After years of making appearances in shows and doing hosting I decided to make my own performance! And I didn’t stop at one!

What Tammy Needs to Know (2003-3006)

My first show was called What Tammy Needs to Know, and started when I set out to complete my education by touring a solo performance internationally. My show ended up being a combination of solo performance, installation, and dialogue with the audience that was a whole lot of fun. This project was funded by a Research and Development Grant from the Arts Council of England (2002) and a Playwriting Commission from New York Council on the Arts (2004), and was performed at Dixon Place in NYC (2004), Drill Hall in London (2005-06) and Glasgay! in Glasgow, UK (2005); Warsaw Theatre Institute, Warsaw, Poland, (2006); and Kiasma, Museum of Contemporary Art in Helsinki (2006).

What Tammy Found Out (2012-2013)

After What Tammy Needs to Know, Lois was about to become a professor at Queen Mary University of London. As part of this whole process they wanted her to give a big song and dance - a lecture in other words. So Lois asked if I would help. This led to What Tammy Found Out, a front line report from the back porch, school yard and dinner table, which was performed as Lois’s inaugural lecture at QMUL. I presented my findings from my research on education and class; high art and popular culture; performance and human rights.

The overarching aim of this performance was to use the persona of Tammy WhyNot to slowly transform the audience from passive viewer to active participant in a lively discussion on the sharing of skills and experience as a form of education. Presented as an Inaugural Lecture at Queen Mary University of London (March 2012); the Australasian Society for the Study of Theatre, Drama and Performance Studies Conference (August 2012), the Sexuality Summer School, Manchester University (May 2013) and at the Performance Studies international Conference, Stanford University (June 2013).

What Tammy Needs to Know About Getting Old and Having Sex (2012-Present)

While I was working on What Tammy Found Out I started to think a lot about sex. This led to creating my next show, which was an international, intergenerational mission to ask all the difficult questions, talk to those who really know and find out the truth about sex, and all its associations, at midlife and beyond.

Part performance, part chat show, all comeback tour, What Tammy Needs to Know About Getting Old and Having Sex was developed in collaboration with older people in Croatia, New York and the UK, drawing on their stories and experiences. This project initiates dialogue and workshops with women over sixty in order to create an interactive performance that addresses sex and the ageing woman. Whatever the media might suggest, sex is certainly not just for the young!

What Tammy Needs to Know About Getting Old and Having Sex has been supported by Arts Council England, the Wellcome Trust, the Guggenheim Fellowship, and Queen Mary University of London.