Nine Sixteenths

In 2004, in the SuperBowl halftime show finale, 23 year old Justin Timberlake ripped off 37 year old Janet Jackson’s top. Her breast was exposed on screen for nine sixteenths of a second. A pop icon and role model for many black women, and an outspoken ally for the LGBTQ community, the moment derailed Jackson’s career for many years, while Timberlake’s thrived.

But who was invested in the backlash? What does all this have to say about the demographics of who controls the media, and the ways in which black women are scrutinised in the public eye?

From THE MALFUNCTION to THE AFTERMATH and a celebration of RECLAMATION, Nine Sixteenths invites you on a journey through 3 acts, exploring themes of representation and pop culture with a nostalgia for the early 00’s, along with the hopes and dreams of 4 black female performers, all through a visual variety of devised theatre, dance and lip sync.

Nine Sixteenths joins theatre maker Paula Varjack with choreographer/maker Pauline Mayers, actress/director Endy McKay and choreographer Julienne Doko, for a cultural odyssey, to work out what happened and what is happening still…

Developed with Complicite Co-Commissioned by Pleasance & Cambridge Junction with support from the Stobbs New Ideas Fund Supported using public funding through the National Lottery by Arts Council England & with funding from the Danish Arts Foundation With further support from Proteus Theatre, Attenborough Arts Centre & Brixton House.