Last Updated on 1 February 2022 by Showcall Editorial Team
Proteus Theatre’s adaptation of Angela Carter’s short stories, The Bloody Chamber, is to tour England in the spring
Proteus Theatre is to bring back its acclaimed adaptation of Angela Carter’s The Bloody Chamber, a feminist re-telling of classic fairy tales, for a tour.
It will tour venues from 23 March to 14 May 2022, combining aerial circus, visual physical theatre, gothic design and a haunting soundscape. It follows a successful run in Worthing in West Sussex last June.
Carter’s collection of dark fairy tales, The Bloody Chamber (and Other Stories), has been adapted for the stage by director Mary Swan, artistic director of Proteus Theatre Company.
The cast features Rosie Rowlands, Megan Brooks, Ashley Christmas, Anesta Mathurin and Lorraine Moynehan.
Proteus Theatre are working with leading figures in the circus industry to choreograph the piece including Mimbre’s Silvia Fratelli, Charlotte Mooney from Ockham’s Razor and Tamzen Moulding, the artistic director of Inverted Theatre.
The Bloody Chamber also features an original soundtrack with musical direction, arrangements and sound design by Max Reinhardt and original composition by Paul Wild who worked with Proteus on Macbeth.
Mary Swan said: “Like so many female writers, Angela Carter has long been overlooked in the canon of great British literature, but happily this is finally beginning to change.
“Using circus as the chief physical language of the piece enables us to create the surreal, Escher-type worlds of the castle in The Bloody Chamber, the landscapes of Wolf-Alice and the nightmarish home of the vampire in The Lady of the House of Love.
“Her work is sadly more relevant now than ever: the advice contained in the tales to young women is all too reminiscent of the list published by the Metropolitan Police in 2020 following the murder of Sarah Everard.
“The Reclaim the Night movement started in the late 1970s when Carter was writing The Bloody Chamber, prompted by outrage at the murder of women on Britain’s streets, and that we are still marching in 2022 is a depressing validation of all the warnings contained within these tales.”
The creative team also includes designer Sam Pine, lighting designer Peter Harrison and damaturg Saul Jaffe.
23 March
Harlow Playhouse, Playhouse Square, Harlow CM20 1LS
BOOK TICKETS
4 April
Drama Studio, University of Sheffield, Shearwood Road, Broomhall, Sheffield S10 2TD
BOOK TICKETS
6 April
Harrogate Theatre, 6 Oxford Street, Harrogate HG1 1QF
BOOK TICKETS
8 April
The Dukes, Moor Lane, Lancaster LA1 1QE
BOOK TICKETS
9 April
Waterside Arts Centre, 1 Waterside, Sale M33 7ZF
BOOK TICKETS
20 – 21 April
The Haymarket, Wote Street, Basingstoke RG21 7NW
BOOK TICKETS
4 May
Bedales School, Church Road, Steep, Petersfield GU32
BOOK TICKETS
6 – 7 May
Norden Farm Centre for the Arts, Altwood Road, Maidenhead SL6 4PF
BOOK TICKETS
13 – 14 May
Norwich Playhouse, 42-58 St Georges Street, Norwich NR3 1AB
BOOK TICKETS
