Rachael Young’s Nightclubbing (Image: Marcus Hessenberg)
When: 8th May – 15th July 2018
Where: London, Brighton, Cambridge
£: Ticket prices vary, depending on the venue (suitable for ages 12 years and over)
What is it?
Rachael Young presents Nightclubbing, an explosive performance channeling the cult of Grace Jones and Afrofuturism, touring the UK from Tuesday 8th May to Sunday 15th July.
Inspired by the timeless persona of Grace Jones, award-winning artist Rachael Young imagines a different future for women of colour through striking intergalactic imagery and visceral live music. Named after Grace Jones’ 1981 landmark album of the same name, Nightclubbing was originally sparked by an event in 2015 when a group of young black women were racially discriminated against and refused entry to a London nightclub.
Embracing Afrofuturism, the cultural aesthetic behind the blockbuster hit Black Panther, which combines elements of science fiction, magical realism and African history, Nightclubbing reflects on the current progress and challenges around struggles for gender and racial equality. With an intersectional approach to feminism, where the multiple oppressions faced by trans women, disabled women, women of colour and black women are recognised, Rachael has worked with, and will be joined onstage by leading LGBTQ musicians and DJs to create sounds inspired by the Nightclubbing album itself.
Artist Rachael Young works across theatre, live art and socially engaged projects, responding to autobiographical experiences and socio-political landscapes, often connecting with communities who are underrepresented in the arts. Young’s current work explores political resistance and the relentless fight against oppression. Rachael’s full length shows, The Way I Wear My Hair, I, Myself & Me and OUT, have all successfully toured the UK, and her interactive installation Crowns of Confidence was at Women of the World Festival 2017 (Southbank Centre).
Nightclubbing will tour to Camden People’s Theatre in London (8th – 12th May), Brighton Dome (excerpt only, 25th May), the Watch Out Festival at Cambridge Junction, and at Latitude Festival in Suffolk on 15th July.
More info: www.rachaelyoung.net