Combining intimate stories, comic dialogues, and - when words feel like a cage – dance, Rejoicing At Her Wondrous Vulva The Young Woman Applauded Herself is a celebratory exploration of female sexuality, taking audiences on a journey of self-discovery through pleasure, shame, pride, fury and jubilation. Male gaze may have influenced how we see ourselves and how we engage with sexuality, but what even IS the female gaze? Bella Heesom’s personal journey through how she got to think and behave the way she did, and then turned around and questioned it all, is played out as a tug of war between brain and clitoris; the intellectual vs the sensual, in a celebration of what it means to be the proud owner of a vulva.
Why would a confident, 21st century woman feel inadequate when talking to her partner about sex? Featuring really helpful ideas planted during adolescence, such as 'Only Boys Masturbate', 'You Are A Sex Object', and 'Female Genitals are Gross', this is a story of shame-free sensuality and overcoming the desperate need to be ‘normal’.
Co-produced and supported by Ovalhouse, Rejoicing at Her Wondrous Vulva The Young Woman Applauded Herself is from the team who made My World Has Exploded A Little Bit, is directed by Donnacadh O'Briain, Olivier Award winner for Rotterdam, and has movement direction by Liz Ranken, a founding member of DV8.
Killing Eve producers Sid Gentle are already working with Bella to adapt the play for television. Executive producer Sally Woodward Gentle has said “Her refreshing and radical honestly is compelling” with fellow executive producer Gina Mingacci adding “Bella is a wildly exciting new voice who has written a story that will resonate truthfully not just with women, but with anyone who has struggled to understand who they are. I’m thrilled to be a part of the fantastic team bringing this to life.”
Bella Heesom began her creative career as an actor, after studying philosophy at the University of Cambridge, and training at LAMDA. Her career has spanned theatre, film and TV projects ranging from Elizabethan drama to action to comedy to new writing, in venues as diverse as the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse at Shakespeare's Globe, Theatre503 and PEEP (an innovative pop-up theatre seating 16 in individual, peep-show style booths). Her debut play, My World Has Exploded A Little was an autobiographical piece exploring how we deal with grief, which received acclaim at the Edinburgh Fringe 2016, and was Highly Commended by the awards committee at VAULT Festival 2017. Subsequently in 2018 she gave a TEDx talk at her alma mater on Why it's rational to be emotional (watch here).
Donnacadh O’Briain is the director of the Olivier Award-winning production of Rotterdam by Jon Brittain. He has directed for the RSC (Always Orange by Fraser Grace) and teaches at LAMDA, RADA & BOVTS. He is artistic director of Natural Shocks for whom he created the unique cross art form pop-up theatre PEEP (Edinburgh & Latitude Festivals). Donnacadh spent three years with the RSC working on ten productions including the multi award-winning Histories Cycle. He co-founded All About You with Bella in 2015, and the company was an associate artist at Ovalhouse 2017-18.
Writer and performer Bella says, “'I'm so excited about this show. It's great to be working with my partner-in-crime Donnacadh again - he's the only man I'd trust with putting my wondrous vulva on the stage! He's an incredibly sensitive listener, who holds the space beautifully for me and our team of spectacular women. I’m also delighted to be sharing the stage with Sara Alexander again - she is the perfect Clitoris, as she fills me with joy, and this time we get to dance too, as we’re working with the legendary Liz Ranken, founder member of the inspirational DV8 physical theatre company.”
In addition, Ovalhouse has invited the production to take over the bar space with an interactive art installation about the ideas about sex and our bodies that have been planted in our minds by friends, teachers, partners and the media. There will also be an open call for short pieces about similar themes to be presenting in the Rejoice With Me event in the final week.
@BellaHeesom | #wondrousvulva | bellaheesom.com
Running Time: Performance of 90mins, 15 min interval and discussion of 45 minutes
Suitable for ages 12 +
Company Information
Directed by Donnacadh O’Briain Written by Bella Heesom
Movement direction by Liz Ranken Design by Elizabeth Harper
Lighting Design by Jess Bernberg Produced by Hannah Elsy Productions
Cast
Bella Heesom and Sara Alexander
Listings information
Ovalhouse, 52 - 54 Kennington Oval, London SE11 5SW
9 – 25 May, Tuesday-Saturday, 7.30pm
£16, £10 concessions (Previews £12 and £8 concs) | www.ovalhouse.com | 020 7582 7680
Monday 20th May, 7.30pm - Rejoice with Us
£5
Bite- sized response pieces to the themes in Rejoicing at Her Wondrous Vulva The Young Woman Applauded Herself. These pieces will explore our individual and societal relationships to sexuality and desire, and how this shapes our identity. Come and celebrate the daring and beauty of the artists presenting brand new work, and why not join us in the bar afterwards to continue the conversation? The work showcased at Rejoice With Us will be hand picked by the Rejoicing at Her Wondrous Vulva The Young Woman Applauded Herself creative team.
Picture credit: Lidia Crisafulli
