At the intersection of theatre, dance and visual art installation, Bronx Gothic gives palatable force to the charged relationship between two girls on the verge of adolescence in 1980s outer-borough New York City. Their world emerges through the clandestine and sometimes sex-saturated notes that are passed between them. Orchard Beach, Nathan’s hot dogs and Whitney Houston’s hair are all part of the landscape of Bronx Gothic.
Created by New-York-based writer, performer and choreographer, Okwui Okpokwasili, in collaboration with director and designer, Peter Born. Bronx Gothic is a partially-true chronicle of one woman’s past, and draws inspiration from both Victorian-era novels and West African griot storytelling. Okpokwasili’s intensely physical solo performance pushes against extremes, reverberating with a potency that threatens to break the body.
Bronx Gothic unfolds as a dark and powerful tale of sexual self-discovery and the (brown) body in transformation – and the humour, love, strangeness, and even terror, that accompany it.
This Postshow Q&A was recorded on Friday 9th October 2015.
Written & Performed by Okwui Okpokwasili
Director/Scenic & Lighting Designer Peter Born
Original Songs Okwui Okpokwasili
Music Peter Born & Okwui Okpokwasili
