Black Watch at St. Ann’s Warehouse
This National Theatre of Scotland production about the Black Watch regiment was one of the most exciting and innovative pieces of theatre I’ve ever seen. It made me proud to be Scottish.
Liza’s homage to her godmother, Kay Thompson, was one of the most amazing nights I’ve ever had in the theatre. She somehow can be so vulnerable and fragile that we worry for her, and then our energy seems to fuel her and send her into the stratosphere. I went to the opening night, and it was magical.
I judge greatness in the theatre by how much something makes me gasp. This almost surreal and electric production and Patti’s terrifying and primal performance was way off the gasp charts. I went again the very next day.
Sleep No More
Punchdrunk’s site-specific and interactive masterpiece based on Macbeth is an other-worldly Pandora’s box of sensuality and fear. I liked it so much I asked if I could be in it, and I was for a couple of shows, playing a doctor, taking an audience member into a room and tucking them up in bed, almost kissing them, then spitting out a nail from my mouth. (You had to be there.) Go see it and let it blow your mind.
Shockheaded Peter
The scariest, creepiest, funniest, most magical tall gothic tale of darkness and mischief. And the Tiger Lillies music to boot!
Kiki and Herb at Carnegie Hall
These two downtown sensations, who are reforming this spring to do some shows at Joe’s Pub, played Carnegie Hall in a one-night-only extravaganza, which was, by turns, desperately moving, hilarious and just beautifully wrong.
Sylvie Guillem - Life In Progress
This was her farewell to dance tour, and it totally blew my mind. She is one of the most fascinating dancers I have ever seen on stage, a free spirit and an incredible artist. Her body is insane and what it can do, still, is mind-blowing.
La Fura dels Baus
This is a Spanish company who blur the lines between the audience and the actors, and I saw them in a warehouse in Sydney in 1989. It was a terrifying experience as they were thundering through the audience in chariots and tanks of water were being turned over, and it was like being in the middle of a battle. But it was so supremely alive and energizing and yes, gasp-inducing.
A Streetcar Named Desire, with Cate Blanchett, directed by Liv Ullmann at BAM
This was staggering. There was one silent moment when the lights come up on the bed. Stanley was asleep. Blanche had her back completely to us, yet in that moment we saw a broken woman, who knew she was finished.
Tectonic Plates
Robert Lepage, the French Canadian theatre artist, directed this production of fractured lives and stories, and I saw it when I was very young in Glasgow at the Tramway, and it changed my life. It made me realize that theatre didn’t have to be always linear and plot driven. Sometimes it could be like dance, more just ideas and feelings than just a story.
Dina Martina
It's hard to describe Dina. Surreal drag? Dadaist gender satire? The funniest thing you’ll have ever seen and you can't really describe why? All of the above. Her recent Christmas show at BB Kings made me ache, truly ache. For days. I love her.
