Lily McMenamy – A Hole is a Hole

The performance takes place at Cafe Theater Schalotte.

In the Berlin premiere of “A Hole Is a Hole”, Lily McMenamy presents the construction of a female performer as a metamorphosing and multiplying vessel. Inhabiting a swarm of personae, McMenamy asks us who is subject to our aesthetic and erotic drives, when the relations between artist and model, monster and maker, are thrown into the blender of one singular body.

Part catharsis and part satire, this uproarious solo is a biting exploration of the identities and contradictions that live ‘rent free’ in the psyche, a surreal cast of internal voices vying for autonomy. Whether poignant flashback or freakish nightmare, our protagonist’s perilous trajectory crosses continents, embodying ingenue and muse while occupying a Pandora’s Box of egos, ghouls and grifters.

Via quickfire vignettes, McMenamy’s physical dexterity, sometimes poised and often reckless, adds a sense of abandon and clownishness to this high-octane melodrama. A mirrored backdrop creates infinite tableaus, evoking the carnivalesque or classic cinema as the studios, nightclubs and forests of the subconscious take the stage.

Lily McMenamy (she/her) is a model and theatre maker born in the US living in London. She holds a diploma in physical theatre from L'École Jacques Lecoq and a Masters in Performance Making from Goldsmiths, University of London. Her work appropriates and transforms languages, archetypes, and gestures in order to disarticulate the performance of marketplace femininity and to celebrate the grotesque as a vehicle for freedom. McMenamy’s work has been presented at Cabinet Gallery, London (2021), and the Volksbühne Berlin where she was resident artist in 2018 amongst others. Her writings have been featured in CURA magazine and she is a regular contributor to Marfa Journal.

Music & Sound Design: felicita Costume: Monique Fei Movement Coach: Luis Odriozola Vocal Coach: Deborah Hudson