Iconic performance artist reflects on the start of the AIDS crisis in new work.
November 22 at Laurie Beechman Theatre
"'Written in Sand' reminds us that Ms. Finley’s most truly unsettling nakedness is emotional.” -- Ben Brantley, The New York Times
"A loving, sorrowful tribute to all that was lost when AIDS cut through gay New York like a knife in butter. Among all the works, old and new, which evoke that moment, Finley’s may be the most direct, the least 'dramatized,' but is no less powerful." - Theater is Easy
"Riveting… inspiring and brave." -- Woman Around Town
"'Written in Sand' continues to challenge and confront the injustices and bigotry that still exist." -- Showbusiness Weekly
"Intense… The combination of all this rage, reflection and regret sends you out of the theater more exhilarated than defeated — and yes, even able to feel good about grieving." -- The Villager
Internationally acclaimed performance artist KAREN FINLEY will present a one-night-only encore engagement of her newest work WRITTEN IN SAND at The Laurie Beechman Theater on Saturday, November 22 at 7pm. WRITTEN IN SAND includes performance pieces and writings on AIDS Finley wrote between 1983 and 1994, many performed publicly for the first time when the piece premiered in early October at Baruch Performing Arts Center. Tickets are $25 (plus a $15 food/drink minimum) available online HERE: www.SpinCycleNYC.com and by phone at 212-352-3101.
WRITTEN IN SAND includes some of Karen Finley’s most searing work on the subject of AIDS, written at a time when medical treatment was ineffective and when she was losing her friends to the disease on a continual basis. Some pieces are excerpted from her earlier shows of the era; others are based on writing she did at the time that has never been published or performed. Interspersing the Finley pieces are musical selections originally written or performed by musicians who died of AIDS during this period, performed by jazz artist Paul Nebenzahl.
Since her first performances in the early 1980's, KAREN FINLEY has become synonymous with performance art. She is the recipient of two Obies, two Bessies, and multiple grants from the NEA and NYSCA. She has toured internationally with pieces including Make Love, George & Martha, The American Chestnut, A Certain Level of Denial and The Return of The Chocolate Smeared Woman. In 1990, Finley became an unwilling symbol for the NEA when she, along with Tim Miller, Holly Hughes & John Fleck, sued the NEA for withdrawing grants on the grounds of indecency. She last appeared at Baruch Performing Arts Center last November in The Jackie Look, in which she played Jackie Kennedy on the eve of the 50th anniversary of the Kennedy assassination.