"No Contract" By Kirsten Wilson
Category: Event Calendar
Dates and Times
- Saturday, Sep 19, 2026 7pm - 9:30pm
- Saturday, Sep 26, 2026 7pm - 9:30pm
- Saturday, Oct 3, 2026 7pm - 9:30pm
Location
Dairy Arts Center
2590 Walnut St
Details
“Is there a way to have dementia without tragedy, when ‘to be or not to be’ is always the question?”
No Contract is a tragicomic two-person physical theater play by Kirsten Wilson about the dementia of her mother – Marie Wilson, founder of ‘Take Our Daughters to Work Day,’ LGBTQ+ leader, author, and equity-based feminist. It features Kirsten Wilson as the lead performer, with a musical underscore she developed in collaboration with Anthony Salvo, who plays the role of the ‘Spanda Principle’ violinist.
The dramatic ‘contract’ at the heart of this two-act performance is her mother’s request to be killed if she loses her mind. The production blends autobiographical storytelling, Hamlet, King Lear, karaoke, and audience engagement to explore the complex tension between choosing life and death—the “to be and not to be” of assisted suicide after a dementia diagnosis.
In No Contract, Wilson uses humor, heart, and the medicine of music to prevent both the performance and her mother’s life from becoming a Lear-like tragedy. As Wilson says in Act One, “My mother’s life was always supposed to be a romantic comedy, a 1950’s musical, except with lesbians dancing in the street. I will not let it turn toward tragedy.”
