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Performance by Ruth Ivo: A Cabaret Matinee

In an event bursting with glitz and reality, Ruth Ivo discusses her new book, Performance: A Misadventure in Soho, in conversation with Octavia Bright.

More details for Purcell Room
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A woman with shoulder length brown/red hair in a light blue blouse

Performance: A Misadventure in Soho is an electrifying memoir of X-rated cabaret from the heart of Soho. In this event, which features live cabaret performances, Ivo dives into the glamour and darkness of the cabaret world.

As ‘Ruby’, Ruth Ivo was a successful burlesque performer, living in blissful bohemian squalor on a decommissioned military boat and spending her evenings unfolding from a Fabergé egg in various London clubs.

Her life changed when she was asked to become show director at ‘The Club’, a place as secretive as it is notorious. Before long, she was trawling Soho back-streets for props, and knocking back shots with movie stars and billionaires.

But as her nights unravelled in a maelstrom of glamour and chaos behind the scenes, she felt her grasp on reality slipping through her fingers, and her soul wrung out by decadence.

Under pressure to produce shows each more shocking than the last, she watched the performers under her care contort themselves before baying crowds. When a devastating event leaves her unmoored, Ruby has to wonder if she’s sold her soul to the devil . . . or become him.

Performance is a visceral and exquisitely written portrait of a place that has come to embody the excesses of late capitalism; of tumbling willingly down the rabbit hole, only to lose yourself in the dark.

‘Enthralling… Ivo captures the euphoria and comedown of Soho’s clubland so acutely’ The Times

Ruth Ivo has worked at various times as a showgirl, scarer of children on a Blackpool ghost ride, and area organiser at the likes of Glastonbury Festival, and was the director of an X-rated variety show at ‘The Club’. Tired now, she has turned to a career in literature. She is based in South London.

Octavia Bright presents programmes for BBC Radio 4 including Open Book, and hosts literary events for bookshops, publishers, and festivals. Her debut work of nonfiction, This Ragged Grace: A Memoir of Recovery and Renewal, was published by Canongate in 2023. Bright co-hosted Literary Friction, a podcast and NTS Radio show which ran for ten years and had listeners worldwide.

Need to know

Age guidance
For ages 18+

For your visit

This event is held at the Purcell Room Southbank Centre

The Purcell Room is located in the Queen Elizabeth Hall, which is open from 90 minutes before events start until they finish. It’s closed at all other times.

Concrete interior of Purcell Room entrance at Southbank Centre View larger image

Plan your visit

The Purcell Room is an auditorium located within our Queen Elizabeth Hall.

Getting here

Our address is Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London, SE1 8XX.

The nearest tube stations to us are Waterloo and Embankment; Waterloo is also the nearest train station. And more than 20 different London bus routes pass within 500 metres of our venues.  More information on getting here by rail, road or river is available on our Getting here page.

We’re cash-free

Please note that we’re unable to accept cash payments across our venues.

Access

We’re working hard to remove barriers, so that our facilities and events can be accessible to as many people as possible.

All help points, toilets, performance and exhibition spaces at the Southbank Centre are accessible to all, as are the cafes, bars and restaurants. We also have excellent public transport links with step-free access.

All information about booking wheelchair spaces, step-free access, blue badge parking, access maps and guides and other help available whilst you’re here, including details about our Access Scheme, can be found on our Access page.

Food & drink

From coffee to cocktails, filling favourites to fine dining, plus some of London’s best street food – it’s all here at the Southbank Centre.

Places to eat and drink whilst you’re here