Puppet theatre about a female physicist forced to balance the personal and the professional whilst fighting to make her voice heard in a male dominated world.
25 April – 22 June 2019, UK Tour
Inspired by interviews with female scientists and the real-life story of Lise Meitner (a physicist who discovered nuclear fission in the late 1930s but whose colleague Otto Hahn was awarded the Nobel Prize for the discovery), Flux charts the story of Kate, a young physicist burning with potential. She struggles to be noticed until a male colleague uncovers her brilliance and pushes her forward. But, just as Kate begins to excel professionally, the balance between life and work suddenly flips. Smoking Apples use extraordinary life-size puppetry, an electrifying set of shadow and light and a filmic score to tell Kate’s story as she navigates what it means to be a woman in a male dominated environment.
Since 2018 was the anniversary of women’s suffrage, Smoking Apples challenged themselves to create a piece about a woman, exploring how puppetry can express the objectification of the female form, and work for the first time with an entirely female cast.
With a dynamic, tetris-like set based on the periodic table, a blend of live action and shadow puppetry and a thumping 80’s soundtrack by award-winning composer Jon Ouin, Flux explores the ever-resonant story of a woman fighting to be heard.
Smoking Apples is a puppetry and visual theatre company that works with difficult, hard-to-digest subject matter. They create innovative shows, making their subjects enjoyable and accessible for audiences, combining puppets, live actors and a unique style of movement. Flux is Smoking Apples’ sixth original production. The company’s previous work include In Our Hands which received critical acclaim and has toured the UK and Europe, and CELL, a collaboration with Dogfish theatre company, which was nominated for a Peter Brook Award 2014. CELL has undertaken two national tours, played to sold out crowds at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2015 and, in 2017, toured to Malaysia and Hong Kong.
Molly from the company said: “Flux has been in the making for a while and we’re hugely excited to be travelling around the UK with it, touring is when our shows really come to life. Everyone knows someone like Kate, whether that’s you, a sister or partner, so I think that makes her story easy to connect with. Although the show is set in 1980’s, it shines a spotlight on how many of the issues she faces are still a problem today and how much further we’ve got to go. If people can come away feeling like they can relate to Kate and her story, like they’ve shared that with each other and with us on stage, that would be amazing”
@smokingapplesth | #Flux #meetkate | smokingapplestheatre.com
Running Time: 1hr | Suitable for ages 11+
Company Information
Devised by the company Dramaturgy by Clancy Flynn & Gemma Williams
Music by Jon Ouin Lighting Design by Sherry Coenen
Cast
Anne Condé, Molly Freeman, Matthew Lloyd, Hattie Thomas
Touring 25 April - 22 June 2019
25 April EM Forster Theatre - Tonbridge
EM Forster Theatre, Tonbridge School, 212 High Street, Tonbridge, Kent, TNJ 1JP
7.30pm | £15.00 (£13.00 conc.)
emftheatre.com | 01732 304241
26 April Cornerstone - Didcot
Cornerstone Arts Centre, 25 Station Road, Didcot, Oxon, OX11 7NE
7.30pm | £12.50 (£10.50)
cornerstone-arts.org | 01235 515144
10 May Brewery Arts Centre - Kendal
Brewery Arts Centre, 122a Highgate, Kendal, Cumbria, LA9 4HE.
8pm | Pay What You Decide
breweryarts.co.uk | 01539 725133
11 May Rosehill Theatre - Whitehaven
Rosehill Theatre, Moresby, Whitehaven, Cumbria, CA28 6SE.
8pm | £15 (£7.50 conc.)
rosehilltheatre.co.uk | 01946 692422
15 May Key Theatre - Peterborough
Key Theatre, Embankment Road, Peterborough, PE1 1EF.
7.45pm | £11.50 (£9.50 conc.)
vivacity.org/keytheatre | 01733 207239
16 May Norden Farm - Maidenhead
Norden Farm Centre for the Arts, Altwood Road, Maidenhead, SL6 4PF.
7.30pm | £14 (£12 conc.)
norden.farm | 01628 788997
17 May Hazlitt Theatre - Maidstone
Hazlitt Theatre, Earl Street, Maidstone, Kent, ME14 1PL.
7.30pm | £11.50 (£10 conc.)
hazlitttheatre.com | 01622 758611
18 May The Marlowe Studio - Canterbury
The Marlowe, The Friars, Canterbury, Kent, CT1 2AS.
8pm | £13.75
marlowetheatre.com | 01227 787787
11 June Everyman Theatre - Cheltenham
Everyman Theatre, Regent Street, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, GL50 1HQ.
7.45pm | £11.50 (£10 conc.)
everymantheatre.org.uk | 01242 572573
12 June Stantonbury Theatre - Milton Keynes
Stantonbury Theatre, Stantonbury, Milton Keynes, MK14 6BN.
7.30pm
stantonburytheatre.co.uk | 01908 324466
13 June Riverhead Theatre - Louth
Riverhead Theatre, Victoria Road, Louth, LN11 0BX.
1.30pm
louthriverheadtheatre.com | 01507 600350
14 June Riverhouse Barn Arts Centre - Walton on Thames
Riverhouse Barn Arts Centre, Manor Road, Walton on Thames, Surrey, KT12 2PF.
8pm
riverhousebarn.co.uk | 01932 253354
15 & 16 June Greenwich Theatre - London
Greenwich Theatre, Crooms Hill, London, SE10 8ES
7.30pm
greenwichtheatre.org.uk | 020 8858 7755
21 June The Lowry - Salford
The Lowry, Pier 8, The Quays, Salford, M50 3AZ.
8pm
thelowry.com/drama | 0843 208 6010
22 June The Kirkgate Centre, Cockermouth
The Kirkgate Centre, Kirkgate, Cockermouth, CA13 9PJ.
7.30pm
kirkgatearts.org.uk | 01900 826448
