If you like socially conscious performance art in the style of David Hoyle and witchy women from the imaginative worlds of Angela Carter, then SHOWWOMEN might be up your street. Written by Olivier award-winning performance maker Marisa Carnesky, SHOWWOMEN is a feminist rewrite: The untold herstory of British working-class entertainment from immigrant, queer, activist and occult perspectives.
It’s a contemporary homage to seminal female performers, reimagined by Marisa alongside 3 other dynamic Queer women. Marisa is Brighton based and SHOWWOMEN will be at ACCA at the end of May as part of a national tour.
The performers she’ll be celebrating include 1940s body magic star Koringa, a 1930s pioneer clown Lulu Adams 1920s female dare-devil Marjorie Dare and 1880s teeth hanging aerialist superstar Miss La La. These women may have made a splash in their day but you probably haven’t heard of them.
The stories that get told and the people that get remembered are mediated by social and economic forces that tend to overlook working class, female and queer artists. This show will attempt to give these forgotten performers the credit they deserver. You’ll get to meet (in a fictional way!) the extraordinary women of variety performance from a century ago. SHOWWOMEN compares them to the lived experiences of exceptional performers today.
Marisa Carnesky will narrate the stories and perform alongside guest stars hair hanger/comedienne Fancy Chance, sword and spoken word artist Livia Kojo Alour and physical and fire performer Lucifire, interweaving live action, in-depth interviews and archival footage to create a dreamlike landscape mixing death defying stunts, strange and emotive acts, political resistance and secret backstage rituals. The show asks why and how women perform dangerous and taboo acts and explores the legacy of forgotten and marginalised diverse British entertainers. If you enjoyed reading Nights at the Circus then this is one you won’t want to miss.
The show will be witchy and rather camp. You’ll see people in full leopard print, naked crocodile women scaling walls, ladders of swords, live hair hanging, never ending pom poms and ectoplasmic clowns, SHOWWOMEN channels entertainment heritage to create visons of new matriarchal performance futures.
“I am not the greatest Showman. Because I am not a man. I am not a showboy and I am no longer a showgirl. What am I now? I am a Showwoman, with two Ws in the middle, one for the show and one for the woman”. Marisa Carnesky, 2022
National Tour May 17 to June 18, 2022
Find out more and get your tickets here.
The Brighton date: MAY 27 & 28 ATTENBOROUGH CENTRE FOR CREATIVE ARTS, (ACCA) BRIGHTON 8.00pm
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