BLOOD SHOW Comes To Battersea Arts Centre In November

Experience BLOOD SHOW, featuring Ocean Chillingworth, at Battersea Arts Centre from 12 to 23 November.

In a room somewhere, two people are locked in an endless, gory fight. Blood Show fearlessly takes control of violence in a raw, euphoric performance. 

A non-verbal confrontation, Ocean Chillingworth is joined by sparring partner Craig Hambling. Together they embark on a visceral cycle of combat as the ghostly apparition and haunting melodies of Tim Bromage punctuate the punches. 

Blood Show is a choreography between 3 performers and 75 litres of fake blood. It's a call to action to put what's inside on the outside, to allow the mess, defend against a violent gaze and subvert narratives of victimhood.

A testament to endurance, the skilled bouts and blows morph into a triumphant release, heightened by elements of humour in the grand tradition of performative horror. As the audience sees red, Blood Show questions rebirth and how we carry our ghosts with us. 

Blood Show is the largest performance work to date by Ocean Chillingworth, rooted in their lived experience of being non-binary. The second part of The Extinction Trilogy, which Chillingworth describes as “A post-human laugh in the face of impending Armageddon”, three works: Monster Show, Blood Show and Nature Show, explore the human body and its limits for representation. 

Ocean Chillingworth said: ”Blood Show is (almost literally) a dream come true for me. Many years ago, the image of the show arrived in my head - the sort of thing we might see in film but not so much in theatre. To bring this vision to life at this moment in the world - which can seem to be a time of shrinking possibilities - and for it to have grown to be so much more within the deeply collaborative making process, feels like a triumph. You could say that Blood Show has been under my skin for a while now - not anymore! Now it's out and flowing”.

About the performers

Ocean Hester Stefan Chillingworth (they/them) is a trans, non-binary, queer artist whose works run across performance, installations, texts and film. The things they make often play with language, duration, mischief and confusion. They are interested in the grey areas in life and their work is committed to undoing things which claim to be fixed. They are a Fellow of The Birkbeck Centre for Contemporary Theatre. Previously they were 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 & Contemporary Performance at MMU and, from 2008-18, Artistic Director of GETINTHEBACKOFTHEVAN performance company. Monster Show (The Extinction Trilogy 1) is also currently touring.

Craig Hambling is a fight director and stage combat teacher with the British Academy of Dramatic Combat (BADC). He has taught combat performance at universities and drama schools since 2016, created and performed in scenes of violence in theatres across the UK, including The Orange Tree (Richmond), The Winter Gardens (Blackpool), The Mercury (Colchester), and created site-specific performances at historic sites such as the Tower of London, Kensington Palace, Dover Castle, and Hampton Court Palace. Craig is also a medieval historian, and received his PhD from Birkbeck, University of London, specialising in physical training, royal education, and constructions of masculinity in thirteenth and fourteenth century Europe. He is the co-founder of Duellorum - a company which creates lectures, demonstrations, and interpretations of historic martial arts for both academic and public audiences. Previous clients include the Museum of London Archaeology, the Victoria & Albert Museum, and the University of Roehampton. Craig's previous work with Ocean Chillingworth includes Big Hits (GETINTHEBACKOFTHEVAN) at Soho Theatre and on tour.

Tim Bromage is an artist, performer and magician based in Wales. His work is informed by storytelling, folklore, and the uncanny. He currently makes performances for small groups of people, in found or disused spaces. These works employ narrative, live soundscape, and stage magic. Ocean and Tim have worked together before on his online performance series during the pandemic directing both The Death and Resurrection Show and his live work about cults In Order of Service. 

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