“A show that prods at what it means to be human.” —The Guardian
This January, Sheffield-based theater company Forced Entertainment will present an exclusive US performance of Exquisite Pain in the Walker’s McGuire theater. The production takes inspiration from a seminal work of the same name by French conceptual artist Sophie Calle and is a related event for the Walker’s exhibition Sophie Calle: Overshare, on view through January 26. Exquisite Pain is part of Out There 2025: The Future of Theater, Today, an annual, multipart celebration of revolutionary inter/national theater presented every winter.
Exquisite Pain builds on the Walker’s longstanding relationship with the company, including presentations of Real Magic and Quizoola! in 2018. The performance explores how language, memory, and forgetting work to help people come to terms with traumatic events. Exquisite Pain captures the universality of the themes in Calle’s work and represents the first time that Forced Entertainment worked from another artist’s text.
Program support provided by Nor Hall and Roger Hale.
Forced Entertainment: Exquisite Pain
Thursday–Saturday, January 9–11, 7:30 pm
McGuire Theater
Tickets start at $15, fees included
ABOUT FORCED ENTERTAINMENT
“One of Britain’s greatest theatre companies.” —The Guardian
Formed in 1984 and based in Sheffield, Forced Entertainment is an ensemble of six artists—Robin Arthur, Richard Lowdon, Claire Marshall, Cathy Naden, and Terry O’Connor, led by director and writer Tim Etchells. The company’s work spans theatre, durational performance/live art, gallery installation, video, and digital media. Forced Entertainment continually tries to find new performance and theatre forms with which to describe contemporary urban life. Their work is emphatically a group creation made through improvisation and discussion, and drawing on theatre itself as well as on cinema, music culture, literature, and fine art.
Now in their twenty-first year, Forced Entertainment continue to make work which is engaging, challenging, and surprising, and explores the possibilities of what theatre might be.
TICKETS
Ordering tickets is easy: visit walkerart.org/tickets or call 612.375.7600. Prices include all applicable fees. Box Office is open Wednesday–Sunday and one hour before performances.
ACCESSIBILITY
ASL interpretation is planned for the Friday performance. Please click here to purchase ASL seats.
This performance contains explicit/adult language.
For more information about accessibility, visit our Access page.
For questions on accessibility, content and sensory notes, or to request additional accommodations, call 612.253.3556 or email access@walkerart.org.
STUDENTS COME EARLY
Students own the rush line! Get in line an hour before showtime for $15 rush tickets. One ticket per person with student ID. (Some restrictions apply.)
GET TOGETHER
Experience these performances in a group of 10 or more people and save 15% on tickets. Purchase group tickets online, over the phone, or in person. The discount is automatically applied at checkout on orders of 10 or more tickets to the same performance.
MEMBERS DO MORE
Become a member and enjoy a 20% discount on performance tickets, receive unlimited free gallery admission, and more. Call 612.375.7655 or visit walkerart.org/membership.
ABOUT THE WALKER ART CENTER
The Walker Art Center is a renowned multidisciplinary arts institution that presents, collects, and supports the creation of groundbreaking work across the visual and performing arts, moving image, and design. Guided by the belief that art has the power to bring joy and solace and the ability to unite people through dialogue and shared experiences, the Walker engages communities through a dynamic array of exhibitions, performances, events, and initiatives. Its multiacre campus includes 65,000 sq. ft. of exhibition space, the state-of-the-art McGuire Theater and Walker Cinema, and ample green space that connects with the adjoining Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. The Garden, a partnership with the Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board, is one of the first urban sculpture parks of its kind in the United States and home to the beloved Twin Cities landmark Spoonbridge and Cherry by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen. Recognized for its ambitious program and growing collection of more than 15,500 works, the Walker embraces emerging art forms and amplifies the work of artists from the Twin Cities and from across the country and the globe. Its broad spectrum of offerings makes it a lively and welcoming hub for artistic expression, creative innovation, and community connection.
Acknowledgments
Program support provided by Nor Hall and Roger Hale.
The Walker Art Center’s Performing Arts programs are made possible by generous support from the Doris Duke Foundation through the Doris Duke Performing Arts Fund, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Producers Council
Performing Arts programs and commissions at the Walker are generously supported by members of the Producers Council: Christina Evans and Weston Hoard; Nor Hall and Roger Hale; Judith Brin Ingber and Jerome Ingber; Neal Jahren; King’s Fountain/Barbara Watson Pillsbury; Sarah Lutman and Rob Rudolph; Emily Maltz; Leni and David Moore, Jr./The David and Leni Moore Family Foundation; Therese Sexe and David Hage; and Mike and Elizabeth Sweeney.
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