor

Travel back to San Francisco in the late 60's to early 70's to experience the avant-garde culture and costumery of the experimental gender-bending theater troupe, The Cockettes. Meet and hear special remarks from original Cockette Fayette Hauser, author of the recent book of the same name. This event kicks off a series of exciting programs throughout 2022 that celebrate The Cockette's boundary-breaking legacy. Doors open at 5:30pm.  

Author Talk: Fayette Hauser - The Cockettes: Acid Drag & Sexual Anarchy
Thursday, March 24, 6-7:30pm, Main Library, Koret Auditorium

In The Cockettes: Acid Drag & Sexual Anarchy, author, artist, actress, photographer and original Cockette, Fayette Hauser brings to life the outrageously creative experimental theater troupe through riveting stories, original photographs and more. Doors open at 5:30pm.

Cockettes on Film 
Thursday, April 28, 5-7:30pm, Koret Auditorium 

A rare, not-to-miss screening of three short films featuring The Cockettes: Palace, Tricia’s Wedding (in brand new 4K remaster glory) and Elevator Girls in Bondage: Experience the raucous, subversive camp that only The Cockettes could achieve! Special guest, Fayette Hauser, author, artist, actress and original Cockette, will offer fabulous insight into the time and production of these films. Doors open at 4:45pm.

Program:

• Palace (22 min.)
• Tricia’s Wedding (33 min.)
• Intermission 
• Elevator Girls in Bondage (56 min.)

Performance: Cockette Tales with Fayette Hauser and Vau de Vire Society
Thursday, May 26, 6-7:30pm, Main Library, Koret Auditorium 

Enjoy a lively evening of Tales of the Cockette Life as told by Fayette Hauser, illustrated by live performances from members of San Francisco’s Premier Cirque Troupe, Vau De Vire Society.

Vau de Vire Society has ravaged and titillated live entertainment for more than 20 years, causing jaws to drop in awe and admiration around the world. The group has been cross-pollinating genres by collaborating with an eclectic variety of world-renowned musicians and DJs in creating original stage shows and festival productions spanning social barriers. Born in 1997 to proud parents Mike and Shannon Gaines, Vau de Vire has its origins in the vaudeville and circus performance traditions of Normandy, France, modernized with healthy doses of wild whimsy, playful irreverence, saucy sizzle, and contemporary tools and technology. Find out more at vaudeviresociety.com.

 

Performance: Cockette Cabaret Night with Scrumbly & Co.
Thursday, June 23rd, 6-7:30pm, Main Library, Koret Auditorium 

A musical experience to remember that will transport you to the early 70's and the original avant-garde culture created by the Cockettes. The evening will feature the musical talents of Cockette Scrumbly Koldwyn, the Cockettes musical director and creator, along with lyricist Link Martin and Martin Worman, of all the original songs and music of the Cockette shows. Scrumbly on piano will be joined by his company of San Francisco artists and performers. Doors open at 5:30pm. 

Scrumbly Koldewyn is a founding member/performer of The Cockettes and wrote original music for their shows. Other performing groups included The Distractions, and The Jesters Vocal Trio. He has composed for approximately 50 original theatrical productions, and has been an accompanist/musical director and performer in theater and cabaret since the 1970s. Currently, he is music director at Stagebridge in Oakland, and has done the same at Thrillpeddlers in San Francisco, with his own music for Cockettes’ revivals including Pearls Over Shanghai, Tinsel Tarts In a Hot Coma, Hot Greeks, Vice Palace and his new shows, The Jewels of Paris, The Untamed Stage, and Amazon Apocalypse. He has scored two films: “The Cockettes” and “Alaska Far Away”.

Celebration: The Cockettes: Acid Drag & Sexual Anarchy
Closing Reception - Thursday, August 11, 6-7:30pm, Main Library, James C. Hormel LGBTQIA Center, 3rd Floor

Travel back to San Francisco in the late 60's to early 70's to experience the avant-garde culture and costumery of the experimental gender-bending theater troupe, The Cockettes. Meet and hear special remarks from original Cockette Fayette Hauser, author of the recent book of the same name. This event closes out a series of exciting programs throughout 2022 that celebrate The Cockette's boundary-breaking legacy. Doors open at 5:30pm.

This closing reception concludes the exhilarating exhibit, The Cockettes: Acid Drag & Sexual Anarchy, on display March 12-August 11, 2022 in the Hormel LGBTQIA Center on the 3rd floor of the Main Library of SFPL.

Also on View at the Main: 

Silent Spikes: Following in the Footprints of Chinese Railroad Workers
On view through May 22, 2022, Silent Spikes: Following in the Footprints of Chinese Railroad Workers, a detailed exhibit at the San Francisco Main Library, honors Chinese railroad workers who helped build the Central Pacific western portion of the Transcontinental Railroad. Their story is told through historical images and contemporary photos from a variety of sources. Chief among them are those by Beijing-based freelance photographer Li Ju that chronicle the route from Sacramento to Promontory Summit, Utah. The images underscore the tremendous achievement of the largely anonymous 12,000-20,000 Chinese construction workers who connected the United States from west to east.  San Francisco Main Library, 100 Larkin Street, 6th Floor. 

More Than A Wall
For photographer David Bacon, the border region between the United States and Mexico is a land marked by life and death. Each year, at least 300-400 people die trying to cross into the U.S. in search of a better future for themselves and their families. The border is also bustling with life. The once-small towns of Ciudad Juárez and Tijuana are now home to millions of people, many of whom make up the industrial workforce of Southern California, South Texas and New Mexico. Taken over a period of 30 years, Bacon’s photographs in San Francisco Public Library’s exhibition More Than a Wall explore all aspects of the border region and its vibrant social history.  On view through May 22, 2022 in the Jewett Gallery, lower level of San Francisco Main Library, 100 Larkin Street. 

About San Francisco Public Library:

San Francisco Public Library is dedicated to free and equal access to information, knowledge, independent learning and the joys of reading for our diverse community. The library system is made up of 27 neighborhood branches, the San Francisco Main Library at Civic Center and four bookmobiles.

To learn more, please visit sfpl.org and follow on Twitter @SFPublicLibrary and on Instagram @sfpubliclibrary.

Kate Patterson
Director of Communications
(415) 557-4252
Kate.patterson@sfpl.org