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  • fish in a dress presents

    The City for Incurable Women

    Wed 22 Oct - Sat 25 Oct at 7pm (3pm matinees on Saturday)
    Tickets £12 - £18 (+Booking Fee)
    An outrageous tale of medical misogyny based on the true story of patients performing 'hysteria' onstage in 19th century Paris.

    Ladies and Gentlethem – feeling a little upset? Have you tried hypnosis, psychoanalysis, smelling salts and it just doesn't work? Try The City for Incurable Women!

    Paris, 1880s. In a psychiatric hospital, female patients performed ‘hysteria’ for the public. The doctors went to extraordinary lengths to prove their theories about the four stages of madness. Today, in the 21st century, the storyteller Kae, begins to explore this history. They trace the echoes to the present, feeling them linger in their own body, and perhaps get a little too caught in the story. 

    International theatre-collective, fish in a dress follows the thread of the history of hysteria as the audience becomes complicit in an outrageous tale of medical misogyny. (Warning: hysteria cure not included).

    Devised by fish in a dress. Supported by Goethe Institut and London Performance Studios.


    Performer: Charlotte McBurney
    Director: Christina Deinsberger
    Writer: Helena McBurney
    Set and Costume Design: Vanessa Sampaio Borgmann
    Sound Design: Bella Kear

    Content Notice
    Running Time 60 mins
    Wheelchair Accessible
    Wheelchair Accessible
    Assistance dogs welcome
    Assistance dogs welcome
    Audio Description
    Audio Description
    Content Notice
    Content Notice14+; This show contains strong language and distressing or potentially triggering themes, including references to emotional abuse, mental health, misogyny, sexual violence and sexism.
    Health Notice
    Health NoticeLive Flames, Loud Noises, Food/Drinks consumed by performers, Burning incense or herbs onstage
    "A serious, ambitious and progressive company"
    Kathryn Hunter [on fish in a dress]
    "They will become an important asset to the theatre scene in the UK"
    Khalid Abdalla [on fish in a dress]
    "If Charlotte McBurney plays as a tad hysterical at times, you can at least understand why"
    London Evening Standard [on previous work by the actor]

    Tickets for The City for Incurable Women

    Wed 22 Oct, 19:00
    Thu 23 Oct, 19:00
    Fri 24 Oct, 19:00
    Sat 25 Oct, 15:00
    Sat 25 Oct, 19:00

    "CPT is the first place we turn to when we have a new idea, knowing that experimentation and new ideas are always supported."

    Sh!t Theatre