Award-winning live performance artist Emma Frankland tackles the current media fascination with trans lives, and interrogates the controversial biotechnology of hormone replacement therapy in Hearty, the fifth and final solo show in her None of Us is Yet a Robot project, which takes place at Pavilion Theatre, Worthing on Saturday, May 21 at 8pm.
Bearing wings made of sharp knives and shooting fireballs into the air, Frankland weaves stories of trans ancestry on stage. This live theatre experience connects the cycles of fetishisation, violence and erasure that trans people have experienced for centuries, and brings it home to audiences with a spotlight thrown on the international trans experience.
Emma Frankland says: “Hearty tells the history of trans people all over the world and I’m so excited that I get to perform the show at Worthing Theatres in my local area of West Sussex.
“The production feels more relevant now than ever, with everything that is happening in the UK and around the world regarding trans rights, and I’m delighted to be able to share it with my local community and connect with people after the show.’
Frankland is an internationally recognised live performance and theatre artist. For the past decade, her practice has focused on politically motivated performances surrounding issues of gender and identity, relating to her own experience as a trans woman. In 2013, she was a featured artist at the British Council Showcase and since then has performed in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Jakarta, Toronto and across the UK and Europe.
Frankland’s None of Us is Yet a Robot project is a series of performances which have been a response to her gender transition, and the politics surrounding trans identity over the past ten years. It’s composed of five performances, originally made with support from The Yard and Arts Council England, and has also been published by Oberon Books; None of Us is Yet a Robot, Five Performances on Gender Identity and the Politics of Transition.
This performance of Hearty at the Pavilion Theatre is accompanied by a post-show Q&A discussion with Emma Frankland, supported by Worthing Theatres and Museum (WTM). This will provide an opportunity for local community groups and members to share their lived experiences and explore new ideas.
Hearty is being performed at the Pavilion Theatre on Saturday, May 21. Tickets available HERE or call the WTM Box Office on 01903 206 206.
