This new theatre production from Amanda Kelleher is reaching out to Brighton’s women and femmes to get involved as part of a unique soundtrack for her Brighton show on the 24th April. Kelleher, writer and performer of Coccinellidae, said “we want each show to be unique and local and so are looking for Brighton women willing to talk, anonymously, about what it’s like to be a woman. We want to stand up and be celebrated, not quietly hidden away”. Coccinellidae is empowering and unapologetic about it’s exploration into the apologetic world of women. The show reclaims and empowers a silent, submissive sex doll and names her Chantelle. Chantelle is given a voice and a vision and the confidence and power to smash through stereotypes and everything in her way. “The transformation from sex doll to feminist performer celebrates the idea that every woman can become whatever and whoever she wants. No more labels, no more lying down, no more hiding: it’s time for women to go big and go proud.”
Coccinellidae, which perhaps not so coincidentally is the Latin name for ladybirds, challenges the much-ingrained mentality that being female is a constraint. It looks at the ideals that are pushed on women from a young age, such as being small is best, being quiet is good, being ‘pretty’ is important, being complacent is okay, not having children is wrong…the list could go on. It takes Chantelle, the young-looking, compliant, small and silent sex doll, as the face of this movement and tears up all of those beliefs, its an ‘f’ you to anyone who still has those binary views today.
Kelleher wants her show to be a “wake-up-call-to-arms for women everywhere. Women are no longer objects, they are no longer silent and they are no longer shamed into smallness. Big, brave and bold, if a sex doll can stand up for herself, so can you.” Amanda Kelleher wants the women of Brighton to have a frank and honest discussion about what it means to them to be a woman. It’s a 15-20 online interview that you can set up by emailing [email protected]. Alternatively you can buy a ticket here and see the explosive show yourself!
