detheatermaker

Why I shot Andy Warhol and other chit-chat
Russel: “The two-sex system must be right, because it has been there for ages”
Bongi: “So has disease”

Nona Demey Gallagher & Lieselot Siddiki are bringing Up Your Ass, Valerie Solanas’ infamous 1965 comedy. The text has had a controversial status in the feminist (queer) community for years, but is now seeing the European theatre light for the first time.

New York, the Sixties. Main character Bongi Perez – a substitute for Solanas herself – is a crude hustler and sex worker. She hangs out on the streets with a whole host of eccentric characters, where she fills her days with vulgar arguments, clapping and wooing female passers-by.
When she meets Ginger and Russel – a daddy’s girl and a male narcissist – a chain of absurd (anti-)intellectual discussions about the state of society immediately ensues. Bongi, Ginger and Russel shamelessly spit their beliefs at each other – resulting in unthinkable and grotesque situations.

Valerie Solanas is best known today for her attack on Andy Warhol, but her literary legacy includes important radical-feminist works, such as “SCUM Manifesto” and “Up Your Ass”. After Andy Warhol refused to produce Up Your Ass, Solanas tried to shoot him. Nona and Lieselot got in close contact with Solanas’ last living relative and were the first and only ones to get permission to perform Up Your Ass.
Players Sophia Bauer, Bavo Buys, Lucie Plasschaert and Lucas Van Der Vegt fulminate Solanas’ words from the 1960s to a rhythm that, at times, does look very much like today’s.

Trigger Warning: The performance contains nudity / sexual acts / verbal and physical aggression / mysoginy / weapons / blood.