The Famous Lauren Barri Holstein is a dirty slut. We went to high school together, and I once saw her killing babies under the bleachers. She always thought I hated her because I was jealous of her perfect cunt and her fame. Now who’s jealous, bitch? I’m married, pregnant, and a real woman, and she’s still a filthy whore with a big Jewish nose and no boyfriend. Even though she’s shown her cunt at every major venue in the universe, she’s just a desperate whore. Keep crying about your loneliness, you big-titted disaster. I’m so bored of writing this. Here’s some information you can masturbate about. Bye.
Since 2010, Lauren Barri Holstein has developed a substantial body of work (Notorious, Splat!, How to Become a Cupcake, How 2 Become 1, Lady Love, Cherry Pop, Women are Pathetic and How to be Amazing) presented in Live Art, Dance, and Theatre contexts including The Barbican (London, UK), SPILL Festival (London, UK), In Between Time Festival (Bristol, UK), Fierce Festival (Birmingham, UK), Duckie (London, UK), Fresh AiR (London, UK), The Basement (Brighton, UK), FEM Fest (Girona, Spain), and Abrons Art Center (New York, U.S.), gaining respect and notoriety within the Live Art world (‘Darling of the alternative performance scene’ – Time Out). She has collaborated with a number of prominent UK artists, including Kira O’Reilly, Dominic Johnson, Julia Bardsley, Martin O’Brien, and Manuel Vason.
Her most prominent work to date, Splat!, commissioned by SPILL Festival of Performance, premiered as the opening of SPILL 2013 at The Barbican, London. It was named Time Out’s ‘Critic’s Choice in Dance’, one of Time Out’s ‘Must See Shows of 2013’, one of The Stage’s ‘Dance Picks of 2013’, and one of The Guardian’s ‘Theatre Picks’. A segment on Splat!, and Holstein’s wider practice, was featured on BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour.
Her new stage piece, Notorious, will tour in October and November 2017, supported by The Barbican, PACT Zollverein, Arts Council England, Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts, Kone Foundation, Fierce Festival, and Reykjavik Dance Festival. Holstein’s work has also been supported by Laban Conservatory of Dance, Queen Mary University of London, and Live Art Development Agency. Holstein is an Artsadmin Associate Artist.
Holstein holds a PhD from Queen Mary, University of London and is a visiting lecturer at various UK and European universities. She has authored several published articles, including: ‘A Queer Family Tree’ in The Only Way Home Is Through the Show: The Performance Work of Lois Weaver, ed. by Jen Harvie and Lois Weaver; ‘Splat!: Death, Mess, Failure and Blue-Balling’, in Performance Research; ‘The Cyclical Pleasure/Death of Symbolization in How to Become a Cupcake/The Famous’ Adaption of Frankenstein’, in On Repetition: Writing, Performance, Art, ed. by Eirini Kartsaki; and several articles for Feminist Times and Dance Theatre Journal.