For over 200 years, humans have used lobster pots as a device to trap the creature after it crawls in to reach bait. The entrance to the pot never closes; it remains open, but once inside, the lobster just can’t find its way out again. Does it even recognise that it’s in a trap at all? Arthropoda is a show about how we identify our traps, and if we manage to do so, how we can find ways to escape them.
A world premiere from leading Scotland-based aerial theatre company Paper Doll Militia, this gripping and visually arresting piece of circus theatre tells of the unravelling of a relationship, entangled in the psychological pitfalls of societal and systematic sexism.
The piece explores the way in which toxic and abusive dynamics can remain hidden to those experiencing them, when experienced amidst the complex mass of other relationship dynamics. Through an array of stunning visual theatre and circus techniques including cyr wheel, aerial theatre and hair hanging, Arthropoda navigates challenging questions about whether we can or should support a partner with dark and violent emotions, and how to identify when those emotions spill over into something altogether more toxic.
Production Credits:
Writer, Director and Co-Production Designer: Sarah Holmes
Mentor/Dramaturge: Clive Andrews
Co- Producers: Melanie Purdie and Nikki Kalkman
Musical Director and Musician: Bado Reti
Lighting Designer: George Tarbuck
Co-Production Designer: Ingrid Scholes
Production Stage Manager: Grace Turner
Performers: Constanza Ruff and Lee Partridge
Musician: Joseph Weisberg
Graphic Designer: Kate George
Deputy Stage Manager: Lucy May Wilson
Image Credit: Colin Hattersley