An evening of drama and visual performance,

featuring the play ‘The Ugly One’, directed by Mike Stubbs

and continuing with

‘Your Face, Your Fortune’,

created by Tamar Daly and Sara Popowa in response to the play.

New Venture Theatre, Bedford Place, Brighton

bar opens 6 pm, show starts 7:45 pm

16, 17 (matinee 2:30), 19, 20, 21, 22 January

Premiere Saturday 16th

Tickets £8 or £9 final Fri/Sat. All tickets £6 on Tuesday.

Reserve online at www.newventure.org.uk or phone 01273 746118.

‘The Ugly One’ is a sharp and bizarre comedy on beauty, identity and getting ahead (or a face) in life. Lette thought he was normal. But to everyone else, including his loving wife, he is ‘unspeakably ugly’. When the extent of his ugliness is revealed he turns to a plastic surgeon for help. But after the bandages come off, Lette soon learns that there is such a thing as too beautiful. This play owes glancing debts to the Marx Brothers and Kenny Everett and laughs at our obsession with external beauty.

‘Your Face, Your Fortune’ extends the themes of ‘The Ugly One’ into a live happening. It toys with the possibility of changing one's fortune by changing one's face and invites the audience to participate in a 'photographic facial surgery'.

Be prepared for it to get a little sticky….

NEW YEAR FORTUNE

I went to an amazing, happy party at Pop-up Studios, Lewes, organised by friends p&i (who are cycling to Japan in 2010-12, this night was their fun & fund-raiser). They spent weeks doing up an unused and junk-filled part of the studios, making it into a perfect party-space; two dance floors, a bar, two chill-out spaces and even a wardrobe!

I arrived just before midnight to do a 'anti-countdown-performance'. The night then continued into the next day, full of wonderful friends and people enjoying what may be the best new year party I've been to since my clubbing days in Tokyo (and that's more than a decennia ago!)...

After a snooze at the studios on New Year's Day, we went for an epic walk in the downs, climbing iced-moss-covered hills with clear sky and stunning views. Having no walking-shoes with me, I looked stylish on the hilltop in heels as pictured above :)

For the midnight performance I used the idea of o-mikuji, literally meaning 'sacred lottery'; fortunes printed on strips of paper, popular in Japanese shrines and temples.

By email I asked people I know to give me 10 words to use for the paper strips. The words were collected in the last 24 hours of 2009, printed, cut strips, and attached with yarn to a gorgeous white dress. 168 words in total!

Entering the main space of the party minutes before midnight, I wore a black detachable dress over the white one (have no photos..). At 12, in the middle of the space, i ripped the black dress off revealing all the paper fortunes hanging from the white dress. The next hour or so I moved around in the crowd, offering people to pick their fortune off the dress. Here are some of them:

Here are all the words people sent me.

I asked for words that make you happy or you wish for

18 participants (living in 7 different cities/towns, and 3 different countries)

Korg microphone holidays sun water dreams spring swim south music

warmth love intimacy pink lime green clean clear sparkle taste plant

mas fuerza, mas energía, mas amor, mas hacer el amor

yes friends too play remember soft love path today unfenced

お父さん、お母さん、すし、うなぎ、そば に うどん ありがとう

Mesmerification Dodecahedonism Talismanagement Sausages Second rate Woody Grill Kinichiwa Singapore noodles Ember viridian

belong in the wind

belong in the snow

belong to the trees

the rain and your love

belong to the water

belong to the sun

belong to everyone

and no one at all

mountains flow dance faith clarity kisses love openess stars hope

ים שמש אהבה שלווה בריאות חברות יצירה הגשמה שלום חלום

chocolate charcoal skin eye lashes lips rain primavera planetas air landing

Blessing upon harmony of action and inaction reaching lasting beauty

transformation mysticism friends myth adventure growth enlightenment schpongle-juice doitch 'oh' wheels cranks fast cars & bitches loveguns pistonpower pistonlegs

tweek rising sun together regenerate east

amal, baraka, rahma, farah, iman, salam, wahab, ihsan, rachid, noor

Vårmorgonsgryning i skånsk skogsdunge. Dofter. Ljus.

Uppvaknande fåglars intensiva sång. Svensk naturromantik.

Hälsa, Pengar, Strand, Hav, Himmel, Sol, Växter, Min docksamling, Opera, Skönhet i alla former, Vackra ting, Lieder, Måla, Skapa

let your blossom blossom and everything else will follow too.

your passion will transcend into a flowering process within and outside of you

peanut-butter morning better later keys Earl Grey act car snow soup