About

Thinking Queer: Bloomsbury Group

Teaming up with the queer art innovators from the Marlborough Theatre, we are grappling with the intellectual polymaths of the Bloomsbury Group, presenting a night of contemporary interruptions, disruptions and reflections. Considering their values and ideas, we will be dreaming about what a radical queer collective might look like today. The event will be staged in our beautiful cafe bar. 

Radical thinkers who will be performing include: 

MARISA CARNESKY

Marisa Carnesky has been making performance work since the early 1990s. Past projects include Carnesky’s Ghost Train 2004-2014, a critically acclaimed multimedia theatrical fairground ride which toured and then became a resident show on Blackpools Golden Mile until its closure in Spring 2014. In 2012 Carnesky’s Tarot Drome featuring 30 performers premiered at The Old Vic Tunnels as part of the London 2012 Festival and went onto to tour festivals in the UK and France . She was Artist in Residence at the Roundhouse, London 2008-2011, where she developed her teaching methods with young people aged 17-21 and established Carnesky’s Finishing School and its first international summer school in 2013. Carnesky’s Finishing School (CFS) recenty enjoyed a pop up residency in the former Foyles Building in Soho and plans are afoot for a new residency at The Spire in Brighton. Dr Carnesky's Incredible Bleeding Woman is her latest project which grew out of her PhD at Middlesex University. It received rave reviews and sell out audiences at both Soho Theatre and the Edinburgh Festival in 2017 and will be further developed with the Attenborough Arts Centre in 2018. Her solo and collaborative theatre projects are regularly presented internationally in theatre and visual art contexts since 1994.    

ALOK VAID-MENON

 Alok Vaid-Menon is an internationally acclaimed trans writer, entertainer, and public speaker. Known for their expressive poetry and biting comedy, Alok has charmed audiences across the world and emerged as a prominent voice in the transgender movement. Based in New York City, Alok regularly performs to sold-out houses at venues like The Museum of Modern Art, The Brooklyn Museum, and the Mercury Lounge. Alok was recently part of the HBO documentary The Trans List, the Public Theater’s Under the Radar Festival, and the Lincoln Center’s La Casita Festival. Alok will not be appearing live at the event and we will be showing a new film commission.

 NANDO MESSIAS

Nando Messias' work straddles performance art, dance and theatre. His performances combine beautiful images with a fierce critique of gender, visibility and violence. He has performed at prestigious venues such as Hayward Gallery, V&A, Tate Tanks, Roundhouse, Royal Vauxhall Tavern, Tate Britain and ICA, among other spaces across the UK. He has also worked extensively on the international circuit.

As well as a practitioner, Nando is movement director for Theo Adams Company and an academic of queer theory and performance.

Nando’s solo work has been curated by the Live Art Development Agency as part of the programme ‘Just Like a Woman,’ shown in the City of Women Festival (2013), New York and London (2015).

In 2015/16 Nando completed a national tour of The Sissy’s Progress to much acclaim and press interest, followed by a tour of Shoot the Sissy to prestigious LGBTQ festivals and venues across the UK in 2017. His latest show, a one-night one spectacular, Where 4 Roads Meet: Death and the Sissy will be performed on the 12th of October at Toynbee Studios.

For his response to "Thinking Queer: Bloomsbury Group," Nando Messias will develop a unique and original performance inspired by the work of his favourite writer of all times, Virginia Woolf. Expect a mixture of movement and spoken word queerly situated in Woolf's idiosyncratic universe of characters, environments and turns of phrase.

JACOB V JOYCE

 Illustrator and artist Jacob V Joyce is a non-binary interdisciplinary artist that disrupts commercial and community spaces with queer and anti-colonial, creative interventions. As a member of the sorryyoufeeluncomfortable collective and queer punk band Screaming Toenail, Joyce’s work brings satirical and theatrical critiques to institutional and every day instances of marginalisation. As well as self-publishing a number of illustrated books addressing a variety of political issues, Joyce performs spoken word and solo electronic music which combines ritualistic voice looping with poetic strategies of resistance.

General Information

Guests with Mobility Impairments

Guests who use a wheelchair or experience mobility impairments are asked to call the box office on 01273 678822 or email info@attenboroughcentre.com so that we can assist you to find the best seat to suit your requirements.

Pay What You Decide

There is an allocation of Pay What You Decide (PWYD) tickets available to guests on a first-come, first-served basis. Come and see the show without paying anything in advance, and then pay what you think is appropriate at the end of the show. Maximum of four PWYD tickets per person. Please phone the box office on 01273 678822 or email info@attenboroughcentre.com for further information.

Concessions

The Concessions rate is available for students, University of Sussex students, Over 60s, and people in receipt of JSA or DLA/PIP. Proof of eligibility may be required on the door or at the box office (if collecting).

Personal assistance tickets are available for free for customers who would otherwise be unable to attend the venue. Please contact the box office on 01273 678822 or email info@attenboroughcentre.com for further information.

Box Office Opening Times

The box office (phone line and drop-in service) is open from 10am to 4pm, Mondays to Fridays. The box office is also open one hour before the advertised show start time.