“Their return to the Southbank Centre in February will be an early highlight of 2023’s performance and dance programme.”

-Mark Ball, Artistic Director of the Southbank Centre

Southbank Centre announces the anticipated return of Holly Blakey’s Cowpuncher My Ass featuring London Contemporary Orchestra (LCO). An expanded Cowpuncher My Ass will be on show for one night only at the Royal Festival Hall on Wednesday 15 February 2023, following the sell-out success of its previous stagings in the Queen Elizabeth Hall in 2018 and 2020. The genre-defying performance piece commissioned by the Southbank Centre with choreographer Holly Blakey, original score by Mica Levi and costume design by Andreas Kronthaler for Vivenne Westwood, has been developed by the creative team to transform the Royal Festival Hall into Blakey and Levi’s visceral Western-inspired world, alongside the London Contemporary Orchestra for the first time.

Cowpuncher My Ass explores the vibrant, and often violent, tale of the Wild West genre. Cowboys wrestle with gender stereotypes, identity and sexual politics as they venture into the territory between high art and popular culture. A centrepiece of the production are the bold costumes, from corseted dresses to oversized shirts and western belts, these raw, unisex designs evoke a modern spirit of punk.

Date: Wed 15 Feb 2023, 7.30pm, Price: £22.50 ⁠–⁠ £40, Location: Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London, SE1 8XX.