Big Bang is CPT’s regular scratch night: an explosion of performance from which new universes of theatre may one day emerge. These jam-packed platforms are highlights of the CPT programme: the place to see wild and wonderful new projects take their first steps.
Each bill features three or four artists or companies performing 15-20 minutes of fresh-from-the-rehearsal-room work-in-development. They’re doing so because they want to know what works and what doesn’t, and they’d love you to tell them. So please join us for – and share your thoughts on – these exclusive previews of tomorrow’s most exciting theatre, today…
Gadis Ayu Terakhir - Alisha/Alysha - 25 mins
Suitable for 16+
A piece of experimental theatre informed by absurdism and traditional dance, Gadis Ayu Terakhir aims to explore intra cultural objectification and the identity struggles of marginalised bodies. Informed by personal experiences growing up across the global East and West, Gadis Ayu Terakhir explores the colonial hangovers that have dictated cultural perceptions of our bodies, alongside the asymmetrical relationship between the objectifier and the objectified.
It will focus on the (cis) female body, looking at ways the Southeast Asian woman has been personified through submission and fetishisation, influencing both external and subconscious perceptions of the self.
From a migrant led perspective, colonised frameworks will be interrogated through story-telling, movement, projection and repetition - ending with a reclamation of identity and a celebration of self.
Content notice: Themes of sexual nature. Health warnings: Strobe lighting, flashing lights, visual effects (glitter curtains etc.)
and still i reach for your hand - Theatre Apart - 25 mins
Suitable for 16+
Why would someone stay in an abusive relationship?
and still i reach for your hand is a work-in-progress show that came about when the actors decided to book a studio one day after school and do a contact improvisation jam. Through this physical exploration, the themes of power and struggle arose as two peculiar characters emerged.
The show revolves around the unfiltered relationship between two people behind closed doors and intends to shed light on the different types of abuse that can happen. It challenges the assumptions of its audience and opens the brackets of who is capable of abuse. Especially in an age where cancel culture runs rampant and people can be quick to sentence each other as the "bad/good" one, we want audiences to think consciously and critically, and take the time to understand the humans behind it all. All taking place in a bathroom at a party, physical theatre, sound design and dialogue will create a challenging piece of theatre that is jam-packed with unexpected twists.
Where there is danger there is also affection, where there is resistance there is also desire.
Content notice: Throughout the show, violence and abuse will be depicted through graphic scenes where performers may choke, hit or threaten each other. Health warnings: Weapons/dangerous implements, Smoke/fog/haze, Loud noises, Strobe lighting
DOG - Jessie Anand Productions - 25 mins
Suitable for 18+ Please note this performance will have a live dog on stage.
A solo show for one woman and her dog.
A glimpse into the inner lives of pets and their owners across space and time.
A collision of drag, cabaret, vaudeville, Gothic novel, live art, and canine spectacle.
Inspired by incidents of Victorian dognapping, particularly the theft of Elizabeth Barrett Browning's dog Flush, DOG examines queerness, prescribed gender roles in the Victorian age, female etiquette, and the sphere of domesticity. With direction and dramaturgy by Emma Jude Harris (WATCH ON THE RHINE, Donmar Warehouse) and music by Hatty Carman (Thigh High), Hugh Wyld's new solo show asks: who is and isn't permitted to be part of a 'family', and what is the relationship between woman and beast?
DOG explodes the four walls of the 'well-made play' to reveal a queer future in which we unlock our inner animal and embrace chaos. Fusing techno clubbing, gig theatre and Victorian melodrama, DOG is loud, abrasive, and messy. It is pure beast and anything but polite.
Content Notice: Contains themes of marginalisation on lines of gender and sexuality. May also contain references to queerphobia and violence against the queer community. More details to be confirmed by artist closer to the time.
Health warnings: Live flames,Smoke/fog/haze,Strobe lighting, Flashing lights, Loud noises, Burning incense or herbs onstage
"Welcoming, inclusive, creative and life-affirming. I have learnt a lot myself in so many ways that will seep into all parts of my life. My self-confidence has massively increased"
Human Jam participant
