In March 2013 I performed Crisis Cabaret, a chapter from my novella Common, live onstage at the Barbican Theatre in London. The event, titled Cabaret Duchamp, had been organised in the context of the exhibition Dancing Around Duchamp at the Barbican Gallery. In my performance I read from my novella Common after which Loose Change performed a Busby Berkeley style dance with shield-sized pennies. They were accompanied by Steve Beresford on piano.

The performance was made in collaboration with the specially formed ensemble Loose Change. The penny shields in this performance were made by artist Cat Phillipps for her interactive art-work Small Change, which originally took place on the anti-cuts demo March for the Alternative in 2011. My dress was a wearable painting by Lisa Milroy, while Steve Beresford accompanied the performance on a the piano.

The cabaret included performances by Martin Creed, Dog Kennel Hill Project, Stewart Lee with Tania Chen and Steve Beresford, Margaret Leng Tan and Ai Weiwei (by video).

Performance photographs courtesy of Benedict Johnson

Related works: Common, Histoire Economique & Bankspeak