Saturday 17th November/ 8pm / Black Box / £10
We are beyond ourselves with excitement to bring you a show devisedspecially for OUTBURST by the undisputed Queen of Underground Performance, Penny Arcade.
A bona fide cultural icon whose name is synonymous with “Underground Downtown New York Art”, Penny has never wavered in her quest to entertain and expand her audience with her magnetic stage presence and cultural critique. Let’s just say that she’s a one woman queer revolution.
Born Susana Ventura to a peasant Italian family in Conneticut, she left home at 13, becoming Penny Arcade at 17 and debuting in 1968 as an original member of the seminal rock n’roll political and queer performance group The Playhouse of the Ridiculous. Soon after, Penny became a teenage Superstar for Andy Warhol’s Factory, featuring in the Morrissey/Warhol film Women in Revolt. Touring the world with improvised performance pieces that established her as “The Little Sister of the Avant Garde”, her writing and performance CV is a veritible history of Queer; from working with Quentin Crisp (who called her his soul mate) to touring her acclaimed sex and censorship show Bitch! Dyke! Faghag! Whore! during the NEA culture wars in the U.S. in the 90s.
For her first ever appearance in Northern Ireland, Penny has taken our theme of Love and Revolution and created The Woman Who Knew Too Much; a show that samples work from her 26 years of take-no-prisoners solo performance. Relentlessly truthful, empowering and unfailingly entertaining; this is rock n’ roll healing and anti-elitist performance for everyone.
Singer Jeff Buckley told Rolling Stone that seeing Penny Arcade was one of the most influential art experiences of his life. We think you’ll feel the same. Beg, borrow, steal a ticket. Just be there.
Arcade is a wonder to behold; she manages to entertain, absorb and broaden the audience simultaneously. Beg, borrow, steal a ticket. NEWSWEEK
Penny Arcade combines the anarchy of Lenny Bruce with the pathos of Judy Garland. She is provocative, intellectually stimulating, perceptive and hilariously funny THE LIST
