Worklight Theatre presents
Monster
VAULT Festival, The Vaults, Leake Street, London SE1 7NN
Wednesday 24th – Sunday 28th January 2018
Press Night: Wednesday 24th January, 7:15pm
This is a story about a girl. And a boy. Some of it’s true. And some if it isn’t. And I’m not going to tell you which.
Following a highly successful run at Edinburgh Fringe 2017, Joe Sellman-Leava’s one man show Monster, a dark but humorous exploration of gender and masculinity, will be coming to London this January as part of VAULT Festival. With intimate storytelling at its heart, Monster looks at a young man’s struggle to make sense of love and anger.
With its examination of male attitudes towards women, and male role models celebrated in society, the play has gained new relevance since its Edinburgh debut in the wake of recent sexual assault allegations against a string of celebrities. Monster importantly sheds light on our perceptions of gender, violence and aggression
Experimenting with form, Joe Sellman-Leava’s performance includes a play within a play, and a narrative split across multiple characters and timelines converging at the play’s climax. Playing with the very premise of presentation and performance, the play features the words and personas of known figures including Mike Tyson and Patrick Stewart.
Brimming with earnest, intelligent energy and jumping between threads seamlessly, deftly reconstructing scenes, arguments and interviews with nothing but a pair of red steel chairs for a set (★★★★ The Stage).
Sellman-Leava has previously had phenomenal success with Labels, which has been touring nationally and internationally since 2015 and won a Scotsman Fringe First. Monster was critically acclaimed during its Edinburgh Festival Fringe premiere in 2017, and is touring the UK in Spring 2018.