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Free Admission

Showing on January 31 – February 2

Playing at Scotiabank Dance Centre

Free Admission performance wall salute

Ursula Martinez (UK)

“[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.

Venue

Scotiabank Dance Centre

677 Davie Street, Vancouver

Showtimes

January 31
February 1
February 2
Post-Show Talkback: Feb 1
60 mins, no intermission

8:30PM
8:30PM
4PM

Tickets

Single tickets $39
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Or call 604.449.6000

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Access

Icon signalling a low vision friendly performance

Low Vision Friendly / Introduction below

Icon signalling a performance with signed interpretation

ASL-Interpretation on Feb 2

Icon signalling a relaxed performance (casual or low sensory)

Relaxed Performance: Feb 1 / Visual Story Below / Introduction starts at 8PM

Click here for the pdf version of the Introduction for patrons who are blind or have low vision
Click here to download the Word version

Click here to see and download the Visual Story
Click here to see and download the Visual Story for the Scotiabank Dance Centre

Informational Vlog in ASL

Credits

WRITER, PERFORMER Ursula Martinez DIRECTOR Mark Whitelaw PRODUCTION MANAGER Anya Tavkar LIGHTING DESIGNER Christopher Copland

CO-COMMISSIONED BY Southbank Centre, Fierce Festival FUNDED BY Arts Council England

Partners