The tour will run 10 May – 21 September 2023.
Following hugely successful runs at Pleasance Theatre and Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Godot is a Woman interrogates permission, patriarchy and pop music in a comical response to the gender restrictions put upon Waiting for Godot. In their first UK wide tour, trio Silent Faces return with their signature style of playful and political physical theatre. Since Samuel Beckett wrote Waiting for Godot, he and his estate have notoriously challenged non-male companies that wish to perform it. Silent Faces addresses this restrictive copyright law in a comical love/hate letter to British theatre with song, dance and plenty of multi-roling.
Two people wait beneath a solitary tree on a country road - it's a familiar scene, but this is not Waiting for Godot. Waiting for Godot was written by a man, for men, and Silent Faces aren't men. So, what are they waiting for? It's time to dig it all up and start again.
Madonna released Like a Prayer in 1989, the same year that Samuel Beckett died, and the clowning triad explore the cultural significance of the album throughout the show, comically arguing that perhaps if the playwright had witnessed Madonna's empowering confidence, he may not have forbidden anyone but men from performing his most acclaimed play.
Writer and performer Cordelia Stevenson said "Audiences can expect our usual clowning tomfoolery, plenty of theatre geekery and a bowler-hat-full of female pop icons. This is a show that vitally platforms trans and female voices, whilst both celebrating and challenging the theatrical canon. We're absolutely thrilled to be taking it on the road to some of the UK's most loved regional theatres"
Silent Faces are a female and non-binary led integrated company of disabled and non-disabled artists, whose work has been performed at the Pleasance London, Edinburgh Fringe, Camden People's Theatre, Latitude Festival, Wilderness Festival, Brighton Fringe and as part of Incoming Festival at HOME Manchester and New Diorama. Employing their unique style of high-concept, metaphorical and playful theatre, their work pushes the boundaries of clown and physical theatre in a contemporary political context. Previous work includes the critically acclaimed A Clown Show About Rain ("Delightful", Scotsman) and Follow Suit ("Marvellously comic and compelling", The Stage).
10 - 11 May Norwich Playhouse, Norwich
42 - 58 St Georges St, Norwich NR3 1AB
7.30pm | £15 - £12.50 | 01603 630 000
18 May Old Fire Station, Oxford
40 George St, Oxford OX1 2AQ
7.30pm | £13 - £11 | 01865263990
19 May Farnham Maltings, Surrey
Bridge Square, Farnham GU9 7QR
7.30pm | £15 - £12 | 01252 745444
20 May Taunton Brewhouse, Somerset
Coal Orchard, Taunton TA1 1JL
7.45pm | £14.50 - £12.50 | 01823 283 244
24 May Colchester Arts Centre, Colchester
Church St, Colchester CO1 1NF
8pm | Pay What You Can | 01206 500900
25 May The Spring Arts & Heritage Centre, Havant
56 East St, Havant PO9 1BS
7.30pm | £14 - £5 | 023 9247 2700
13 June Sheffield Theatres, Sheffield
55 Norfolk St, Sheffield City Centre, Sheffield S1 1DA
8pm | £13 - £11 | 0114 249 6000
15 - 17 June Theatre Royal Plymouth, Plymouth
Royal Parade, Plymouth PL1 2TR
7.45pm | £16 - £12 | 01752 668282
22 June Ustinov Studio at Theatre Royal Bath, Bath
1 Saw Cl, Bath BA1 1EY
Time TBC | Price TBC | 01225 448844
28 June - 1 July Tobacco Factory Theatres, Bristol
Raleigh Rd, Southville, Bristol BS3 1TF
Time TBC | Price TBC | 0117 902 0344
13 - 14 September Cambridge Junction, Cambridge
Clifton Way, Cambridge CB1 7GX
Time TBC | Price TBC | 01223 511511
16 September Nonsuch Studios, Nottingham
92 Lower Parliament St, Nottingham NG1 1EH
Time TBC | Price TBC | 0115 837 1950
21 September Cast, Doncaster
Waterdale, Doncaster DN1 3BU
Time TBC | Price TBC | 01302 30395
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