At the end of a 25-date UK tour, the fast, fun multimedia theatre show Nine Sixteenths, inspired by the media rise, fall and rise again of Janet Jackson, is set for a run at Brixton House, 19-30 May
At the 2004 Super Bowl, Justin Timberlake exposed Janet Jackson’s breast and nipple to a huge live TV audience for nine sixteenths of a second. This brief moment derailed Jackson’s career for many years, while Timberlake’s thrived.
Nine Sixteenths unpacks the rise, fall, and rise again of global pop superstar Jackson, and what this says about how black women are treated by the media. Created by artist/theatre-maker Paula Varjack, it explores coming of age in the 1990s and the hugely influential role Jackson played, especially for young black women. It’s fast, fun and hugely entertaining – the venue and audience are transported to a world of stadium concerts and TV studios. It takes the audience on a journey, exploring themes of representation and pop culture with a nostalgia for the early 00’s, and the hopes and dreams of four black female performers through a visual variety of devised theatre, dance, and lip-sync.
It amply demonstrates how Jackson helped shape our contemporary cultural landscape, paving the way for artists such as Britney Spears, Beyoncé, and Rihanna, and shows how a struggling video-sharing site called YouTube began attracting clicks when it became the place to rewatch the incident!
The tour took in cities including Manchester, Leeds, Bristol, Coventry, Wolverhampton, Leicester, Brighton, Nottingham, Oxford and many more.
Paula said ‘Janet Jackson was a tremendous icon to me at a time when I had relatively few black female artists to look to. She was a game changer in so many ways – and did it on her terms. After her ‘wardrobe malfunction’, the music industry let her down in ways so effective that many thought her career faded away. Yet she kept working, making music and films. Now, finally, the injustice of what happened is being recognised. In the end, it’s the art that matters. As an iconic role model for many black women and an outspoken ally for the LGBTQI+ community, she made great art. The show also looks at why role models matter and the lack of older female role models of colour, and the role that (largely) white male media executives play in deciding who thrives in mainstream pop culture.
Who was invested in the backlash and became obsessed with blocking Jackson’s success? Who joked over her humiliation? How have all those involved profited since?
All dates feature British Sign Language by Jacqui Beckford and Vinessa Brant as an integral part of the production.
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