Theatrical premiere of Chamber Music for Europe (Nonent for Selma Vaz Dias) by The Writers Theatre Directors Theatre: September 8th 2019 at 8 pm, Flagey Studio 1

– The Paintings of Selma Vaz Dias –

Continuing his explorations of visual and theatrical economies and the queering of value, Than Hussein Clark presents a suite of nine paintings by the ground breaking Anglo-Dutch actress Selma Vaz Dias, unseen since the 1960s. Vaz Dias, known for her pivotal role in the early reception of both Jean Genet and Frederico García Lorca and the internationalisation of the English stage, was also a writer, producer, and political activist and began painting in the early 1960s until her death in 1977.

– Chamber Music for Europe (Nonent for Selma Vaz Dias) –

The exhibition will be followed by the premier of Than Hussein Clark’s newest theatrical work with the Director’s Theatre Writer’s Theatre. Drawing on the unpublished autobiography of Vaz Dias, ‘The Property Of…’, this new play addresses the actress’s pivotal and misunderstood role in the rediscovery of the Anglo-Dominican writer Jean Rhys, her proximities to the early histories of psychiatry, and her ground breaking work as a female producer of cultural material – plays, films, writings, and paintings.

With thanks to the estate of Selma Vaz Dias, The ensemble of The Director’s Theatre Writer’s Theatre – Henry Ashton, Markus Bernhard Börger, Steff Golding, Lisa Heinrici, Malwina Kajetańczyk, Valerie McCann, Luis Odriozola, Laura Schuller