Robin/Red/Breast at Aviva Studios
Kristy Stott, Theatre Editor
Following the success of previous MIF collaborations, we’re thrilled that Maxine Peake, Sarah Frankcom and Imogen Knight will join forces once again to present Robin/Red/Breast, a chilling adaptation of a cult horror classic, at Factory International’s Aviva Studios this May.
Retreating from the stresses of city life, Norah moves to a quaint English village. Following the recent break-up of her long-term relationship, she is feeling emotionally and mentally fragile. New to the village and alone in the house, Norah begins to hear things – is it a mouse scurrying or something more sinister? Norah wonders if paranoia is setting in. But, with the village circling in around her, Norah’s fight is just beginning. She must seize control of her body, her fertility and ultimately, her story.
This gripping theatrical reimagining is based on John Bowen’s Robin Redbreast, first broadcast in 1970 as part of the BBC’s famous Play For Today TV series. The episode gained notoriety when a national electrician’s strike caused a country-wide blackout during the transmission, and viewers had to wait 3 months to see the ending. Widely considered a precursor to the definitive folk horror The Wicker Man, Robin Redbreast’s themes of paganism and fertility sacrifice continue to fascinate horror audiences over half a century on.
Maxine Peake, Sarah Frankcom and Imogen Knight, co-founders of Music, Art, Activism and Theatre (MAAT) team up with the acclaimed electronica artist Gazelle Twin and the Booker Prize-shortlisted writer Daisy Johnson to translate Bowen’s psychological thriller into a striking, and deeply unsettling, stage show. Intrigued? We certainly are.
