In The Dark Presents: Illusions Of...

 In The Dark presents a series of sound-centric performances that reveal the invisible forces governing our daily realities. Through poetry, drag, live music, and performance art, Illusions Of… invites you to listen deeply and question your perspectives.

Featuring performances by Bradley Taylor, Brid Addison Child, Axel Kacoutié, Elana Binysh, Femi Oriogun Williams and Dr Hannah Catherine Jones, with artworks by Anna Chiarini.

 

Please be aware that this performance contains themes of discrimination and violence, sexual references and some offensive language.

 

 

 

 

Curated and Executive Produced by Talia Augustidis.

 

In The Dark is an audio collective who aim to create a mini-revolution in the way we think about spoken-word and creative audio, lifting voices out of traditional settings and celebrating audio in new and unusual ways. In 14 years, they've held over 250 events across the UK and worldwide, curating events and installations at Barbican Centre, Roundhouse Theatre, Tribeca Film Festival and the Wellcome Collection.

 

 

KID (or the illusion of youth) by Bradley Taylor

KID (or the illusion of youth) is one continuous, long form poem exploring contemporary working-class upbringings, queer culture, the internet’s effect on "growing up" or "coming of age". 

KID is everyone and anyone, weaving topics like the cost-of-living crisis and the rise of the far-right whilst simultaneously setting itself on dance floors and in the minds of young people to capture the multitudes of experiences of adolescence today. 

Bradley Taylor is an award-winning poet born and based in Birmingham. He is the winner of the Roundhouse Poetry Slam 2024 and the co-host and organiser of The Big Gay Poetry Night. He's appeared at the Hay Festival, Cheltenham Literature Festival, The Inspirational Youth Awards, Verve Poetry Festival, The Heath Bookshop Music & Literature Festival, on BBC News. He writes for, and about, people.

 

 

Six Eggs by Brid Addison Child with music by Alex Tay

 

Brid Addison-Child is an audio maker and artist. They have been awarded Best Grassroots Production at the ARIAS and Gold in Creative Innovation at the British Podcast Awards.

 

Alex Tay is a composer based in London.

 

 

White Noise by Axel Kacoutié 

 

White Noise is a psychological and spiritual withdrawal from toxic workplace culture, founded on white supremacy, a spectre that only some can see.

 

Axel Kacoutié is a multi-award-winning audio artist and poet who uses sound, music and words to revive magic in the mundane.

 

 

I think it was a feeling by Elana Binysh

 

I think it was a feeling is an instruction-based performance. It explores Invisible Disability, and how normativity is performed in public spaces. Audiences are invited to reconsider their relationship to bodily fluids, and go on a journey from shame, to sensation, to transgression, to freedom.

 

Elana Binysh is an artist who creates sensory environments, to explore transgression, shame and presence.

 

 

Cobalt Blue by Femi Oriogun Williams, with Dr Hannah Catherine Jones

 

Cobalt Blue explores the destructive extraction of precious minerals in the Democratic Republic of Congo, for use in technologies we take for granted. It is a requiem to those lost to processes of extractive capitalism. The piece is built sonically through field recordings, instruments, loop building and voice. 

 

Femi Oriogun Williams is a writer, musician, educator and radio producer.

Dr Hannah Catherine Jones is a multidisciplinary artist, multi-instrumentalist, researcher, educator, broadcaster, DJ, composer and conductor. They are the founder of the radical community ensemble Peckham Chamber Orchestra and Chiron Choir, a queer diasporic vocal group.