Press

MediaMedia.htmlMedia.htmlshapeimage_2_link_0
ProjectsProjects.htmlProjects.htmlshapeimage_3_link_0
Pressshapeimage_4_link_0
MISCMISC.htmlMISC.htmlshapeimage_5_link_0
BioBio.htmlBio.htmlshapeimage_6_link_0
ContactContact.htmlContact.htmlshapeimage_7_link_0
EventsEvents.htmlEvents.htmlshapeimage_8_link_0
 
This is the Thing high resolution press photos This is the Thing sample video clip Other high resolution photos Read press archives Contact Kirk Read Read SF Weekly review of first run of This is the Thing Read SF Bay Guardian review of second run of This is the Thing Press release for This is the Thing Press contact: Kirk Read, 415-722-0828, kirkread at earthlink.net This is the Thing, a multimedia performance by Kirk Read August 7-9, 8pm Thursday-Saturday August 14-16, 8pm Thursday-Saturday Thursdays are pay what you can Saturdays there are two shows at 8pm and 10pm Shotwell Studios 3252A 19th Street at Shotwell MAP Tickets: $12-20 sliding scale www.brownpapertickets.com/event/38121 We're back! The initial five night run of this show sold out, so we're back in a new venue. Writer/performer Kirk Read presents this midnight movie-style evening of stories and performances about sex work, hallucinations and the apocalypse. Read learned to perform in a touring Virginia evangelical youth group, with some in his hometown expecting him to become a preacher. Instead, Read became an escort and an avowed fan of magic mushrooms. Read is a different sort of preacher. Read's stories weave in and out of Jeffrey Alphonsus Mooney's soundscape, creating an atmosphere of magical trance. Read's humor and acute observation, together with Mooney's trippy, layered music will take you to church. Liz Singer's gorgeous videos will make your ass tremble. About the show’s initial run, Hiya Swanhuyser of SF Weekly said “the word ‘pray’ bubbles up from somewhere deep within Kirk Read, and it’s genius.” The Bay Area Reporter called it “hilarious and moving.” During the development process of this show, Kirk was obsessed with memories of a 400 pound sex work client, the Brady Bunch, learning to use a serger machine to make the costumes, pennies and touring through rural Alabama with strippers and praying in public. Kirk Read is the author of "How I Learned to Snap," which was named an Honor Book by the American Library Association. He wrote a forthcoming essay collection "This is the Thing" and a novel called “Fannie Floyd and the Book of Life.” He cohosts the open mics Smack Dab (with Larry-bob Roberts) and K'vetsh (with Tara Jepsen). He has toured the United States a number of times as an author and performer, most recently with the Sex Workers Art Show. He was part of the Neo-Dandy Cabaret at New Conservatory Theater, directed by Keith Hennessy. He's worked as a phlebotomist and HIV counselor at St. James Infirmary, a free clinic for sex workers. He is the director of Army of Lovers, a project to nurture new art by queer male performers, which is a project of Queer Cultural Center. He can be found at www.kirkread.com  Jeffrey Alphonsus Mooney (music) has been a culture worker and artist for over twenty years. He was a fixture at the legendary 848 Divisadaro Community Space and has collaborated with visionaries like Starhawk, Keith Hennessy, Jess Curtis, Sara Shelton Mann and Suzanne Sterling. He performs and teaches rhythm classes with the Bay Area pagan group Reclaiming and at Witch camps around the country. He was nominated for an Isadora Duncan dance award for his collaboration with Sean Dorsey and played drums with Shawna Virago on her upcoming album. Liz Singer (video artist) has made twelve short films which have screened in numerous national and international film festivals. Liz has worked on several commissioned projects for artists including a piece on the activist teachings of renowned performance artist Guillermo Gomez Pena. Liz has sat on juries and done film festival programming in Toronto and is an active member of that community. Recently, Liz has been exploring teaching work and movie making here in the East Bay in hopes of staying around for awhile. Douglas Hansen (designer of “The Conductor” sculpture) was born in Hollywood California and has had a lifelong love affair with the movies, Broadway musicals and costume design. In 1998 he took his first sewing lessons and began making elaborate costumes based on some of his favorite childhood stories: Snow White, Sleeping Beauty and Alice in Wonderland. He enrolled in professional apparel design classes in Seattle, and soon afterwards began designing and constructing costumes for several community theatres and corporations there. During this period he also created 34 costumes from his favorite film, “The Wizard of Oz,” all without using a single pattern. He has made  large groups of costumes that became legendary at Hell Ball and the Exotic Erotic balls. Since returning to San Francisco, Doug has revived his famous “Disney Divas,” and is planning his next project, Alice in Wonderland in Golden Gate Park’s Strybing Arboretum. Doug is pleased to have created “The Conductor” for tonight’s performance and he can be reached at 415-504-6115 and douglashansen66@hotmail.com  http://gallery.me.com/kirkread#100071http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k56ADAO9Zrwhttp://gallery.me.com/kirkread#100095Press_archive.htmlmailto:kirkread@earthlink.net?subject=Press:SF_Weekly.htmlhttp://newyorktimes.com/mailto:kirkread@earthlink.net?subject=Press:http://www.mapquest.com/maps?city=San+Francisco&state=CA&address=3252A+19th+Street+http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/38121http://www.kirkread.commailto:douglashansen66@hotmail.comSF_Guardian.htmlshapeimage_9_link_0shapeimage_9_link_1shapeimage_9_link_2shapeimage_9_link_3shapeimage_9_link_4shapeimage_9_link_5shapeimage_9_link_6shapeimage_9_link_7shapeimage_9_link_8shapeimage_9_link_9shapeimage_9_link_10shapeimage_9_link_11