I TRIED TO FUCK UP THE SYSTEM BUT NONE OF MY FRIENDS TEXTED BACK

Travis Alabanza

TSOTF + Wellcome Collection Co-Commission

Presented at:

Wellcome Collection as part of Care and Destruction 2019.

Sat on the tube wondering if the person next to me wants to cry as well. In a Dr's office and wondering who else feels perpetually lonely. At a rally screaming slogans and wondering if anyone knows how to hug.

I Tried To Fuck Up The System But None Of My Friends Texted Back is a new piece of experimental performance work by Travis Alabanza, looking at the ways in which intimacy has been left out of our political discourse. 'I Tried To...' places the audience into Alabanza's internal dialogue and waits for the moment where they decide to join in, asking "can we really change the world if we are still afraid of everyone we do not know?".  Exploring loneliness, intimacy, and the secrets you didn't think you would say out loud - 'I tried to fuck up the system but none of my friends texted back ', is Alabanza trying to figure it out, knowing that they cannot do it alone.

Sound design by Danielle Brathwaite Shirley.

Bio: 
Travis Alabanza is an award winning performance artist, theatre maker and writer. In the last three years they have cemented themselves as one of the most prominent emerging queer voices, as noted by ID, Dazed & Mobo awards. Their unique blend of writing, style and performance has had their work performed in venues such as The Tate, V&A, Roundhouse, Royal Exchange Theatre, Harvard University and Hamburg International, and their writing has been in The Guardian, BBC, Dazed and more. Alabanza's recent theatre show Burgerz, sold-out to rave reviews, and their poetry book 'Before I Step Outside (you love me') has been shipped to over 22 countries.

Connect on social media @travisalabanza #Witness #Loneliness # Collective #Acceptance