SKIN A CAT to Open The Bunker's Inaugural Season

Isley Lynn's Skin a Cat transfers to The Bunker following its sell-out award-winning run at the VAULT Festival.

Performances will run at The Bunker, 53A Southwark Street London SE1 1RU, Wednesday 12th October - Saturday 5th November 2016. Press Night: Thursday 13th October 2016, 7.30pm.

Skin a Cat follows Alana on an awkward sexual odyssey with a kaleidoscope of off-kilter characters: from getting her first period at nine years old and freaking out her frantic mother, to watching bad porn at a house party with her best friend's boyfriend, to a painful examination by an overly cheery gynaecologist - all in the pursuit of losing her virginity and finally becoming a woman, whatever that means...

Semi-autobiographical, Skin a Cat is a personal and ambitious story of sexual discovery and dysfunction, exploring the challenges and consequences of not having a 'normal' sex life. Alana's journey is unique and yet Skin a Cat speaks to our shared experiences with joy, candour and levity making a difficult subject more accessible.

Skin a Cat illustrates a story that isn't being told - Lynn's unique, bold, and irreverent voice allows audiences to engage in these difficult conversations with optimism and openness. The initial production at VAULT showed the impact these stories have, regardless of sexuality, gender and age.

Isley Lynn comments, "The Bunker are hitting the ground running by programming exciting, top quality, genuinely risky new work and I take it as a massive compliment to be the very first show there. Opening a new venue is always a big deal, but for us it's a validation of all the hard slog that's gone into the project so far, mounting it with our own resources and pulling in favours - it feels as if it's all paying off. Not only that, it's also a validation for all the other Alanas out there, whose experience of sex and sexuality doesn't match up with what's on TV, in films, on stage and in books. Mine definitely didn't which is why I wrote the play. And, sure enough, I wasn't alone."

Skin a Cat is brought to life by the stellar cast of Lydia Larson (Travesty - Assembly George Square, The After Dinner Joke and Springs Eternal - Orange Tree, The 24 Hour Plays - The Old Vic), Jassa Ahluwalia (Some Girls - BBC, Ripper Street - BBC, Peaky Blinders - BBC) and Jessica Clark (Versailles - BBC, Rotterdam - Trafalgar Studios, The School for Scandal - Park Theatre).

Rive and The Bunker have partnered with sexual health charity Brook to engage marginalised and hard-to-reach audiences. Brook is the UK's leading provider of sexual health services and advice for people under 25. They will work to create workshops and events surrounding the production which fight for a positive attitude to young people, sexuality and identity.

IF YOU GO:

Skin a Cat

Wednesday 12th October - Saturday 5th November 2016
Tuesday - Sunday, 7:30pm
Saturday and Sunday, 3pm
Running time: 90 minutes

At The Bunker, 53A Southwark Street London SE1 1RU

The nearest tube station is London Bridge (Borough High Street exit). Turn left out of the station and continue up Southwark Street. The closest rail station is London Bridge.

Tickets are available priced £19.50 (£15 concessions)
Preview on Wednesday 12th October priced at £12
Ten £10 tickets are available at each performance for under 25s
Available from bunkertheatre.com and 0207 234 0486.

To post a comment, you must register and login.