Bad Immigrant
Absurdist and funny exploration of belonging, colonialism and identity. It’s a roller disco about immigration. Obvs
Following its successful run at the Edinburgh Fringe, Jennifer Irons’ new show Bad Immigrant will perform at London’s Jacksons Lane on 4 Oct as part of a short tour of venues in cities designated as cities of sanctuary.
When Brexit hit, Canadian born UK immigrant Jennifer Irons was advised by a friendly neighbour to “go home”. But she’s lived here for 25 years, and the former UK colony doesn’t really want her kind either. Apparently she’s too old, too broke and not nearly sporty enough. In fact, she wouldn’t be eligible for a visa to live in Canada at all if she hadn’t been born there. In her absurdly funny new show Bad Immigrant, Jennifer explains how this led her to seek to become a champion roller skater.
With her age, qualifications and gender, the only visas she would be eligible for are for the very rich or as an ‘Elite Sportsperson’. So, inspired by her childhood figure skating hero, Jennifer embarks on her madcap quest.
En-route, she discovers an ever-moving, welcoming, inspirational global and borderless community of people of all ages, sizes, nationalities, sexualities, identities, abilities and proclivities. She also highlights the futility and absurdities of borders, and asks, ‘why do we insist on keeping people out of our group when we all simply want to be included?’
Featuring dance, comedic storytelling, German techno, dancing salmon, an original score, creative captioning, projection mapping and, of course, lots of roller skating, Bad Immigrant is an absurdly funny and occasionally sad cross between a leisure roller disco and Stars On Ice.
Venue details
- Address:
- Jacksons Lane
- 269a Archway Road
- London
- N6 5AA