EMBRACING PROBLEM WORK OR “FAILURE” AS A FEMINIST ACT and EDUCATION. Performance Lecture with Adrienne Truscott

Adrienne Truscott will present excerpts from and talk about a show that has caused her nothing but trouble—from the humorously banal to the deeply consequential, both personally and professionally. At the time of its premiere, this show disrupted her confidence, professional standing, family relations and general well-being while also teaching her about her process, impulses and impulse control – perhaps more than any other show. This show has now garnered her both 4- star reviews and lost her a job and might be the best worst show she’s ever made. 

Presented in partnership with Dance Ireland and Galway Dance Project 

Adrienne Truscott’s work crosses lines and methodologies between dance, theater and performance art; these iterations appear as both drag and club acts as well as evening-length pieces. She’s a 2014 Doris Duke Awardee and a 2017 & 2020 FCA grant recipient for Theater/Performance and one half of the boundary-busting 15 year-plus collaboration The Wau Wau Sisters. THIS and Wild Bore were touring internationally when corona hit. Grey Arias w/Le Gateau Chocolat (UK) and MASTERCLASS w/Brokentalkers (IR) were meant to premiere in 2020 but are postponed until 2021. A new piece about genius and gender is scheduled for 2023 in NYC. She’s worked at or with: Sydney Opera House, The Moth, The Roundhouse, CBGB’s, PS122, The Kitchen, Danspace, The Malthouse, MoMa, Deborah Hay, David Neumann, Split Britches, Sarah Michelson, John Cameron Mitchell, Kiki and Herb, La Soiree/La Clique.. Director’s credits: David’s Friend, The Cockpainter, and AmericanMotherFuck and her essays have been published in two Australian anthologies, The Guardian and other publications. Teaching: Wesleyan, Barnard, Bard, Princeton, NYU.

Image credit: Ian Douglas