Ocean Hester Stefan Chillingworth: Blood Show

16+ | 1hr | No latecomers | No spoken language. Some singing in English.

Content warning: Fake blood and violence.

Seating for this event is unreserved, however a note for those who sit in close proximity to the performance, please be advised that there is risk of potential splashes of fake blood (machine washable). There will be plastic ponchos made available on entry for audiences who wish to protect their clothing.

In a room somewhere, two people are locked in an endless gory fight. Dead close to them, a ghost is singing.

Blood Show is a trans celebration of destroying things, including ourselves, in order to create something new. It’s a call to action to put what’s inside, on the outside, to allow the mess and defend against a violent gaze. A show for anyone with a body, this is a euphoric choreography between three figures and 75 litres of fake blood.

Circling around questions of rebirth and how we carry our ghosts with us, Blood Show is part of artist Ocean Hester Stefan Chillingworth’s The Extinction Trilogy. Three works (Monster Show, Blood Show and Nature Show) present a slow experiment in masking performers and trying to delete humans from the stage, in order to make us think more about the limits of the human body, why we want to know what people ‘really’ look like, and how dangerous the idea of ‘the natural’ is.

The performance on 1 November will be followed by a free discussion in Chapter's common room with Ocean Chillingworth, artist Tim Bromage, Craig Hambling and chaired by Performance Curator, Kit Edwards.

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Artist bio

Ocean Hester Stefan Chillingworth (they/them) is an artist whose works run across performance, installations, texts and film. The things they make often play with language, duration, mischief and confusion, and their practice is one of inbetween-ness and overlap which celebrates liveness and slippage. They are interested in the grey areas in life, and their work is committed to undoing things which claim to be fixed.

They have been a Fellow of The Birkbeck Centre for Contemporary Theatre, Thinker-in-Residence at the Live Art Development Agency, Jerwood New Playwright at The Royal Court Theatre, Creative Producer (Participation) for Forced Entertainment, Lecturer in Drama and Contemporary Performance at Manchester Metropolitan University, and from 2008-18 they were Artistic Director of GETINTHEBACKOFTHEVAN performance company.

Monster Show (The Extinction Trilogy, Part 1) is also currently touring.

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Created and performed by Ocean Hester Stefan Chillingworth, with Craig Hambling and Tim Bromage

Fight direction: Craig Hambling
Music composition and arrangements: Tim Bromage
Design: Naomi Kuyck-Cohen and Joshua Gadsby
Producer & Production Management: Laura Betty Haynes
Stage Manager & Production Management: Weronika Dwornik
Assistant Stage Manager: Derek Penny
Production support: Bertie Hodd
Blood development: Bloody Stuff Ltd
Additional costume fabrication: Carmen Hanna
Make-up consultant: House of Bendy
Sound design support: AJ Turner and Nik Rawlings
Voice support: Andrea Lewis
Dramaturgy support: Gemma Paintin

Original songs 'Devil of Wythville' & 'Richmond Park' copyright Tim Bromage 2019

With thanks to Karen Christopher and CJ Mitchell (South House), and Helen Mugridge. Special thanks to Ann Duff (without whom.).

Blood Show is commissioned by Battersea Arts Centre, Chapter Arts Centre and Colchester Arts Centre. Additional support from South House. Originally commissioned by Cambridge Junction (Stobbs New Ideas Fund) and Old Diorama Arts Centre. With support from LIFT and Arts Council England.