Complicite Associates to Premiere New Musical A PACIFIST'S GUIDE TO THE WAR ON CANCER

Complicite Associates today announce the world première of a new musical A Pacifist's Guide to the War on Cancer with book by Bryony Kimmings and Brian Lobel, music by Tom Parkinson and lyrics by Bryony Kimmings. Presented as a co-production with the National Theatre and in association with HOME Manchester, the production opens at HOME from 20 to 24 September 2016, with its run at the National Theatre from 14 October to 29 November.

Welcome to St Peregrine's Hospital, specialist in cancer care, end of life and musicals... apparently! Life is the same here every day and today is no exception. Patients walk in, get treatment, and some don't ever walk out again. We teach, we support, we talk, we guide...and we try our best to help you survive.

A Pacifist's Guide... is a whistlestop tour through life with a cancer diagnosis... 6 unconventional stories that we rarely hear... but that are happening every day; amongst the poster campaigns, provocative news stories and political posturing.

Expect unexpected anthems, huge questions on mortality, shit loads of wigs, some chemo-brain, sequins and probably a bucket load of tears in this examination of the scariest word we know and a disease that 1 in 3 of us will get. We guarantee the audience will be full of those who have had cancer, those who have lost people to cancer and those praying they don't get cancer. Obviously.

In 2013 there was a chance meeting between Complicite producer Judith Dimant and acclaimed performance artist Bryony Kimmings. Dimant went to see Credible Likeable Superstar Role Model

and liked it so much, that she got in touch with Kimmings and arranged to meet. Between that moment, and when they eventually met - which was just 3 weeks later, Dimant had been diagnosed with breast cancer. Just like that. Out of nowhere.

And so they began a very different sort of conversation. Kimmings spoke about tackling issues that most people don't talk about, and Dimant said nobody really talks about what it's like to have cancer - the sufferer, the terminally ill, the survivor and all those friends and family affected by the illness of someone close. So why not make a show about cancer they thought? And then they decided to go one better and have a go at making a musical about cancer. After a couple of week's work in October 2014 the idea of A Pacifist's Guide... was born.

Bryony Kimmings is a performance artist, writer and comedian. Her works centre around outlandish 'social experiments' that Kimmings conducts with genius, intrigue and wholehearted fearless gusto. Previous works have seen Kimmings retracing an STI to its source (Sex Idiot), spending 7 days in a controlled environment in a constant state of intoxication (7 Day Drunk) and becoming a pop star invented by a 9 year old (Credible Likeable Superstar Role Model). Her recent work Fake It 'Til You Make It is a show created with her real-life partner about living with depression. It toured Australia in 2015 winning numerous awards, before playing sell-out seasons in London and at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. It will be on national tour throughout 2016.

Brian Lobel is a New York born London based performer. For the past decade he has been a critical voice in the world of cancer care, patient experience and medical education. His work BALL & Other Funny Stories about Cancer, and his exhibition Fun With Cancer Patients bring together many of his creations on the subject. His work has been seen throughout the UK and in more than 25 countries internationally. He is a Senior Lecturer in Performing Arts at the University of Chichester and is a Wellcome Trust Public Engagement Fellow.

Tom Parkinson studied at Dartington and is a composer and sound designer. He wrote the music for Bryony Kimmings' shows Credible Likeable Superstar Role Model and Fake It 'Til You Make It and all the songs for her young people's show, The Catherine Bennett Show. He is currently doing a PhD in music composition. This is his first musical.

Judith Dimant has been producer for Complicite for more than 22 years - producing all of Simon McBurney's shows during this time. In 2013 she was diagnosed with Breast Cancer. In 2014 she received an MBE for services to the theatre

COMPLICITE ASSOCIATES is a new programme which sees Complicite commissioning and producing new work from brilliant theatre makers. A Pacifist's Guide... is the first work created under this banner.