Sleepless Theatre Company Presents NINE FOOT NINE

A literal spin on the concept of women taking up space, critically-acclaimed Sleepless Theatre Company's Les Enfants Terribles Award-nominated play interrogates gender politics, power imbalance and the very notions of 'masculinity' and 'femininity' as a young couple find themselves in a world full of larger than life women. Earlier this year, Nine Foot Nine was showcased at The Royal Court Theatre as part of their International Women's Day programme.

Across the world, something terrifying is happening: countless women are growing at an impossible rate, immune to the powers of science. The patriarchal structures entrenched within governments, communities, families and the media are swamped by the shadows of these giants. Cara and Nate, a young couple trying for a baby, must adjust to their surreal new reality in which these 'sprouters' tower over their male counterparts, and confront their own warped understandings of gender.

Sleepless Theatre Company take hyperbolic size differences as a playful and thought-provoking metaphor for the gender disparities ubiquitous in society, from pay gaps to the people in power, and examine it through the intimate eyes of a couple trying to grow a family of their own.

Helena Jackson said, ""Edinburgh is Nine Foot Nine's spiritual home. It's where Alex first came to me with what seemed like a totally off-the-wall concept at the time, and where we've both seen pieces of work that have both hugely inspired and challenged our ideas attached to the play. It's not hard to see how Nine Foot Nine is incredibly relevant for 2018, with its discussions of gender, power and physicality, as well as highlighting the problematic nature of binary labels. However, performing the show at Edinburgh is also a chance for us to really challenge ourselves and the wider industry in terms of access - making sure that we create thrilling, anarchic, mischievous work that actively strives to represent and welcome performers and audiences with all different types of bodies and communication styles."

Sleepless Theatre Company are a London-based company that hold the combination of playfulness and curiosity at its core. Continuously ambitious, they aim to explore the interactive potential between spectators and performers, and to push the limitations of theatrical forms. Sleepless Theatre Company are an inclusive company, committed to working with artists who identify as D/deaf or disabled, BAME and non-white in both their casts and production teams, whether or not the play has a character identifying as disabled. Previous shows include The Master and Margarita (2016).

Helena Jackson is a freelance director and producer, and a winner of the University Women in the Arts Programme 2016-18. She is the Artistic Director of Sleepless Theatre Company and a Junior Associate at the King's Head Theatre. She has extensive directing and producing credits and has worked on productions in London, Edinburgh and Oxford and is currently working on Bush Theatre's Fertility Fest.

Alex Wood is an Associate Artist at Sleepless Theatre Company and the Editorial Assistant for WhatsOnStage. His work has been performed at Royal Court as part of the venue's International Women's Day celebrations, at the Pleasance Theatre (London), Theatre Deli (London) and the Burton Taylor Studio (Oxford). He is also an experienced videographer who has worked on short films that have featured as part of the BFI London Film Festival, Vault Film Festival and been shortlisted for the World Media Awards. Nine Foot Nine is his debut play.

www.sleeplesstheatre.com

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