IT’S NOT ABOUT CATS
Five girls – one stage.
Is there anything better in this world than a pretty girl in her underwear?
PUSSY is a grotesquely hilarious exploration of what it means to be a young woman growing up in today’s society. The five young female performers combine physical theatre, song, guttural soundscapes, Beyoncé lyrics and more to create the distinctly physical style of
Tight Theatre. Through this physicality the five girls explore taboos of female adolescent sexuality, how society shapes female perceptions of appearance and the ultimate need for sexual satisfaction.
PUSSY dives into the media-fueled, sexualized world of the teenage girl. Exploring the uproarious contradictions of a culture in which a lipstick can be both worshipped and weaponized, where feminist popstars promise to ‘keep it tight, keep my figure right’, and the female body is a grotesque battle ground over which the public and private self fight for control.
Laughing Horse @ Counting House Ballroom (V170) 6-19th August
11.30pm (45 mins)
We have answered the questions that we think are most relevant to our show.
What can the audience expect to see and feel - or even think - of your production?
The audience can expect to feel LAUGHTER but leave with a deeper understanding of the complexities of being a girl today. The audience will see the five female performers explore sexuality and femininity through Tight Theatre's physical style, with an accompanying soundtrack of contemporary pop music, such as Destiny's Child or Iggy Azeala.
The dramaturgy questions
What particular traditions and influences would you acknowledge on your work - have any particular artists, or genres inspired you and do you see yourself within their tradition?
Our two greatest artistic influences are Pina Bausch's Tanztheater Wuppertal and Impermanence Dance Theatre, the former being one of the leading dance theatre companies in the world since the 1970s, the latter a young break-through company, also performing at Edinburgh Fringe Festival this year. We largely admire the two companies for the same reason, namely their blending of theatre and dance.
Bausch's work taught us to push our bodies to its limits - even if it means falling to the floor over and over again, so be it! Impermanence taught us to be playful and outrageous with our work, that wild improvisation can spark movements beyond our usual repotoire and that facial expression brings a movement to life, particularly in creating comedy.
What do you feel the role of the audience is, in terms of making the meaning of your work?
Audience response is crucial to our devising process and we often find that feedback shapes and directs our rehearsals months after a work-in-progress showing. Sometimes we feel we’ve finalised the content of the show, perform it, and then start working on a whole new idea sparked from our conversation with audience members. Our piece draws on our personal experiences but we always strive to make it accessible to a wide audience.
We often get asked if a male audience can relate to Pussy, given its emphasis on representation of the female body – our aim is to make open theatre that deals with social issues in a humorous and entertaining way in order to engage with a mixed audience and, though Pussy concentrates on female experiences, its exploration of gender conformity is a subject that speaks to both men and women.
We had the best time performing at Brainchild festival recently and really appreciated getting feedback from people who were watching Pussy with completely fresh eyes!
Are there any questions that you feel I have missed out that would help me to understand how dramaturgy works for you?
The only other question that I feel would be helpful is in relation to how our use of material visuals, i.e. set and costume inform our work. Due adopting the style of physical theatre it was important for us to keep our space as bare as possible, making us utilise our bodies and voices to convey our intentions. This also means our piece is easily malleable to different stages which has become important when performing in different venues.
Costumes were crucial as they had so much potential to contradict what we were trying to convey and it was a process of elimination until we finally came up with what we believe show us as ‘trying to be sexy’ but ultimately failing. We accomplished this through wearing underwear, but the underwear; particularly the knickers are over-sized in an almost baby-like fashion. This when couple with frumpy layering of other garments we feel has created a look that we feel is integral to our show.
Tight Theatre tread the line between silliness and severity, adding their personal voice to this multi-faceted discussion of femininity and feminism in society.
