Written In Sand

Seminal American performance artist Karen Finley makes a rare UK appearance with an elegiac anthology of spoken-word pieces that confronts the AIDS crisis in 1980s New York.

Drawn from performance texts, letters, poetry and fragments compiled by the artist between 1983 and 1994, Written in Sand is a lyrical and highly personal testimony. It recalls a time in which loss, indifference and cruelty came to define the lives of people with AIDS, their friends and families.

Interjecting her narrative with improvised wit, Finley is accompanied by multi-instrumentalist Paul Nebenzahl playing compositions written by musicians who died as a result of the disease. Covering themes of neglect to social exclusion, she embodies the period’s collective trauma and grief yet somehow leaves audiences feeling ‘more exhilarated than defeated’ (Villager, USA).

1 hour 30 minutes / no interval.
Age guidance 16 and over.

BSL performance: Friday 30 October.