EDINBURGH 2019: FATTY FAT FAT Q&A

BWW catches up with Katie Greenall to chat about bringing Fatty Fat Fat to the 2019 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Tell us a bit about Fatty Fat Fat.

FATTY FAT FAT is my first solo autobiographical show about what it's like to live in a fat body. In the last few years, I've began to realise a number of things that my body has been subject to, both verbally and physically, aren't the norm. In an attempt to reclaim and process what it is to live in my body I wanted to make a show. These anecdotes form the backbone of the show, dissected with more interactive moments discussing wider fat activism and more poetic moments that reflect the process of making the show. It's a funny & frank work about what it's like to live in a body the world tells you to hate.

Why does it feel particularly relevant to tell this story now?

People who live in fat bodies are a marginalised community that are constantly overlooked and mistreated by society. Fatphobia is everywhere, whether it be your favourite celeb promoting a weightloss product on social media or the recent adverts by Cancer Research UK citing obesity as a cause of cancer. Because of this and years of public fear-mongering, people are genuinely scared to live in a body like mine. So although standing on stage and taking up space publicly as a fat person can be really scary, it feels really important to have a presence in spite of it all.

Who would you like to come and see Fatty Fat Fat?

FATTY FAT FAT started as a way for me to try and reclaim my fatness and allowed me to begin to carve out my career as a solo artist, as well as a 'Professional Fatty'. Most importantly though, it enabled me to connect with the wider fat community which has been hugely important to me. I would love to fill my audiences with fat people, because there just aren't enough safe spaces for our stories to be told. But ultimately this show is for anyone whose relationship with their body has ever been affected by other people's interactions with it.

What would you like audiences to take away from the show?

That they have a body and only they have the right to decide what it can or can't do, if it looks good or bad and how they feel about it.

Where can people find out more about fat activism and the fat liberation movement?

The internet is your best friend, there are so many excellent fat people out there! A huge inspiration to me are The Fat Underground, a radical group from the 70s tackling social attitudes to fat people. For more modern references check out Dr Charlotte Cooper, comedian Sofie Hagan's book Happy Fat, performance artist Scottee's work, Bethany Rutter and Stephanie Yeboah- all of who are far more articulate on these things than I will ever be.

https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/fatty-fat-fat

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