A quick moment with John Cameron Mitchell
Actor, playwright, screenwriter, singer, songwriter, producer and director John Cameron Mitchell will be at Ӱ̳ College on Monday, March 10, 2025, for a screening and discussion of his 2001 film “Hedwig and the Angry Inch.”
On Monday, March 10, 2025, actor, playwright, screenwriter, singer, songwriter, producer and director John Cameron Mitchell will be at Ӱ̳ College for a screening and discussion of his 2001 film “Hedwig and the Angry Inch.” In advance of his visit, Mitchell spoke to the College about Andrea Lawlor, the punk ethos, his current podcast and his upcoming play.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
What brings you to Ӱ̳ College?
I’ve been going to a lot of different colleges. I’ve been showing “Hedwig,” as it came out of a different time — a punk time, the ‘90s. The AIDS crisis was still raging, and ACT UP’s response had a lot of things in common with punk — very different from today, which is more on the politically correct side. I’m doing a bit of a plea to return to different tactics now that circumstances have changed!
What do you hope to discuss?
I want to get back to that punk/theater vibe — what do you have to bring to the stew, the party, the piece of art? I was raised in the military, and what I learned from that is that differences dissolve in the mission — in the theater, in a band, or when you make a film or a play. That DIY ethos is where I come from. And I want to impart that to the kids who have been beaten down by not only COVID and digital overload but also with the sense that you have to monetize your identity with clicks and likes. Your value is measured, and I hate that! Getting back into rooms and making art with your friends in person is the one thing that’s going to calm us down from our feelings today — art is the only antidepressant I know that really works!
In our world, so many facts have been degraded. In a world where all news is fake, all stories are true, for better or worse. That’s why we have so many conspiracy theories. There’s a certain fanciful madness in the air. I’ll be talking about this through the lens of my new fictional podcast, ",” with Holly Hunter. I’m trying to remind the kids who are slicing and dicing by identity to go back to a vibe that’s a bit more punk; your identity is a little less important than what we’re going to do together.
How did you hear about Ӱ̳ College?
It’s really Andrea Lawlor! I just finished “.” Hanif Kureishi, who wrote “My Beautiful Laundrette,” . I reached out [to Andrea] via Instagram. There’s a sense that we’re all buddies! I love reaching out to authors whose work I love.
What else are you working on?
I will be talking about my new play, “LSM,” about . She and her life partner, Marcel Moore, were photographers and artists, and then they retired to the island of Jersey, which became Nazi-occupied during World War II. They created an art resistance campaign to undermine Nazi morale there. It worked! For instance, they broke into a German church at night and put up a banner that said, “Jesus is great, but Hitler is greater — Jesus died for you, but you’re going to die for Hitler.”
