Fat Girl Gets a Haircut
Encyclopedia
The Fat Girl Gets a Haircut and other Stories is a 12-part play, created by artist Mark Storor in collaboration with a cast of teenage actors. The play was first performed in The Roundhouse
at Chalk Farm
, North London
, UK, on April 26, 2011, and set to run until May 7, 2011. Artist
/ Director Mark Storor is known for his work in the play For the Best at the (Unicorn Theatre
, London
, and Unity Theatre, Liverpool
) about a dialysis
drama
for children. Musical Director Jules Maxwell was in charge of the neo-classical
score, while animator Babis Alexiadis provided rich and sensory illustrations throughout the play.
The 12 portraits are tales of love
, family
, sexuality
, religion
, bullying, angst
, freedom
, lust
, and abstract interpretations of modern teenage challenges concerning insecurities, rebellion
, acceptance, and the ultimate path to adulthood.
. The company crafted tender and exquisite stories with a fascinating insight into teenage life in Britain
in modern times. Few words were spoken throughout the play, but wide range of music, from jazz
, jive
, boogie
, to ballad
, served as the vessel to unfolding the many layers of symbolism
and ethereal voyage of teenagers’ minds.
(UK), and Time Out (London). British Theatre Guide also made positive reviews, praising the fascinating insights of the play, and the artistic crafts of Babis Alexiadis:
1. We Let Them Look at Us
2. And Then I Fell
3. Swallow 1
4. Burlesque Boy part 1
5. The Boy Who Cried for the World
6. Burlesque Boy part 2
7. Infidel
8. Daddy’s Girl
9. My Body My Secret
10. Swallow 2
11. How to Make a Paper Daffodil
12. Fairground
The Roundhouse
The Roundhouse is a Grade II* listed former railway engine shed in Chalk Farm, London, England, which has been converted into a performing arts and concert venue. It was originally built in 1847 as a roundhouse , a circular building containing a railway turntable, but was only used for railway...
at Chalk Farm
Chalk Farm
Chalk Farm is an area of north London, England. It lies directly to the north of Camden Town and its underground station is the closest tube station to the nearby, upmarket neighbourhood of Primrose Hill....
, North London
North London
North London is the northern part of London, England. It is an imprecise description and the area it covers is defined differently for a range of purposes. Common to these definitions is that it includes districts located north of the River Thames and is used in comparison with South...
, UK, on April 26, 2011, and set to run until May 7, 2011. Artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
/ Director Mark Storor is known for his work in the play For the Best at the (Unicorn Theatre
Unicorn Theatre
The Unicorn Theatre is a producer of professional theatre for children in Britain. It is based in a RIBA Award–winning centre in Tooley Street, in the London Borough of Southwark, opened in 2005...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, and Unity Theatre, Liverpool
Unity Theatre, Liverpool
The Unity Theatre in Liverpool, England, was formed as the Merseyside Left Theatre in the 1930s. In 1944 it became Merseyside Unity Theatre....
) about a dialysis
Dialysis
In medicine, dialysis is a process for removing waste and excess water from the blood, and is primarily used to provide an artificial replacement for lost kidney function in people with renal failure...
drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
for children. Musical Director Jules Maxwell was in charge of the neo-classical
Neoclassicism (music)
Neoclassicism in music was a twentieth-century trend, particularly current in the period between the two World Wars, in which composers sought to return to aesthetic precepts associated with the broadly defined concept of "classicism", namely order, balance, clarity, economy, and emotional restraint...
score, while animator Babis Alexiadis provided rich and sensory illustrations throughout the play.
The 12 portraits are tales of love
Love
Love is an emotion of strong affection and personal attachment. In philosophical context, love is a virtue representing all of human kindness, compassion, and affection. Love is central to many religions, as in the Christian phrase, "God is love" or Agape in the Canonical gospels...
, family
Family
In human context, a family is a group of people affiliated by consanguinity, affinity, or co-residence. In most societies it is the principal institution for the socialization of children...
, sexuality
Sexual orientation
Sexual orientation describes a pattern of emotional, romantic, or sexual attractions to the opposite sex, the same sex, both, or neither, and the genders that accompany them. By the convention of organized researchers, these attractions are subsumed under heterosexuality, homosexuality,...
, religion
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
, bullying, angst
Angst
Angst is an English, German, Danish, Norwegian and Dutch word for fear or anxiety . It is used in English to describe an intense feeling of apprehension, anxiety or inner turmoil...
, freedom
Freedom
-Philosophy:* Free will, the ability to make choices* Political freedom, in the context of the relationship of the individual to the state* Economic freedom-Computing:...
, lust
Lust
Lust is an emotional force that is directly associated with the thinking or fantasizing about one's desire, usually in a sexual way.-Etymology:The word lust is phonetically similar to the ancient Roman lustrum, which literally meant "purification"...
, and abstract interpretations of modern teenage challenges concerning insecurities, rebellion
Rebellion
Rebellion, uprising or insurrection, is a refusal of obedience or order. It may, therefore, be seen as encompassing a range of behaviors aimed at destroying or replacing an established authority such as a government or a head of state...
, acceptance, and the ultimate path to adulthood.
Making
The play was two years in the making, with Mark Storor meeting with 11 young teenagers once a week, teaching them about the techniques of theatreTheatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
. The company crafted tender and exquisite stories with a fascinating insight into teenage life in Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
in modern times. Few words were spoken throughout the play, but wide range of music, from jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, jive
Swing (genre)
Swing music, also known as swing jazz or simply swing, is a form of jazz music that developed in the early 1930s and became a distinctive style by 1935 in the United States...
, boogie
Boogie
Boogie is a repetitive, swung note or shuffle rhythm, "groove" or pattern used in blues which was originally played on the piano in boogie-woogie music. The characteristic rhythm and feel of the boogie was then adapted to guitar, double bass, and other instruments. The earliest recorded...
, to ballad
Ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of British and Irish popular poetry and song from the later medieval period until the 19th century and used extensively across Europe and later the Americas, Australia and North Africa. Many...
, served as the vessel to unfolding the many layers of symbolism
Symbolism
Symbolism is the applied use of symbols. It is a representation that carries a particular meaning. It is a device in literature where an object represents an idea.A symbol is an object, action, or idea that represents something other than itself....
and ethereal voyage of teenagers’ minds.
Reviews
The play was well received by critics, given 4 stars out of 5 by The GuardianThe Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
(UK), and Time Out (London). British Theatre Guide also made positive reviews, praising the fascinating insights of the play, and the artistic crafts of Babis Alexiadis:
Play
The Fat Girl Gets a Haircut and other Stories:1. We Let Them Look at Us
2. And Then I Fell
3. Swallow 1
4. Burlesque Boy part 1
5. The Boy Who Cried for the World
6. Burlesque Boy part 2
7. Infidel
8. Daddy’s Girl
9. My Body My Secret
10. Swallow 2
11. How to Make a Paper Daffodil
12. Fairground