Free Admission

Ursula Martinez (UK)

Ticket info

“[A] full-frontal statement and demonstration of honesty, vulnerability and power.”
—Time Out

Uncouth, uncensored and… undressed? Ursula Martinez gets personal, political and philosophical in this soul-baring solo performance. Call it a monologue with a meta twist: though it’s honest and unsparing, Free Admission comes with a commentary on its own limits, and on the politics of spectacle. As Martinez holds forth on the paradoxes of life, the absurdity of contemporary living and her own intimate feelings, she builds a wall between herself and the audience—a brick wall, to be exact.

“[F]unny, tongue-in-cheek, heartfelt and emotional.”
—The Guardian

Piece by piece, Martinez erects this barrier even as her show gets more and more personal; the relationship between the visual and the verbal becomes complicated in fascinating ways. What happens when the wall is complete? Let’s leave room for some surprises… Free Admission is a funny, foul-mouthed send-up of digital-age self-promotion. The humour is biting but ultimately forgiving, even celebratory. Martinez offers that rarest of things: satire without misanthropy.

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Artist Bio

Ursula Martinez (UK)

Writer, performer and director Ursula Martinez hails from the U.K. She was quick to rise on the London cabaret scene, and soon thereafter came into prominence in the theatre world with shows including A Family Outing. She is an associate artist with the performance group Duckie; their C’est Duckie! won them an Olivier Award.