Opus Siniestrus

Friday, October 29, 2021 - 7:00pm to 8:00pm (Open Dress Rehearsal)

Saturday, October 30, 2021 - 7:00pm to 8:00pm

Penn's Institute of Contemporary Art, Outdoor terrace

Doors open at 6:30pm each night.

The Center for Research in Feminist, Queer, and Transgender Studies, The Institute of Contemporary Art, and the Department of Music present:

Opus Siniestrus, a play by the feminist surrealist Leonora Carrington

A Headless Collective Workshop Production

Opus Siniestrus concerns the outbreak of a virus that kills only women. Its protagonist, an old woman who carries with her at all times an ostrich egg, battles the patriarchy in the form of a Doctor, the Pope, Hitler and Superman. Written in 1979, the play exemplifies Carrington’s environmental politics as well as her participation in the women’s liberation movement in Mexico City. Characters include 12 Cannibals, 3 Astronauts, a misgendered Ostrich and a Computer. Equal parts absurd performance spectacle and acute social critique, the play’s workshop production at Penn’s ICA gallery October 29th and 30th.

Funded by a Collaborative Provost Interdisciplinary Grant from the Sachs Program for Arts Innovation, the play will be performed and designed by Penn students, staff and faculty. It is being envisioned for the stage by The Headless Collective: artist-educator Joelle Estelle Mendoza, producer-musician Enix Inri (Ren Clark) and poet-playwright, Ricardo A. Bracho, former Sachs Artist-in-Residence of The Center for Research in Feminist, Queer, and Transgender Studies and Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies Program and current Fellow at the Center for Experimental Ethnography. Performances will begin after dusk, following the surrealist maxim that, “The revolution begins at night.”

https://www.handtoolsofresilience.com/artists/joelle-mendoza

https://enix-inri.bandcamp.com

Sponsored by

Department of Music

Institute of Contemporary Art

**Space is limited for this program, so registration is required. *Please note, in the event we reach capacity, visitors will be admitted on the basis of when they arrive at ICA. Registration on Eventbrite facilitates the check-in process, but does not guarantee entrance

**Based on the revised guidelines provided by the University of Pennsylvania, by RSVPing to this event, you attest to being fully vaccinated. Please also note that masks will be required in all indoor settings regardless of vaccination status.

Host or Publisher Institute for Contemporary Art