POWER BALLAD
"I am looking for a (body) language which exists outside the patriarchal definitions. Of course that is not possible. But who is any longer interested in the possible." - Kathy Acker
“Nominated for a Total Theatre Award, 2017”
“... a wordless assault on patriarchy and performative norms in order to break on through to the other side where a collective display of elation awaits...”
“A brilliant mash-up of flesh, sonics and text ★★★★★”
“Patti Smith would dig it”
Power Ballad is an angry, feminist, live art investigation of language and its sometimes hidden ideologies. Part performance lecture, part karaoke party, Power Ballad deconstructs gendered linguistic histories and rips apart contemporary language to find a new articulation of pleasure, anger and femaleness.
With an 80s soundtrack to rival any school disco, Power Ballad is anarchic, loud and filled with feminist rage and Annie Lennox. Performed to massive audience and critical acclaim in New Zealand, Melbourne, Perth and as part of the 2017 Summerhall Festival Programme 2017 Edinburgh Fringe where it was shortlisted for a highly prestigious Total Theatre award.
WINNER:
Best Performer & Best Live Art - Auckland Fringe 2017
Melbourne Festival 'Discovery Award' - Melbourne Fringe 2017
Created by JULIA CROFT & NISHA MADHAN
Performed by JULIA CROFT
Directed by NISHA MADHAN
Lighting Design by CALVIN HUDSON
Dramaturg: KATE PRIOR
“Power Ballad brilliantly and insistently demands the abandonment of an outside world. Still, it remains politically relevant and thought provoking”
“Might be the second weirdest Fringe show I've ever seen.”
“Many shows lay claim to gender fluidity, but this is the real deal: othering, teasing, provoking. The tone moves between hysteria and terror, joy and despair.”
“Power Ballad is a revolution: winking while bringing both form and content to its knees in a way that is deeply, deeply hopeful. ”
SEASONS
THE MARLBOROUGH THEATRE
26 September 2019
Brighton, United Kingdom
CAMBRIDGE JUNCTION
19 September 2019
Cambridge, United Kingdom
TRON THEATRE, GLASGOW
12 - 14 September 2019
Glasgow, Scotland
VANCOUVER, CANADA
22 - 26 January 2019
The Cultch, Vancouver, Canada
CAIRDE SLIGO ARTS FESTIVAL
10 July 2018
The Factory Performance Space, Sligo, Ireland
BATTERSEA ARTS CENTRE
28 - 30 June 2018
Battersea Arts Centre, London, United Kingdom
AUCKLAND
12 - 13 April 2018
Loft at Q Theatre, Auckland, NZ
PERTH'S FRINGE WORLD
27 January - 3 February 2018
Blue Room Theatre, Perth, Australia
MELBOURNE FRINGE FESTIVAL
2017
Melbourne, Australia
EDINBURGH FESTIVAL FRINGE
2017
Edinburgh, Scotland
AUCKLAND
2017
Basement Theatre, Auckland
AUCKLAND FRINGE
2017
Basement Theatre, Auckland
Trailers by Isobel Dryburgh
Hero image by Andi Crown Photography