The other never waits. Sometimes I want to play the part of the one who doesn’t wait; I try to busy myself elsewhere, to arrive late; but I always lose at this game: whatever I do, I find myself there, with nothing to do, punctual, even ahead of time. The lover’s fatal identity is precisely: I am the one who waits. - Roland Barthes, A lover's Discourse



The Bomb Factory Art Foundation presents You Are the Sole Actor in Your Life, a live, immersive installation combining theatre, poetry, and visual art in our Holborn gallery space on June 7th and 8th from 6-9pm.


You Are the Sole Actor in Your Life examines the complexities and pitfalls of modern dating, inviting audiences to become voyeurs to conversations between couples and friends within an immersive cafe installation, set against the backdrop of Zinshtein's paintings and drawings. This multi-layered, immersive performance marks another creative collaboration between artist-writer Yulia Zinshtein and filmmaker Emma Westenberg, who have collaborated to co-create a script and a live performance.


Zinshtein's work evokes a cinematic world of desire, reverie, and intimate personal narratives. Westenberg, renowned for her nuanced explorations of relationships through an incisive female lens, compliments Zinshtein's artistry as they delve into the nuances of human connection with humour and insight.


At its core, You Are the Sole Actor in Your Life reflects on the universal need for love and connection in an increasingly virtual world. Through the amalgamation of poetry, painting, and live performance, this interdisciplinary work serves us that real, tangible relationships – not virtual realities – constitute the profound essence of human experience.