Tim Jeeves is an artist and writer who, at certain junctures, in particular contexts and amidst a myriad of other inclinations, will turn his attention towards the flexibility of identity.
In 1997, whilst studying for his English A-Level, Tim read Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire and first encountered the play’s tragic protagonist, Blanche DuBois: a woman, dangerously mismatched to her surroundings, who’s eventual undoing is encapsulated in the line, “I have always depended on the kindness of strangers”.
A year later, in 1998, after intensive treatment for malignant tumours in his leg, lungs and liver, Tim also turned to the benevolence of someone he didn’t know when he received bone marrow from an anonymous donor. Partly a reflection on how to thank the most significant person Tim has never met, but also an exploration of how we deal with another’s generosity, The Kindness of Strangers plays with the relationship between performer and audience and weaves Tim’s autobiography with A Streetcar Named Desire until, eventually, the kindness of strangers is again called on to complete the work.
Tim continued to research and create performance alongside his burgeoning political career until his death in 2021.