Orla Barry SPIN SPIN SCHEHERAZADE

SPIN SPIN SCHEHERAZADE is a live artwork by Orla Barry, performed by Einat Tuchman, her long-standing collaborator. It blends autofiction and oral history to create a humorous and passionate monologue. The performance is rooted in an artistic form of ‘barefoot anthropology’, recounting Barry’s tenuous interactions with the land, farming, man, and animal. It reflects on the culture of disconnection from the natural world and the boundaries of art and the rural everyday. Barry draws on her background running a successful pedigree Lleyn sheep flock alongside her art practice. She produces crossover artworks that blend text, narrative performance and visual art, inhabiting the space between theatre and gallery.

The 2023 tour of SPIN SPIN SCHEHERAZADE is presented by Temple Bar Gallery + Studios in association with Dublin Theatre Festival; Wexford Arts Centre; and Crawford Art Gallery in association with Cork Midsummer Festival. Written and directed by Orla Barry; Performed by Einat Tuchman and Orla Barry; Design assistance by Tanad Aaron, Lutece Mauger, Adrian Doyle; Commissioned by MuZee, Oostend, and EVA International; Supported by KAAI theater, Wexford Arts Centre, Funded by the Arts Council of Ireland.

Orla Barry lives and works in Wexford. Her recent solo exhibitions include MuZee, Ostend; Crawford Art Gallery, Cork; ARGOS Centre for Art and Media, Brussels; and mother's tankstation, Dublin. Her work has been shown at EVA International and the RHA Dublin, and performed at KAAI theatre, Brussels; Museum M, Leuven; SMAK, Gent; IMMA, Dublin; Dublin Theatre Festival; Project Arts Centre, Dublin; South London Gallery; Tate Modern, London; and De Appel, Amsterdam.

Tickets are now for sale through Dublin Theatre Festival.

Image description: White text reading ‘SPIN SPIN SCHEHERAZADE’ against a black background. It forms a circular shape and is in a hand written font. In the centre of the text are two greyscale figures, each standing on a plinth and holding a sheep directly above their head. The person on the left wears plain dark paints and a lighter coloured T-shirt. The person on the right has bare feet, and wears a polka dot swimsuit and a pale dressing gown.