Best known as the lead singer and main songwriter for seminal American art rock band Throwing Muses, Kristin Hersh’s solo spoken word performance draws from her own life as a young woman wrestling with issues of mental illness, creativity, teenage pregnancy and the pressure of sudden fame.

At times funny, at times sad and always candid, this wry and vivid work characterises Hersh’s double life as a cripplingly shy artist who is simultaneously recognised for her brutal honesty in the spotlight.

Combining film, music and memoir Paradoxical Undressing is a moving experience which lingers in the mind.

Please note: There is no support act for this show and Kristin Hersh will be on stage at 7pm sharp on January 17-18, 20-22 and 6pm sharp on January 23-24.


Ages 18 and above

Throwing Muses appear at Beck's Festival Bar.

Kristin Hersh - Paradoxical Undressing is playing as part of the Samsung Mobile Festival Garden. For more events at this precinct, click here. From 5pm, the Samsung Mobile Festival Garden is an over 18s venue.

To view the Samsung Mobile Festival Gardern mini mag, click here.

You can be among the first to know who is playing at Samsung Mobile Secret Shows. To register for Samsung SMS alerts during the Festival, click here.

PHOTO: DINA DOUGLASS

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WHAT THE PRESS SAID

“It's a joyful journey, and her exploration of the role of music in her incipient mental illness is fascinating. And a lot of the time, it's also extremely funny – her opening story about The Animal that lived in her squat is worth the price of admission alone…more” – Time Out Sydney – 20 January

“Implicitly, too, the show is a document of hope: a path for overcoming tough times to grow up into a wise and whole human being.” – The Sydney Morning Herald – 19 January 

 

“…the performance has received glowing reviews, all remarking on the power of Hersh’s spoken word and confronting subject matter.” – 3-D World – 19 January

"Rush on out and buy tickets to see Kristin Hersh at once…utterly unmissable." - Broadwaybaby.com

"Her words are powerful, yet gently mesmerising ... more" - The Independent

"Hersh is simply one of the most gifted artists around ... more" - Rolling Stone

"A magnificently charged union of Sylvia Plath and Patti Smith.*****" - The Guardian

"Sometimes amusingly precocious, they grow more intense and visceral when she begins to spiral towards breakdown, describing hallucinations, self-harming and an ultimate surrender of identity: 'The music is real - I'm not' ... more" - The Guardian

"She has a prodigious songwriting talent for which she claims little credit, feeling that songs come almost complete from elsewhere. She is forced to write them down if she is to get any peace. Twenty-eight years and 17 albums since she formed her band Throwing Muses, the songwriting process remains as mysterious and unbidden as ever: an act in which she is more medium or stenographer than agent or creator...more"
- The Brisbane Times

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