On November 5th 2016, Paula Varjack found herself queuing at 4am, outside a shopping centre in east London, for the collaboration between the high-end designer KENZO and high street label H&M. Five hours later, she and twenty others were given ten minutes to shop a cordoned-off section of a store. After paying at a till staffed by applauding sales assistants, she emerged carrying the largest shopping bag she'd ever carried, in a complete daze. What had just happened? What was it about Kenzo?
THE CULT OF K*NZO is a solo performance combining storytelling, videography, sound design and choreography, to playfully explore one woman's lifelong desire for luxury, the ways in which brands create that desire, and the journey of one man's dream to become a fashion designer. Across all of these stories are outsiders, the tension between inclusion and exclusion, and the mysterious allure of high-end. Why do we want the things that we want? What's in a brand?
Co-commissioned by Camden People's Theatre and Battersea Arts Centre. Developed at Barbican Open Lab, ARC, Live Art Bistro, The Marlborough, The Bikeshed, Poplar Union and rehearsed at Old Diorama Arts Centre. Supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.
"Our children live in the most deprived ward in London and their parents cannot afford to pay for the classes and activities many more privileged children enjoy after school and at the weekends. A free-to-access youth group run by a local theatre in a professional setting is an incredible opportunity."
Local school teacher
