A conversation with queer performance artist Scottee about class, theatre, finding an audience – and making that audience feel welcome. Recorded in a slightly echo-y room at the end of 2016 and released to mark the publication of the script for Bravado, Scottee’s memoir of working class masculinity.
Scottee is a prolific creator with two full-length solo shows – Putting Words in Your Mouth and Bravado – and multiple smaller projects out in the world since the interview was recorded. These include the ongoing Unwarranted Collaboration series in which Scottee sources paintings from house clearances, charity shops and junk yards, and defaces them with slogans, From Wivenhoe, With Love for the Heritage Open Days festival and the recurring online workshop Notepad Warrior ‘to channel your inner art activist’.
In this interview, we talk about what drives him to make new shows, the sometimes unwelcoming culture of performance art, his collaboration with Chris Goode in making The Worst of Scottee and his reputation for making ‘risky’ work.