FITTING Heads To The Hat Factory Arts Centre Next Month

Theatre Makers Matt Miller and Peader Kirk have come together to co-create a solo theatre performance, FITTING, drawing on spoken-word storytelling, autobiographical accounts and physical theatre to explore themes of identity and belonging. Following on from its successful 2019/2020 tour, FITTING plays the Hat Factory Arts Centre, Luton, on Thursday 10 February 2022 at 7.30pm.

Magic is everywhere. Wear a dress and people treat you one way. Try a pinstripe suit and, abracadabra, it's like you're a different person. If they say beauty is just skin deep, then why is appearance so important to the way we are treated? FITTING is a solo theatre show about Matt's adventures in dresses and suits with some magic tricks up its sleeve. From interactions with strangers at bus stops to transgressive explorations in charity shops, follow Matt as they navigate and explode the ground between gender binaries.

Alongside the show, a free participation activity is taking place on Thursday 3 February from 6-8 pm called Versions of You, designed to allow the public to engage with the questions which the show asks and to open a gentle, fun and supported dialogue about where they feel they fit. There will be a chance to chat to Matt Miller and Peader Kirk and to devise a playful three-word self-definition, before posing in front of the gold curtain and holding the definition up for the polaroid camera. Photos can be taken home or displayed on FITTING's 'board of personalities'. The event will be quick, lively and accessible. Check the venue's website (https://www.culturetrust.com) or speak to the Box Office for timings and more information.

Matt Miller is a poet and theatre maker who writes about place, identity and ways of belonging. They learned their craft with Nottingham based poetry collective The Mouthy Poets. In 2014, Matt was selected as one of BBC Radio Three's Verb New Voices. Matt has been an artist in residence at Alphabetti Theatre and was one of Live Theatre's inaugural Live Lab Artists. In 2018/19 Matt worked with The Mighty Creatives as a workshop facilitator. Matt has been praised for their 'powers of urban storytelling' (Ian McMillan, The Verb).

Peader Kirk is an Artist and Director working internationally in the fields of Performance and Sound Art. He makes work that engages directly with communities to ask questions about how we meet amidst difference and how we create change. His work has recently been shown at The Southbank Centre and The Institute of Contemporary Arts in London, The National Theatre of Greece in Athens, Academy of Fine Arts in Turin and The Hong Kong Repertory Theatre. Peader trained as a director with Robert Lepage at The National Theatre, London and with Eugenio Barba at CPR, Wales.

Matt started working with Peader in 2016. Their first solo show together, STICKING performed to sold out audiences and was toured to Contact Manchester, Gala Theatre, as part of the Durham Book Festival, ARC Stockton and Alphabetti Theatre. They now return with the next in the series exploring LGBTQ+ topics questioning existing perceptions of non-binary gender.

FITTING is supported by ARC Stockton, Arts Council England and New Writing North.

For further information and to book, visit: https://www.culturetrust.com or call the Box Office on 01582 878100. Age guidance: 14+. Running time: 1 hour.

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