Brief Encounter with … Penny Arcade

Bitch! Dyke! Faghag! Whore!, which was first
created in New York in 1990 and has toured all around the world, is
Penny Arcade‘s best known work. It runs at the Arcola Tent from 27
June to 22 July.

Here we talk to the legendary performance artist about her iconic
show.

You began your career working with individuals such as Jack Smith and Andy Warhol. What was it like working with such
influential and iconic directors?

Remember we are talking about the sixties and there was a very
different approach to artists like Jack Smith and Andy Warhol
which wouldn’t be recognised today as ‘directing’ as it was very,
very, very, collaborative. In fact, one was pretty much left at all
times to improvise in a context that they provided. They were, as was John Vaccaro, the painter Larry Rivers, the painter Kusama, Abby
Hoffman and others who I worked with, looking for input from younger
artists. In fact, they wanted to use the originality and uniqueness
of the younger artists who worked with them.

Bitch! Dyke! Faghag! Whore! mixes
character comedy with radical satire and memoir. Which parts of the
show are taken from your life?

Everything is taken from my life. However, I use information I
have derived from other sources as well. My history of my life in the
gay world, my experience of coming of age among gay men and drag
queens is all from my life, as are the over 300 friends of mine who
died of AIDS. When I speak about my childhood, my family, all of it
is from my life. Even in the monologue by the prostitute Charlene, a
woman I worked with, much of what she says is from my observation of
prostitution.

Your show deals with sex, politics and self-censorship,
all of which can be somewhat controversial themes. How do you deal
with the opposition that must come with a performance that pushes so
many boundaries?

Part of the success of my effect on and relationship with the
public is that people think I am speaking directly to them. When
people feel supported by my values, they love me; when they feel
criticized by my values, they hate me; and so it goes. People often
write to me many times years later to tell me that they have thought
about what I had said that made them angry and that they have changed
their mind (or rather that life changed their mind). I am a bit of an
odd duck, like most actors and comedians, in that I am both very bold
and very shy so when people dislike me, it is hard on me.

You make it a point to hire local erotic dancers for your
shows in each city you tour to. Why is this so important to
you?

Originally the point in hiring local erotic dancers was to redeem
these amazing and talented dancers in the eyes of their own community
because erotic dancing is a beautiful art form that very very few
people ever see as it is limited to men’s clubs etc. The
neo-burlesque performance movement came out of B!D!F!W!
yet neo-burlesque didn’t take on the skills of the erotic dance that
it originally came out of in the early nineties. I think people are
going to be pleasantly surprised at the atmosphere me and the dancers
create…very exciting, very different from burlesque which is simply
not very exciting.

The show has run since 1990 and is continuously evolving.
Where do you see the show going in the future? Do you have anything
new in the works?

I have done many other shows. However, most of them have not
toured to London. Bad Reputation, my all-girl
revenge show with a few gay boys who can’t believe they can’t be in
the show and want their own dance number, was performed in both
Manchester and Glasgow with an all British cast of dancers. That
would be a great show to do with my London dancers! New York
Values is a big show of mine with dancers that would be fun
to do in London as well.

B!D!F!W! is considered by people who see it to
be absolutely cutting edge. Because nothing I was writing about 20
years ago has changed very much. People are still deeply inspired and
uplifted by the message of the show about individuality and
freedom.

I also have four new works in progress: Old Queen;
Longing Lasts Longer; Denial Of
Death; and the newest, Aftermath, about
survivorship after the AIDS.

What are you most looking forward to in bringing the show
to London?
I am very excited about the new material that comes from the show
being done here. I always improvise a great deal. I know there is
more for me to learn from this show as well and I am very excited
about this particular group of dancers. Doing the show in Dalston at
the Arcola at this point in history…it feels pivotal to me.

Single tickets are available for 50% off the advertised price for performances on 27-28 and 30 June and 1 July subject to
availability. For details of the Time Out Live offer, click here.