The year is 1892. A young woman in pain enters a doctor‘s office. She leaves that office a man, seeks out another doctor in another office, leaves it a woman again, seeks out another doctor in another office, leaves that office a ‚hermaphrodite‘. Her visits take place during a century that defined ‚sex‘ as we believe to know it. One doctor after another records her visits in great detail, none of them takes her pain. Their records are used to fuel a drawn out fight over the existence of inter*people and an insatiable interest for their perceived deceptiveness. Louise, her doctor’s claim, undresses professionally, as many of those that became subject to medical record. Roux’s lecture is based on her research for the performance ‚JUICE‘, tracing back the complex history of inter*people undressing in backrooms, for so-called medical training or as part of exhibitions. Using archival material from 1700-1920 she tells the story of the medical communities‘obsession with the intersex body and the means of inter*individuals to turn this obsession into possibilities for independence from a binary world.
River Roux is a performer, writer, and pole dancer. Her work focuses on the intersections of labor, gender, care, and sex. Roux’s performances begin in archives, where she traces the lives of trans* and inter* people. Since the 26/27 season, Roux has been part of the ensemble at the Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz. There, in 2024, she staged the solo piece JUICE with Bibiana Mendes. The following year, Roux researched and conceptualized ‘ANDROGYNOUS’ in collaboration with Lola Arias at the Maxim Gorki Theater. In May 2026, Mendes & Roux’s second joint work, ‘prick prick boom’, premiered on the third floor of the Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz. From 2021 to 2023, Roux was part of the Berlin Stripper’s Collective. Roux’s works have been invited to the 6 TAGE FREI Festival, the auawirleben Festival, the Schwankhalle in Bremen, the Münchner Kammerspiele, the Gessnerallee in Zurich, and the Gropiusbau.
This event will be held in German spoken language. Admission: Free!
This event is part of the series “A History of Sneaking,” a series of talks on inter* history by Juliana Gleeseon, Jako Wende, and River Roux. A project of the Schwules Museum Berlin.
Bild: River Roux