VIDEO: Behind the Scenes of FLUX

Kate is a physicist in the 1980s. In a male-dominated world, she is determined to make her voice heard. But in the wake of an unexpected discovery, can she balance the personal and professional?

LONDON PREMIERE: 1 & 2 November - Shoreditch Town Hall

Inspired by interviews with female scientists, Flux charts the story of Kate, a young physicist burning with potential. She struggles to be noticed until a male colleague uncovers her brilliance and pushes her forward. But, just as Kate begins to excel professionally, the balance between life and work suddenly flips.

Smoking Apples use extraordinary life-size puppetry, an electrifying set of shadow and light and a filmic score to tell Kate's story as she navigates what it means to be a woman in a male dominated environment.

2018 marks the centenary of Women's Suffrage. Having previously focused on predominantly male stories, Smoking Apples challenged themselves to create a piece about a woman, exploring how puppetry can express the objectification of the female form.

Flux has been developed in London and Oxford and heavily influenced by female figures from the world of science. Most notably Lise Meitner, a physicist who discovered nuclear fission in the late 1930s but whose work was undermined by her colleague Otto Hahn, who was later awarded the Nobel Prize for the discovery.

With a dynamic, tetris-like set evoking Kate's world, a blend of live action and shadow puppetry and a thumping 80s soundtrack by award-winning composer Jon Ouin, Flux explores the ever-resonant story of a woman fighting to be heard.

The development and premiere of Flux has been generously supported by Arts Council England, the Institute of Physics, Shoreditch Town Hall, Oxford Playhouse, Old Fire Station Oxford and Cornerstone Arts Centre.

Smoking Apples is a puppetry and visual theatre company that works with difficult, hard-to-digest subject matter. They create innovative shows, making their subjects enjoyable and accessible for audiences, combining puppets, live actors and a unique style of movement. Flux is Smoking Apples' sixth original production. The company's previous work include In Our Hands which received critical acclaim and has toured the UK and Europe, and CELL, a collaboration with Dogfish theatre company, which was nominated for a Peter Brook Award 2014. CELL has undertaken two national tours, played to sold out crowds at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2015 and, in 2017, toured to Malaysia and Hong Kong.

To post a comment, you must register and login.