MILK MAKES ME SICK BUT MY BODY NEEDS IT
Darkhorse Theatre 4610 Charlotte Avenue, Nashville, Tennessee 37209
Kindling Arts Festival
A performer stands in front of a pink backdrop holding a drink shaker with the words "Milk makes me sick but my body needs it" over them.
The hilarious and charming Hannah Dorfman, darling of Nashville’s indie performance scene, combines forces with director Anne Veal for this riotous one-woman musical about a 1950s housewife who is controlled by a machine. While you attend a party at Shelley and Stan’s house, Shelley tumbles through her repressed emotions and memories, encountering fragments of a broken psyche on a quest for wholeness. She wrestles with femininity, perfection, motherhood, and sexuality – all while making you a drink. She’ll sing, dance, and chug a can of cream of mushroom soup. If you’re lucky, Shelley will spoon yogurt into your mouth. If you’re not-so-lucky, you’ll pour a gallon of cold milk over her head as she relives her darkest memory. Part “I Love Lucy,” part “The Twilight Zone,” Milk Makes Me Sick But My Body Needs It is a dreamlike story of a woman’s journey towards self-love and acceptance, complete with splendid musical numbers and a live band.
Presented as part of Kindling Arts Festival 2026: UTOPIAS, July 23-26.