Solo Performance by Alok Vaid-Menon
“Capturing Hate,” a recent investigative report, analyzed eyewitness videos of anti-trans violence filmed as entertainment. The 329 videos they review have been viewed 89,233,760 times — they are so popular, in fact, that companies sponsor branded content on them to sell products.
We must ask: from the cinema to the street, do trans people matter beyond our entertainment value?
In this solo-performance situated at the place where the URL and IRL converge Alok explores the sinister sides of visibility and our abusive relationship with the internet: How many facebook likes does it take to love yourself? How many followers does it take to feel less alone? What would it mean to understand the internet — and the violence it inflicts — as real? Why do we call cis people looking at trans people progress?
Join for an evening of poetry and experimental performance confronting heartbreak, digital alienation, and the meaning of intimacy in a digital world.
Opener: ELSZ
Show 1: Friday May 5, 8:00PM
Show 2: Saturday May 6, 8:00PM
Show 3: Sunday May 7, 8:00PM
Venue: @ The Cuckoo Club, Bandra, Mumbai
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.
ELSZ is a producer, harpist, dancer, vocalist and activist based between Australia & Sri Lanka. She was born on Eora/Darug country (Sydney) but spent most of her early childhood in Sri Lanka. ELSZ’ experience of racism, gender violence, war and class, coupled with her own abstract expressions of her emotional / spiritual landscape, imbues her most recent work. In 2016 ELSZ recorded the first two singles for her forthcoming debut album ‘Blue Scar’ at New York City’s oldest recording studio, Sear Sound with Grammy Award winning engineer Jeremy Loucas. She independently released her debut single /video ‘Poison’, on the 8th of March 2016 (International Women’s day). ‘Poison’ is dedicated to victims and survivors of gender based violence. ELSZ has toured nationally and internationally — her show is nothing short of hypnotising , don’t miss this powerful performance.
