Brent Whiteside

As a youth, Brent shared a bedroom with his three sisters. The four of them would share proximity, beds and blood. Inside this bedroom was a three tiered bookshelf that sat on top of a small wooden desk. During summers while his sisters would busy themselves around the house or in the yard, Brent would be up to his own devices…

First he would gather his sister’s Bratz dolls. Then, he’d sneak into his mother’s bedroom and swipe the ‘good towels,’ the red ones. Next, while already in his mother’s things, he would grab her sewing kit– inside were pins and assorted pieces of fabric. Lastly, he would gather his own Lincoln Logs. Finally with all these materials, Brent would create theatre.

When alone Brent climbed on top of the wooden desk, using books as weights to hang the red towels. No longer towels, now elevated to curtains. Watching the curtains descend and float over the desk gave Brent much pleasure, he had a proscenium. With the Bratz he had players, with the fabric and pins costumes and couture. And with his Lincoln Logs, a set. All summer long, performances of plays man’d and produced by Brent played in this shared bedroom. Here are some reviews: his mother called the productions, “loud.” His sisters would rave over how “weird” it all was. Bratz and Lincoln Logs sharing space, iconic. 

Needless to say Brent is very pleased to have gone straight from performing plays in the bedroom circuit to now joining The New York Neo Futurists as an ensemble member (where he continues to obsess over curtains).