Miss Risqué

Miss Risqué (2001)

Miss Risqué is a story of secrets and showgirls in turn-of-the-century Paris, where working-class girls could become rich and famous, prostitutes could pass for nobility, women could have open affairs with women, and sex wasn’t exclusive to the marital bed. A piece on "resistant femininity," Miss Risqué is a lyrical lesbian tarantella that explores the power of femininity, visibility, invisibility and deception. The performance examines representations of gender and sexuality in the 1920's Paris Music Hall and investigates the power dynamics created by a hyper-feminine solo musical hall star who often served as her own director, designer and manager. This performance was the first collaboration between Split Britches and the renowned English theatre troupe Clod Ensemble.

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Miss Risqué was awarded a Nuffield Theatre Commission (Lancaster, UK, 2001) that included six-week residency for rehearsal and production, and was further supported by the National Lottery through the Arts Council of England, the London Arts Board, and Queen Mary, University of London. 

The piece was awarded an Arts Council of England Production and Touring Grant and was presented at the Nuffield Theatre, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK; Hoxton Hall, London; La Mama ETC, NYC and Roxbury Art Center, Roxbury NY in 2001; the Glasgay! Festival at The Tron, Glasgow in 2002, and the Roxbury Art Center in New York and the University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland in 2003.  

As a result of the investigation in this production, Lois was awarded an artist residency at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis to produce Salon de la Femme, a community performance project that was based on the themes and structure of Miss Risqué and utilized community performances practices to investigate cultural and regional representations of femininity. The residency consisted of a three-week workshop with 30 local women and culminated in a weekend of public performances at the Walker Art Center, June, 2001. 

Footage of the performance can be found here.

More info and media coming soon!