In this episode Elaine chats with Australian performance artist and dancer Leah Shelton about her show Batshit. We chat the inspiration for the show, her grandmother’s story and the narrative of the “Cray” woman.
Batshit - Traverse Theatre
Dates: 1st -25th August
@ Various Times
Get Tickets Here: https://www.traverse.co.uk/whats-on/event/batshit-festival-24
BATSHIT
Women have long been locked up, medicated, pathologized and silenced by a simple label - ‘crazy’. BATSHIT is a wildly theatrical, unexpectedly funny, and deeply intimate story of female madness. Created by psycho-siren Leah Shelton (AU) and directed by Olivier award-winning performance artist Ursula Martinez (UK), this is a requiem for Leah’s grandmother Gwen, who was incarcerated for seeking independence in 1960s Australia. BATSHIT draws on personal stories, pop psychology and Prozac-laden humour to explore the myths, fantasies and fears that keep us compliant, and the systems that let us down. Dedicated to all the women labelled hysterical, psycho, hormonal and deluded by a society that seeks to control and discredit their experiences.
LEAH SHELTON
Psycho-siren Leah Shelton creates stylized, guttural, renegade feminist work soaked in cult references and dark humour. Her work has taken her from the glamour of Las Vegas to the back streets of Kings Cross, from rigorous training in Japan to live art festivals in New York. As a solo artist, Leah has played on and off West End in London. She has graced the cabaret stages of La Clique, Club Briefs, Little Death Club, Vegas Nocturne and Jonny Woo’s infamous UnRoyal Variety Show. Her first solo work, ‘Terror Australis’, received numerous awards and toured Australia and France. Leah’s second solo work, ‘Bitch On Heat’, directed by UK Performance Art luminary Ursula Martinez, has toured to major festivals in Australia and Soho Theatre London to critical acclaim and standing ovations.With Lisa Fa’alafi, Leah is Co-Director of artist collective Polytoxic, creating hyper-visual works underpinned by diversity and collaboration. Polytoxic have presented work at PS122’s COIL Festival NYC, Harbourfront Centre Canada, WanSmolbag Vanuatu, Sydney Opera House, Darwin Festival, Brisbane Festival, APAM, Bleach*, Enlighten, ArtsHouse Melbourne, Ten Days on the Island, Brisbane Powerhouse and QPAC.Originally dance-trained, Leah has a diverse performance background including over ten years training in the Suzuki Actor Training Method with Frank Theatre (Brisbane, AU), Suzuki Company of Toga (Toga / Shizuoka, Japan) and SITI Company (New York, USA).
https://www.leahshelton.live/batshit
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