A university academic will be swapping the classroom for the stage as part of an innovative new show coming to the Brighton Fringe that will see her research up in lights.
Dr Mareike Beck, from Brighton, will lead a cast of acrobats and performers for a special show, Home: The Intimacy of Debt and Inequality, which she has produced in support of a research project which examines housing and the concept of asset-based inequality.
The show will feature the trapeze, contortion, acrobats and dance, with a performance from Dr Beck, of King’s College London, on the aerial rope.
She said: “I wanted to disseminate my research findings in a different format than the usual paper and report writing, to help engage different groups. My research in general concerns banking, growing financial markets, offshore finance and the socio-economic inequalities these have created.
“This show will be a fusion of academic concepts and research with visual arts which I hope will help raise awareness and make the sort of work that I do more accessible to a wider audience.”
Dr Beck was introduced to the aerial rope while she was studying for her PhD at the University of Sussex and has continued to practise and perfect the skill since then.
An academic in the Department of European and International Studies at King’s, Dr Beck believes the combination of academic research and aerial acrobatics is a first and she is looking forward to debuting the show at the festival in May.
She said: “I’m both looking forward to it and nervous about it! Aerial acrobatics is mesmerising so it’s going to be a good show and I’m looking forward to seeing my research in a different type of outlet. It will be good to produce something that might appeal to more people outside academia. ”
Home: The Intimacy of Debt and Inequality is coming to the Brighton Fringe on 24 May. Alongside Dr Beck will be Brighton-based performers including Carolyn Ailsa/Twisted Nymph, Kellie and Tam from Blue Moon Circus and AFLO.the poet.
You can find out more about the show and buy tickets at the link here.
https://www.brightonfringe.
