Roberta Mock
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robertamock.bsky.social
Roberta Mock
@robertamock.bsky.social
790 followers 510 following 260 posts
Professor at Royal Holloway, London, with focus on performing arts, creative industries, access & climate. 🇨🇦 in UK for a long time now. Tikkun olam 🍉. She/her. Posting in personal capacity only.
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robertamock.bsky.social
You can read 'Caryl Churchill's Eco-Socialist Feminism' by Elaine Aston (published by Cambridge University Press) for free online until 22 October:

www.cambridge.org/core/element...
Cover of Cambridge Elements title: Caryl Churchill's Eco-Socialist Feminism by Elaine Aston
October 8, 2025 at 12:49 PM
robertamock.bsky.social
If you see this, you can post a bridge too! This is the Ambassador Bridge between Windsor Ontario and Detroit. (I took this photo in August.)
Photo from ground level of a suspension bridge stretching over water. There's a freighter passing underneath. You can see the Detroit train station on the other side of the river.
September 26, 2025 at 8:34 PM
robertamock.bsky.social
Walter Benjamin died on this day 85 years ago.

"This is how one pictures the angel of history... Where we perceive a chain of events, he sees one single catastrophe which keeps piling wreckage... The angel would like to stay, awaken the dead & make whole what has been smashed." 🪽
Black and white photo of Walter Benjamin.
September 26, 2025 at 5:59 PM
robertamock.bsky.social
He goes by many names...
Screenshot of a Google image search of a man with a beard and baseball hat. He appears as Jordan Wade on Flickr, James Emre on X, Michael on Pinterest (with caption "Scammer pictur es, Medical photos, Doctor picture), Mohammad Hashim on Facebook, Robert Nice on LinkedIn) - with the question "Are these results useful?" on the bottom
September 12, 2025 at 8:28 PM
robertamock.bsky.social
Today I'm finishing my paper for the Bodies & Performance panel at the 20th annual @tapra.bsky.social conference starting Wednesday. I've been there from the beginning & wouldn't miss it for the world. My presentation topic is "The Fugitive Futurity of Danielle Abrams’ Jewish & Black Temporal Drag".
A photo of 3 people sitting at a bus stop. In the middle is Danielle Abrams in bubbe drag. She's wearing a babushka with flowers on it, sunglasses and a red cardigan, clutching a handbag. She's talking to two older men wearing baseball caps.
August 24, 2025 at 9:32 AM
robertamock.bsky.social
Still reeling from Rebecca McCutcheon's beautiful promenade site-specific production of Caryl Churchill's apocalyptic play "Far Away" for Lost Text/Found Space. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

It's on as part of the Camden Fringe until 23 August (with relaxed & BSL performances this week): camdenfringe.com/events/far-a...
Photo of part of the set for Far Away. There is a wall with the words "Your soul will expand into the sky" written on it in large black letters. There are bright white tube lights at foot of the wall. In the foreground in front of the wall are electricity pole structures with tufts of grass at the bottom. There seems to be a curved path on the ground. Above the wall is a mezzanine where there is another set for performance featuring hats and tube lights. There are many chairs on the mezzanine.
August 17, 2025 at 8:19 AM
robertamock.bsky.social
"Owls of the Night" (1990) by Inuk artist Pitaloosie Saila (1942-2001)
A lithograph of two graphic owls with spread wings facing the viewer, one on top of the other against a white background. The colours are subtle and gradated.
August 1, 2025 at 11:38 AM
robertamock.bsky.social
I feel like I've waited a long time to finally engage with Jenny Saville's work. Her exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery is extraordinary - visceral, bold, intimate, huge, luminous, brutal, tender. It's astonishing that some of these paintings were made in her early 20s. Just wow.
Painting by Jenny Saville of nude woman perched on black pedestal. Her fingers are digging into the flesh of her thighs. There is backwards writing in French etched into paint across picture. A detail from a painting by Jenny Saville of a woman's head. She is looking up and her eyes are milky blue A portion of a portrait painting by Jenny Saville of a young person with prominent front teeth and fleshy lips. Their face is coloured by a luminous rainbow A painting by Jenny Saville of three nude figures merging together.
July 17, 2025 at 8:04 PM
robertamock.bsky.social
Here ya go
Screenshot of BBC news article with title "School bus gets stuck under low bridge again" by Caroline Lowbridge
July 17, 2025 at 6:33 PM
robertamock.bsky.social
"Have a good time all the time." Go well, Viv Savage. 🎹
Black and white photo of David Kaff who played Viv Savage in Spinal Tap. He's looking at the camera, is wearing a striped shirt and embroidered jacket and has shoulder length frizzy hair.
July 15, 2025 at 7:42 PM
robertamock.bsky.social
Look up. Camden's texting.
"The World's End" pub takes up most of this photo. Blue sky and buildings are reflected in its upstairs windows. Behind it is a building with graffiti that reads "Get Rich or Try Sharing" in white capital letters. In the bottom corner of the photo is a traffic light signalling to stop and not walk across the street.
