mess
Mess is a show by Caroline Horton based on her experiences of anorexia, which starts its national tour on 8th April, coming to The Octagon in Bolton on 15th April.
The show was a hit at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival last year, winning the company the Stage Award for Best Ensemble. As well as using Caroline’s experiences, Mess was developed with the help of experts from King’s College London’s Institute of Psychiatry, one of the leaders in eating disorder research. The play is funny and uplifting, challenging misconceptions about the illness and showing it as it is without over-simplifying, over-dramatising or pretention.
It’s performed by Caroline Horton, who won the Stage Award for Best Solo Performer in 2010 with her show You’re Not Like Other Girls Chrissy, Hannah Boyde (Warhorse) and musician Seiriol Davies, who’s previously collaborated with Punchdrunk.
Josephine, Boris and Sistahl are catapulted from the depths of despair and bafflement to the heights of joy and hope and back again as they struggle to tell the story of Josephine’s anorexia and recovery. Mess is wickedly funny and deeply moving, providing a window into an internal world of addiction and control, which is finally rejected for the messy, chaotic and rich world outside.
Listings Information
8 - 9 April Parabola Arts Centre
Parabola Rd, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire GL50 3AA
www.parabolaartscentre.co.uk | 01242 707 338
7.30pm | £5-£10
10 April Chipping Norton Theatre
2 Spring St, Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire OX7 5NL
www.chippingnortontheatre.co.uk | 01608 642350
7.45pm | £13 (£11 concs)
11 - 12 April The Egg, Bath
Bath, Avon BA1 1ET
www.theatreroyal.org.uk/the-egg | 01225 448844
5pm Thurs 11, 7.30pm Fri 12th | £7 (£6.50 concs)
15 April The Octagon, Bolton
Howell Croft S, Bolton, BL1 1SB
www.octagonbolton.co.uk | 01204520661
7.30pm | £11 (£9 concs)
17-18 April Lincoln Drill Hall
Free School Ln, Town Centre, Lincoln LN2 1EY
www.lincolndrillhall.com | 01522 873894
8pm | £12 (£8 concs)
20 April The Cornerstone, Didcot
Cornerstone, 25 Station Road, Didcot, Oxon, OX11 7NE
www.cornerstone-arts.org | 01235 51544
8pm | £14 (£12.50-£11.50 concs)
23 - 27 April Bristol Old Vic
Theatre Royal, King Street, Bristol BS1 4ED
http://www.bristololdvic.org.uk | 0117 987 7877
8pm, 3pm (Sat matinee), 2pm (Thu matinee) | £12 (£8 concs)
30 April - 1 May Live Theatre, Newcastle
Broad Chare, Quayside, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 3DQ
http://www.live.org.uk | 0191 232 1232
7.30pm | Workshop Weds 2pm, Discussion Weds 8.45pm | £10-£14 (£5 concs)
2 May ARC, Stockton-on-Tees
Dovecot Street, Stockton on Tees, TS18 1LL
www.arconline.co.uk | 01642 525199
7.30pm | £10 (£8 concs)
4 – 5 May Nightingale Theatre, Brighton Fringe
29-30 Surrey Street, Brighton BN1 3PA
www.nightingaletheatre.co.uk | 01273 91 72 72
7.15pm | £10 (£8 concs/members)
7 - 9 May Warwick Arts Centre
The University of Warwick, Gibbet Hill Road, Coventry, CV4 7AL
htwww.warwickartscentre.co.uk | 024 7652 4524
7.45pm | £11.50 (£9.50 concs)
11 May Jersey Arts Centre
Phillips Street, St Helier, Jersey JE2 4SW
www.artscentre.je | 01534700444
8pm | £17 (£11 students), Members £14.45 (£9.35 students)
14 May - 1 June Battersea Arts Centre, London
Lavender Hill, Battersea, London, SW11 5TN
www.bac.org.uk | 020 7223 2223
7.30pm | £15 (£10 concs), £10 14th-18th May
3 June Pulse Fringe Festival. New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich
Civic Drive, Ipswich, Suffolk IP1 2AS
www.pulsefringe.com | 01473 295 900
9pm | Prices TBC