"Sitting side by side with a stranger always makes me feel at ease, a feeling that I often struggle to achieve as an autistic person trying to connect in a neuro-typical world.”

For the last three years Tink has taken their small wooden bench to parks, bus stations, markets and city centre high streets, enabling anyone passing by the opportunity to sit down and pass by the time of day.

Benched is an intimate performance about fleeting relationships with unlikely people in unlikely places. It's about Tink’s search for spontaneous connection in a world that has us turning away from each other.

Using their unique brand of transgentle story telling - embracing tangents, interruptions and distractions, Tink shares unexpected narratives of intimacy and distance with the audience, weaving tales of momentary friendships with complete strangers alongside personal recollections from people who they have known all their life.

This performance is for an audience of 6 people at a time.

Please note: This is a work-in-progress sharing, the performance will last around 40 minutes and there will be a further 20 mins allocated to a structured feedback session from the audience. 

Covid safety will be a priority for this event. Audience members will need to wear masks unless they are exempt.

Benched Team:

Susanne Dietz - Artist/ Film Maker
Rosana Cade - Director/ Dramaturg 
Catherine Hoffmann - Production support 
Katy Baird - Project Assistant 

• The £5 admission price will be donated to the Golden Lane community food bank

Image credit: Suzanne Dietz