Sweat & Tears

Two men batter but don’t draw blood. Two women weep but their faces stay dry. What happens when emotions are enacted not experienced? What makes the fake?

James and Jess are in a relationship. They both cry. She hits things more than he does, but he used to be a well-honed instrument of death. Jess found violence and rage in ballet, keening, orgone therapy. James searched for compassion in martial arts, street fighting, Mongolian wrestling. Apart, they asked four performers what it means to fight as men, to cry as women. Together, they’ve built a two-ring circus of gendered pain welling up with Sweat & Tears, two alchemies of salt and water, two body responses to the difficult work of feeling.