Peak Stuff at Blackpool Grand Theatre
Kristy Stott, Theatre Editor
We’re excited to see the award-winning Wigan-based theatre company ThickSkin on the road with another brand-new show – heading to Blackpool Grand Theatre this February. Visually thrilling and inventive, Peak Stuff dives head-first into consumer culture to investigate where we went wrong and how we can correct it.
Set against a backdrop of consumerist juxtapositions – thrifty fashion and retail therapy, climate emergency and click and collect- Peak Stuff is comprised of three fast-paced and funny stories. Meet Alice, who is done with fast fashion; Ben, who can’t stop buying trainers, and Charlie, who just wants to sell out – one organ at a time.
Anchoring around consumerism and young people’s relationship with ‘stuff’, Peak Stuff asks – what does it mean to own things? How does our ‘stuff’ define our identity? And how do we know when to stop buying?
Fusing spectacular video design, live drumming and storytelling, multiple perspectives on consumer culture are performed by one actor and a musician. Each persona is on their own journey to understand how things got so bad. Whether, they’ve left dead seagulls in Claire’s Accessories as an act of protest or auctioned off human kidneys to the highest bidder, Peak Stuff is about some people having too much while others have nothing.
Billed as a “cautionary tale for modern times”, Peak Stuff is written by the fiercely talented young writer Billie Collins (Too Much World At Once). The work is also the well-deserved winner of the New Play Commission Scheme, which celebrates the very best in new writing for the stage. We love that ThickSkin pride themselves on nurturing emerging talent and presenting fresh viewpoints in unexpected ways – it’s one of the reasons we’re huge fans of their work.
Take the opportunity to see this innovative and timely new show when it heads out on a UK tour from February.