June 28, 2025 at 7:38 AM
robertamock.bsky.social
Hi I'm procrastinating so had a go. Of course I now have a shadow list of movies I regret not including. Ah well, I said what I said.
My ballot for New York Times 100 best movies of the 21st century, in no particular order: Poor Things Shaun of the Dead Sightseers There will be Blood Mulholland Drive A Serious Man The Wolf of Wall Street Stories We Tell No Country for Old Men The Grand Budapest Hotel
June 24, 2025 at 9:00 PM
robertamock.bsky.social
21 June is National Indigenous Peoples Day in Canada, a time to recognize and celebrate the history, heritage, resilience and diversity of First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples.
On the right are 3 illustrations placed around the date 21 June: an eagle representing First Nations, a narwhal representing Inuit, and a violin representing Métis.
June 21, 2025 at 2:52 PM
robertamock.bsky.social
What glorious sunshine for the Royal Holloway Open Day! I loved talking to visitors about their aspirations - & how exciting that so many are interested in studying Music + Maths! Thanks to our wonderful student ambassadors and talented choral & orchestral scholars who performed in the chapel! 🌞🎹🎓
Selfie of Roberta Mock wearing sunglasses. She is standing in a clearing in front of a large carved wooden bear - this is Royal Holloway's mascot, Colossus. Behind them are a bank of grass and green trees. It is possible to glimpse the Founders Building and some people in the distance. A musical recital by a flautist accompanied by a pianist in the ornate Royal Holloway chapel. A photo of visitors talking to animated Royal Holloway staff inside the Arts Building foyer. There are two banners, one in blue for Music and one in bright yellowy green for Media Arts. Four singers performing in the ornate Royal Holloway chapel.
June 14, 2025 at 1:42 PM
robertamock.bsky.social
The LSO's programme last night felt remarkable although it shouldn't have. It opened with a piece by a woman composer (Julia Perry). There was a woman conductor (Susanna Mälkki) & a woman soloist for Stravinsky's Violin Concerto (Leila Josefowicz), who was wild & extraordinary (in a good way). ♀️🎶🎻💜
Photo taken from audience of stage at Barbican with wood panelling in background. Leila Josefowicz is standing on right at front, smiling and holding her violin. She is wearing a fantastic sleeveless full length colour block dress in brown, red, yellow and bright blue. Susanna Mälkki is also standing and facing the audience. She is behind and amidst seated violin players, wearing a black top and gesturing upwards towards Josefowicz.
May 19, 2025 at 5:38 AM
robertamock.bsky.social
Loved Do Ho Suh's delicate, beautiful, spacious meditations on the meaning of home, bodies, scale, materiality and community at Tate Modern.
Close up of Do Ho Suh's "Perfect Home: London, Horsham, New York, Berlin, Providence, Seoul" (2024). The image is of an assortment of bright candy coloured door handles, light switches, plug sockets and toilet roll holders. They are translucent, made of coloured see through fabric and wire and mounted on a white gauze. You can faintly see the rest of the gallery space including people behind.
May 15, 2025 at 10:01 AM
robertamock.bsky.social
Ah bless 💜
Bingo card surrounded by purple made by London Theatre Direct. On the top it says "Cringe Bingo" but I crossed out cringe and wrote "adorable" This is followed by the words "GCSE DRAMA EDITION" The text in the 25 bingo squares is this: - Someone does a slow-motion death - A character shouts "WHY?!" to the sky - Say no to drugs interpretive dance - Blackout ends with someone breathing heavily - Someone hatches out of an egg (why??) - A mysterious narrator no one asked for - Group interpretive dance to Enya (would be Billie Eilish these days) - Awkward freeze frame that lasts approx. 12 years - Someone whispers a monologue into a shoe. (The shoe is a metaphor for capitalism, obvs.) - Entire cast wears all black and bare feet - Rehearsing in secret so the other groups can't see - A "door" is mimed badly and someone walks through it - Someone fully cries in rehearsal and insists it's "in character" - Someone shouts "Time is just a construct!" - Prop goes flying across the stage, no one acknowledges it - The one person who doesn't learn their lines, ever - A scene set in a dream but no one understands it - Entire group forgets the cue line and stands in silence - The tech person misses the music cue and just shrugs - Someone pretends to be a tree (again) - Your group rewrites the entire plot the night before - Someone wears sunglasses indoors for their mysterious character - That one kid goes way too method - Final line is whispered and no one hears it. Annnnd scene. - A group becomes "the concept of fear" by crawling slowly in sync
May 14, 2025 at 8:44 PM
robertamock.bsky.social
Last night I experienced Jo Clifford's performance "The Gospel According to Jesus Queen of Heaven" in a chapel in Hampstead. This is a play that's sadly needed more than ever - it felt vital, respectful and spiritual 🙏🏻👑🏳️‍⚧️
Jo Clifford is wearing a light mauve long flowing sleeveless dress. She is in her 70s and youthful, with her gray hair in a bob. Her hands are clasped in a prayer-like position in front of her. She is standing on a church altar facing the audience. Behind her are stained glass windows and a large bouquet of flowers. In the foreground there is a person applauding.
