The Bloody Chamber at Waterside Arts

Award-winning theatre troupe Proteus bring a unique adaptation of Angela Carter’s collection of dark, fantasy fairy tales, The Bloody Chamber (and Other Stories), to Waterside’s stage this Spring.

Carter’s The Bloody Chamber is one of the most famous folk and fairy tale literary works of Western culture. Published in 1979, The Bloody Chamber is a collection of short fiction inspired by the narratives of traditional fairy tales. The work includes a dark reworking of Bluebeard’s Castle, Puss in Boots and Little Red Riding Hood.

Carter’s collection of fairy tales will be delivered through a stunning combination of aerial circus and physical theatre.

Erotic and exhilarating, this dramatic feminist retelling of Carter’s collection of fairy tales will be delivered through a stunning combination of aerial circus and physical theatre. Translating the fever dream-like quality of Carter’s writing to the stage, Proteus set their stunning visual display to a gothic backdrop and haunting soundscape.

Proteus Theatre have worked with leading players in the circus industry to hone the piece – including Mimbre’s Silvia Fratelli, Tamzen Moulding of Inverted Theatre and Charlotte Mooney, Co-Artistic Director of Ockham’s Razor. The production also features an original soundtrack with musical direction, arrangements and sound design by Max Reinhardt and an original composition by regular Proteus collaborator, Paul Wild.

Proteus set their stunning visual display to a gothic backdrop and haunting soundscape.

Most strikingly, Carter’s work seems more relevant now than ever – especially in light of the murder of Sarah Everard. Prompted by the murder of women on Britain’s streets, The Reclaim the Night movement had started in the 1970s – when Carter was writing The Bloody Chamber. And the advice for young women contained within Carter’s work echoes the information published by the Metropolitan Police in 2020, following Sarah’s murder.

Using circus as the chief physical language of the production, Carter’s macabre and fantastical feminist work will be translated to the stage. At a time when women and men across the UK continue to challenge the double standards associated with safety and travelling at night, Carter’s subversive and cautionary tales go some way in disrupting the status quo.