Dirty Corset

Following rave reviews for their debut show Lucille and Cecilia at Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2019, Bang Average will bring their scandalous reimagining of Restoration Theatre to the Pleasance London from 5th – 24th April. Set in the dying embers of the 17th Century in the North of England, follow a company of tragic actors failing to live up to their onstage personas. A blend of physical theatre, Restoration text and a very naughty song about flaps, Dirty Corset is a sweaty, dark, comedic tale about how we fall short of our farcical desires.

Amidst the 17th Century explosion of creativity, personal liberty and sexuality, Dirty Corset is a vulgar, daft and beautiful piece of new work that encapsulates the essence of this sometimes-forgotten period in all of its disgusting glory. Three strolling players and their world – theatre, disease, sexual desires, the struggle for freedom – are represented through a surreal, silly, modern lens. Hyper-restoration stylistic movement is interwoven with modern speech, visually arresting images, slapstick and dark and dirty humour.

Dirty Corset is directed by Fringe First Winner Helen Tennison (Everything I See I Swallow, The Lowry; Dracula, Creation Theatre), and the flea-bitten players are brought to life by Susannah Scott (Money Heist: The Immersive Experience, Netflix/Fever; Lucille and Cecilia, Soho Theatre), Chloe Darke (Doctors, BBC; Lucille and Cecilia, Soho Theatre) and Laurie Coldwell (Hound of the Baskervilles, Vienna English Theatre; Red Skies, Eastern Angles).

Through pus and eggs, this period of both British and theatrical history is viscerally brought to life to resonate with a modern audience. Exploring womanhood, toxic masculinity and the performativity of both their and our age, Dirty Corset illustrates the parallel between then and now, right down to the closing and reopening of theatres as a result of Covid-19 and The Plague. It celebrates the shared, satisfying grossness of being a human, warts and all.

Director Helen Tennison comments, With absurdist humour that runs from the filthy to the poetic, Bang Average catapult the licentious depths of Restoration theatre into the present day. It’s a tragi-comic tale of love, sex, gender and the drive for connection in a precarious world – much like the one we’re living in now! Directing these bold and inventive actors is a joy. I love how Bang Average have combined physical comedy, nimble text and quirky characterisation to create the unique and sullied world that is Dirty Corset.

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  All photos: Freddie Talbot

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