Look Out! Frantic Assembly and Contact Theatre

Danielle here with my monthly check-in to give you a deeper insight into some of the things we’re up to.

Metamorphosis

On Wednesday 15th of November we had a trip to the theatre as part of of Look Out! schedule. We went to The Lowry to see Metamorphosis by Frantic Assembly; an adaptation of Franz Kafka’s novella of the same title, written by Lemn Sissay OBE.

Combining the fluidity and lyricism of Lemn Sissay’s adaptation and Frantic’s uncompromising physicality, this promises to be an unmissable retelling of Franz Kafka’s shocking tale of cruelty and kindness; a visceral and vital depiction of humans struggling within a system that crushes them under its heel.

Frantic Assembly show copy

Going into the show, I knew nothing, completely clueless that my brain was about to be blown – in a good way!

I spent the first half an hour or so, trying to understand and take in what was happening, I was quite confused. The movements, the sounds, the speed, the slowness, the repetitive cycles, the set, the dialogue, everything was changing but was also always the same – it’s hard to explain.

As we approached the interval I felt like things were starting to make sense but I couldn’t be sure. A few of us shared ideas of what we thought was happening and we were all of the same opinion that the main character had turned into a bug!

We were not wrong! But there was a deeper meaning…

I left the performance and couldn’t stop thinking about it. I ended up going away and doing a bit more research and then it became clear that lots of people interpret Metamorphosis differently, there isn’t really a clear answer to what happened. I personally felt like it was about isolation, alienation, change and mental health.

Seeing Metamorphosis has left an impact and benefitted some of our Tuesday writing group.

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Cinderella

We closed off the year with another Look Out! event at the theatre, we went to the panto (oh yes we did!). Visiting our friends at Contact Theatre and heading to their festive panto Cinderella, presented by Eight Freestyle and Contact Young Company.

We descended on the theatre en masse, 36 of our creative community in total! It was great to be together as a company of artists, performers, freelancers, and staff.

We all had a great time, celebrating the festive season together at a pantomime that had a joyous mix of modern and traditional. It had reckless puns, hilarious gags, and expertly addressed themes of sustainability and fast fashion!

The Cinderella show was really amazing and the actor who played buttons OMG!

Nick Prince

We recommend you get to Contact if you can over the next few weeks – Cinderella runs until 31st December!

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Thank you all for continuing to support our work and we’ll be back in the new year to let you know what’s next!

Metamorphosis – Frantic Assembly images credit: Perou / Cinderella image credit: Eight Freestyle

Proud and Loud Arts is supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England