Carnesky Productions Present SHOWWOMEN On National Tour from February 2 to June 1 2024
Featuring Marisa Carnesky, Fancy Chance, Livia Alour and Lucifire.
By: A.A. Cristi Dec. 18, 2023
SHOWWOMEN is a spectacular new stage show from Olivier award-winning performance maker Marisa Carnesky (creator of Carnesky's Ghost Train, the live ride that enjoyed a five-year run on the Blackpool Promenade), SHOWWOMEN is a feminist rewrite: The untold herstory of British working-class entertainment from immigrant, queer and occult perspectives.
Devised in collaboration with hair hanger/comedienne Fancy Chance, sword and spoken word artist Livia Kojo Alour and physical and fire performer Lucifire, SHOWWOMEN interweaves live action, in-depth interviews and archival footage to create a dreamlike landscape mixing death defying stunts, strange and emotive acts, political resistance and secret backstage rituals. SHOWWOMEN asks why and how women perform dangerous and taboo acts and explores the legacy of forgotten and marginalised diverse British entertainers.
Based on Carnesky's research as a fellow at The National Fairground and Circus Archive in the University of Sheffield, Marisa discovered the extraordinary stories of 1930's pioneer clown Lulu Adams, 1940's body magic star Koringa, 1950s sharpshooter Florence Shufflebottom and 1880's teeth hanging aerialist superstar Miss La La in an exploration of lesser-known stories of extraordinary women in variety performance from a century ago and beyond. SHOWWOMEN compares them to the lived experiences of exceptional performers today.
SHOWWOMEN continues to tour, having headlined the performance tent at Latitude 2023. Expect witchy collective going-ons in full leopard print, crocodile women scaling walls, ladders of swords, live hair hanging, never ending pom poms and ectoplasmic clowns, SHOWWOMEN channels entertainment heritage to create visons of new matriarchal performance futures.
DATES 2024
3RD FEBRUARY DRAMA STUDIO, UNIVERSITY OF SHEFFIELD 8pm – SHEARWOOD ROAD, S10, 2TD
14TH MARCH
THE DUKES, LANCASTER LA1 1QE 7.30pm
www.dukeslancaster.org
16TH MARCH 2024
THE LOWRY, SALFORD M50 3AZ 7.30pm
www.thelowry.com
31st MAY and 1st JUNE
OUT THERE FESTIVAL, GREAT YARMOUTH
https://outtherearts.org.uk/out-there-festival/
Marisa Carnesky - Writer/Director/Performer is a British performance artist and Showwoman. She is best known for her early solo show Jewess Tattooess (1999-2003) and her critically acclaimed immersive theatre ride Carnesky's Ghost Train (2004-2014) which ran for over a decade and more recently her touring company show Dr Carnesky's Incredible Bleeding Woman (2015-2019). She also created and is leading a new BA in Popular and Contemporary Performance with Rose Bruford College which launched in 2022. Showwomen is Carnesky Productions latest touring stage show. The company are also touring a new large outdoor promenade show on similar themes called Showwomen Sideshow Spectacular with a cast of 33 performers that premiered at the Bartholemew Fair 2023. She uses spectacular entertainment forms, including fairground devices and stage illusion to explore themes of contemporary ritual, women in entertainment history, feminism and cultural identity. She founded Carnesky Productions in 1999. She holds a PhD from Middlesex University.
Devising, Writing and Performing Collaborators:
Fancy Chance aka Veronica Thompson - Hailing from the school of cabaret, neo-burlesque and live-art, Fancy Chance is one of the few performers in the world actively performing hair hanging outside of a three-ring circus. She has created, directed and produced her solo show Flights of Fancy partially supported by the Arts Council England, has been a collaborator and participant/performer in the all-female cast of Florentina Holzinger's award winning experimental dance theatre production TANZ and Dr. Carnesky's Incredible Bleeding Woman. She has done various seasons of her Loie Fuller tribute hair hang act with La Soiree, La Clique, Bernie's Little Death Club and Quality Novelty. She was crowned Alternative Miss World in 2009.
Livia Kojo Alour is an internationally recognised poet and variety performer. Her practice encompasses spoken word, theatre, live art, circus & burlesque. She was voted ‘Most Influential Performer in Europe' and was the first sword swallower to perform at the legendary Burlesque Hall of Fame in Las Vegas. She performs across a variety of contexts including international burlesque festivals, TEDx talks and arts festivals. Most recently has completed a national tour of her one woman show Black Sheep and was shortlisted for the Polari first book prize with her poetry collection The Rising of The Black Sheep. She was also invited by acclaimed poet Anne Clark to be the opening act for her 2023 concert tour in Germany.
Lucifire – Lucifire toured the globe for over 20 years as a speciality act, fire eater, circus performer, ring-mistress, and flesh-hook suspension artist. She trained at London Contemporary Dance School and went to hone sideshow skills with dance and perform at tattoo conventions, fetish clubs and late-night cabarets. She founded The Fire Tusk Pain Proof Circus with her husband Dave Tusk including tours from Glastonbury to Tokyo, Moscow and across Europe, as a duo and up to an eighteen person company. Most recently she has been performing with the Austrian choreographer Florentna Holzinger in the new production TANZ.
Featuring a specially commissioned soundtrack by Dave Knight (Danielle Dax, Lydia Lunch, Unicazurn), James Johnston (Gallon Drunk, Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, PJ Harvey) and Kath Warg (Snowpony, Stereolab).
Backstage Team: Dave Pop - Visual Artist, fairground banners, Emma Henderson - Lighting Designer, Ilya Varty – Flying systems and creative rigging, Switchflicker - Jayne Compton- Producer, Sam Rush – Production Manager.
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