Smack That (a conversation)

Beverly is having a party and you are one of her guests. Expect games, dancing, humour and a very raw and honest account of domestic abuse.

 Each member of the all-female cast, a close-knit group of non-performers and dance artists, fearlessly takes on the persona of Beverly to convey turbulent, real experiences. The unusual setting creates a safe space for them to reveal the challenges they have faced and celebrate their endurance with the audience. Faith’s work with a support group at charity Safer Places underpins this show, which seeks to raise social consciousness around domestic abuse by supporting women to openly talk about it.

TEAM

Choreographer/Director Rhiannon Faith · Creative Producer Maddy Morgan · Devised and Performed by Beverly Rebekah Dunn, Valerie Ebuwa, Yukiko Masui, Maddy Morgan, Kim Quillen, Hollie Stevenson-Phipps and Casey Tohill · Made in collaboration with Safer Places · Dramaturg Lou Cope · Design Amelia Jane Hankin · Lighting Design Azusa Ono · Music Direction Molly O’Brien · Video Springhead Film Company & Big Egg Films · Photography Foteini Christofilopoulou. 

CREDITS

Commissioned by Harlow Playhouse. Supported by DanceEast with additional support from Arts Council England, Essex County Council, Rich Mix and artsdepot. Developed through the Open Lab at Barbican/Guildhall.  With special thanks to Safer Places and our super generous Crowdfunder donors.

ABOUT THE PROJECT

“It’s about control, it’s isolation, it’s humiliation, degradation. It’s demands and threats, a grooming process meant to tear you down and push your boundaries back, chip away at them until they are non-existent. You are standing amongst the rubble with nothing left but them extending their hand in an act of occasional kindness, and you get a slither of humanity off this person you think you loved; but they don’t exist. With that rubble I built a house for my son and I.” (Participant/Performer)

Smack That (a conversation) was created in partnership with Harlow-based domestic abuse charity Safer Places and their service users. The project aims to raise awareness of domestic abuse and provide victims with a platform for meaningful change. Developed through a series of creative workshops and interviews with over 60 female survivors of domestic abuse, the final work was devised and performed with 4 service users from Safer Places & 3 professional dancers, all with lived experience.

After a sold-out run at the Barbican, London, Smack That went on three national tours, reaching over 1300 audiences and working with 13 local domestic abuse charities to support audiences at each tour venue. 

With Joanne Majauskis, Director of Practice and Development at Safer Places, we created a groundbreaking legacy package, which invited tour venues to become part of the J9 initiative, becoming a safe place for victims of domestic abuse to disclose and seek help. We delivered domestic abuse awareness training to 240 venue staff and 12 venues became J9 venues, including the Barbican. 

Smack That (a conversation) won the Essex High Sheriff Award for contribution to community safety and was shortlisted for a 2018 One Dance UK Award for Innovation in Dance.