gilded tongue is a multidisciplinary trans performance art collective founded by archi and cinthia lilen, inspired by our experiences in cabaret and traditional theatre as queer immigrants living in the UK. we aim to play with the essence of theatre and want to make “queer” work not only with the themes of our performances but also questioning the structures and institutions that have defined what performance is. we ask “what is a stage? what is an audience? who decides where the lights hit?” as much as “what is gender? what is language? who decides what truth is?”.
our practice infuses immersive and site-specific elements with the raw energy and intimacy of cabaret, bridging the gaps between performance genres. we constantly experiment with different levels of intensity and interaction, looking at how they affect the power relationship between audience and performer. this exploration is assisted by the use of multimedia such as screen projections, live recordings, photography and soundscapes, creating evolving pieces that can shift and adapt to every event and venue.
some of those performances already exist in different mediums such as on our instagram page and as part of our first showcase a family gathering, and many more are to come.
in parallel to our performance pieces, we are building the queer work manifesto, an open and evolving list of ideals towards a caring and anarchist practice.
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