We got to chat to the lovely Emma at Hatch It Theatre about their Edinburgh Fringe show which will be at the festival alongside Follow Suit at the Pleasance this August. Here’s what they had to say about their quirky, feminist play, Whalebone.
Tell us a bit about your show: Whalebone tells the story of a woman who, in order to escape the pressures placed on women's bodies and regain control of her own body, deletes it a piece at a time, until she becomes completely invisible. It's a quirky, absurd take on an age-old problem, and involves lots of fun puppetry and "irreverent" feminism (according to our Fringe copy!) What sort of theatre do you make? As a company, we are dedicated to making formally experimental work that explores issues that we care about. This time, we're using puppetry to explore the objectification of the female form, while our previous show, 'In The Pink', used a kind of ventriloquism by having young actors speak the worlds of elderly women, in order to subvert stereotypes about ageing. What’s the most important thing that theatre should be/do/have? As pompous as it may sound, we think that theatre should create an alternative visual narrative - presenting on stage things that we think we know in a way that makes us ask questions about the world we live in. However, good theatre is never didactic; it should be entertaining as well as intellectually stimulating if it is to have a lasting impact. What shows at the fringe are you most looking forward to? We are incredibly excited that Gecko is back this year, though gutted that it's on at the same time as "Whalebone"! We're also looking forward to Red Bastard and Theatre Ad Infinitum, and the Paines Plough Roundabout is always a Fringe highlight. We should also include a shout out to Follow Suit, which ALSO clashes with our show - it's a hilarious and disturbing piece and everyone should go see it on the day they're not seeing our show! Whalebone is on at the Pleasance Courtyard Cellar, 2nd-27th August (excluding 15th) at 1pm. |