BATMAN (aka Naomi's Death Show) Heads To VAULT Festival 2023

Chronic Insanity and Little But Fierce presents BATMAN (aka Naomi's Death Show) . Naomi leads the audience on a quest to uncover the truth about her mother's death in an interactive autobiographical show. The production is written by Naomi Westerman and directed by Yasmeen Arden.

Performances run at VAULT Festival, Studio from 4 - 5 March 2023.

Taking its title from the story of Bruce Wayne, the death of his parents and his transformation, BATMAN (aka Naomi's Death Show) explores the playwright's personal experience of parental death and bereavement whilst satirising the true crime genre. Naomi Westerman's mother passed away unexpectedly in May 2018; now she's taking the audience on an interactive quest to uncover the truth and enact justice - some might say vengeance - on those responsible.

A woman walks down a blossom-lined street, a knife clutched in her pocket. She's on her way to confront the man who killed her mother. Join Naomi for an exploration of death, grief, bereavement, art, and fish. Eat cake, play Death Bingo, explore an underwater mansion, and participate (or not!) in an in-person shiva ceremony.

A digital version of BATMAN (aka Naomi's Death Show) will be made available for audiences who are not able to attend in person. This will be specially created for a digital audience, using web design, creative coding, video, and audio to replicate and present an equivalent version of the in person show for digital audiences.

Artistic Director for Chronic Insanity, Joe Strickland, said "It's so great to be able to debut this powerful and nuanced production from Naomi at VAULT Festival this year, and the first show from our Arts Council Supported Digital Literary Department commissioning scheme. Chronic Insanity runs the UK's first literary department dedicated to developing digital theatre and BATMAN's development, interactivity, and online accompanying performances are all fantastic ways of showcasing the benefits of making work simultaneously for in person and online audiences to enjoy. We can't wait to have people, whether physically present and available during the run or not, to be able to experience this phenomenal piece of theatre"

Chronic Insanity are also taking All Falls Down to VAULT Festival 2023 between 24 - 28 January. The interactive horror show tells the story of a group of friends trying to make contact with civilisation and survive in the wilderness after a plane crash, with the audience's actions deciding how the story progresses.

Chronic Insanity is a Nottingham based theatre company that creates and facilitates live events in a variety of traditional, found, and digital spaces. They make work accessibly, affordably, sustainably, and inclusively, and seek to change the definition of what theatre can be by playing with form, genre, medium, and technology. They follow Staging Change guidelines, actively providing opportunities for theatre makers from all backgrounds, and record how each production is made so people can learn from them. Chronic Insanity run the UK's first dedicated digital theatre literary department and have consistently produced at least twelve shows in twelve months for the past three years.  

Naomi Westerman is an award-winning playwright and screenwriter, and disability advocate. Her work has been widely staged in London and across the UK and internationally, including at the Bush Theatre, Royal Court, Vault and High Tide Festivals, Wilton's Music Hall, Birmingham Rep, Lyric Hammersmith, and the Criterion Theatre. She is currently under commission from the Bush Theatre, Derby Theatre, and a youth theatre in Scotland, and was recently awarded The Michael Grandage Futures Bursary and the In Good Co Mid-Career Commission Award as well as an RSL Literature Matters Award. Her first TV series, about a group of disabled people who form a criminal heist gang, is currently in development. 

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