May 11, 2025 at 8:32 AM
robertamock.bsky.social
I watched Last One Laughing UK this week and - despite being no fan of Jimmy Carr or reality TV - really enjoyed it. Let me tell you why.
- Even though it was a competition, the contestants supported each other & told each other they were funny
- Women & comedians of colour weren't token presences
Comedians Rob Beckett, Judi Love (who is speaking), Daisy May Cooper, Bob Mortimer, and Joe Lycett sitting on a sofa in a brightly coloured room with carousel horses behind them.
May 3, 2025 at 12:30 PM
robertamock.bsky.social
I really needed Omar Elerian's deceptively light but urgent production of Ionesco's Rhinoceros last night, with its palpable joy of theatre underscoring the dangerously seductive illogic of fascism at its textual heart. A play for then and a play for now. 🦏
Photo taken during the interval of Rhinoceros at the Almeida of the sage with white floor and microphone in the foreground. In the middle of the stage on a raised platform is a leather armchair. You can see the brick back wall of the stage and the words "Music for a while..." projected onto it in big white letters.
April 16, 2025 at 6:52 AM
robertamock.bsky.social
I can't tell you how much I ache to use each and every one of these emails sign offs! (*Maybe not deep, which I have to look up now...)
Screenshot of Instagram post from thedrunkenwitchco that says: UNHINGED E-MAIL SIGN OFFS With pizazz, At your cervix, Apologies for existing, Over and snout, Without my ducks in a row, Feeling hamburger helpless, On the brink of tears, Stressfully, We ride at dawn, Searching for my marbles, Screenshot of Instagram post from thedrunkenwitchco that says: Help I've fallen and I can't get up, In a tailspin, Throwing it on the back burner Sitting in utter confusion. One fish two fish red fish blue fish Roll the credits, Derp, Neutral regards Alright alright alright Lukewarm regards, Live love laugh Hags, Hasta la pasta,
April 13, 2025 at 6:04 PM
robertamock.bsky.social
Feels great to finally be able to hold this book! My chapter - called "Reclaiming the Body: Blood, Trauma, Protest" - has a focus on menses. I write about extraordinary creative work (mainly by Poppy Jackson, Marisa Carnesky, Effy Beth, & Zanele Muholi) arising from "ordinary" lived experience.🩸❣️
Front cover of book called "The Phenomenology of Blood in Performance Art", edited by T.J. Bacon and Chelsea Coon and published by Routledge. Contents page of book with details of Part 2 (The Phenomenology of Bloody Care) and Part 3 (The Phenomenology of Bloody Disruption) Paperback book opened to chapter 18 entitled "Reclaiming the Body: Blood, Trauma, Protest" by Roberta Mock. It is probably possible read the first paragraph though the text is a bit distorted.
March 16, 2025 at 3:26 PM
robertamock.bsky.social
The freshly opened Leigh Bowery exhibition was heaving yesterday - as it should be! Looking forward to returning already and delving into the juicy details (this time I was especially entranced by the Michael Clark collaboration videos.)
5 pairs of pink and red plastic lips, 3 with safety pins in them, plus a brass coloured O. On a white background with an exhibition card that reads" Props: fake plastic lips from joke shop and brass face fixing with container 1990 Plastic, brass Nicola Rainbird, Director and Owner of the Leigh Bowery Estate" A poster with text that reads: Yes to spectacle. Yes to virtuosity. Yes to transformations and magic and make-believe. Yes to the glamour and transcendency of the star image. Yes to the heroic. Yes to the anti-heroic. Yes to trash imagery. Yes to the involvement of the performer or spectator. Yes to style. Yes to camp. Yes to seduction by the wiles of the performer. Yes to eccentricity. Yes to moving or being moved. MICHAEL CLARK, YES MANIFESTO, 1984 A response to artist choreographer Yvonne Rainer's No Manifesto, 1965 and First Lady Nancy Reagan's Just Say No anti-drugs campaign, 1982 A projection of Margaret Thatcher's face on a screen made of vertical metal chains. It is possible to see a portrait of Leigh Bowery in red in the background A selfie of a woman in a silver top standing in front of a video projection of Leigh Bowery wearing a gold fringed headdress and bra, with fluorescent haloes surrounding their body.
March 2, 2025 at 5:39 PM
robertamock.bsky.social
Safe passage to my iconic near namesake. Rest in power, Roberta Flack.
Black and white photo of Roberta Flack
February 24, 2025 at 9:42 PM
robertamock.bsky.social
Repost with the first album you bought with your own money.

I adored the Beatles and bought this around 1976, I think with "birthday money" (does that count as "my own"?) I listened to it A LOT. I had the red album too.
Cover of "The Beatles 1967-1970", the one where they are looking down at the camera from a corner balcony with a building rising up above them. It's a colour photo framed in blue.
February 24, 2025 at 12:45 PM