Pay what you decide performance coming to The Brewery Arts - Status

You have to have confidence in your performance and play to ask your audience to pay what they think you deserve – and that is what the Fringe First Winner Chris Thorpe is doing this Tuesday, 17 September at the Brewery Arts Centre, Kendal – and it includes themes about the ‘B-word’.

When Chris Thorpe performed his one-man show Status at the 2018 Edinburgh Fringe, he claimed, provocatively, it wasn’t about Brexit. Now, as the withdrawal date fluctuates, the Fringe First-winning, globe-spanning show about how we acquire our national identity, and what happens when we try to escape it, confronts head on the guilt, alienation and identity crisis experienced in response to the biggest political upheaval of the Century.

China Plants and Staatstheater Mainz present this production of Status which reunite Thorpe with director Rachel Chavkin, whose Hadestown has recently received 14 Tony nominations including one for Chavkin for Best Direction of a Musical.

Status is the second in what will be a trilogy of plays from the partnership, with the first being the hugely acclaimed Confirmation, also a Fringe First winner. The third show is currently in development.

Examining the intersection between our individual humanity and our politics, Status takes as its starting point the UK Prime Minister’s assertion that ‘if you believe you are a citizen of the world, you are a citizen of nowhere’, andattempts to show that feeling like a citizen of the world and having a specific national identity, are not mutually exclusive.

Speaking about Status, Thorpe, who is the Associate Artist at the Royal Exchange, Manchester says: “I madeStatus because I was noticing a lot of conversations about British Values. Like it or not, we’re having to think about what defines us as a nation. I didn’t want to have that conversation – but then I have the luxury of choosing not to have it. So I made a show and wrote some songs, as a way to start that conversation. And this is it.”

Status has been developed with an intercultural creative team from Germany and the UK, rehearsed in both countries and has resulted in both a UK version and a German language adaptation.

Running Time: 1hr 20 mins | Suitable for ages 14+

For more information about Status and to book your tickets visit The Brewery Arts Centre website or call 01539 725133.