★★★★ The Scotsman
Welsh Tour fresh from knockout success at The Edinburgh Festival Fringe
Frankie Walker’s powerful new one woman show, Angry Snatch: A reclamation job in 15 rounds kicks off its Welsh Tour tour next week, buzzing from huge success at The Fringe this month. The show, which is performed in a full-sized boxing ring, opens at The Met, Abertillery on Wednesday 4 September (7pm) before touring to a collection of venues and community boxing gyms across Wales, through September and October.
The work has attracted broad interest and praise for its hard hitting storytelling and fusion of theatre and boxing forms. Combining physical theatre and dance with spoken word and boxing rhythms, Frankie invites audiences to join her in an unflinching reflection on her own and others’ lived experience of domestic abuse, and the role that boxing played in her journey towards healing and reclaiming her life.
Frankie wrote and devised the work in collaboration with Director Meg Fenwick and choreographer Cai Tomos, as a way of making sense of her experience. In doing so, she offers a vital insight into the less seen, disorienting, frustrating aspects of navigating, escaping and recovering from domestic abuse.
Talking about the work Frankie said, ‘I’m passionate about breaking taboos around domestic abuse and though this isn't my story, I am an artist with lived experience. Using our skills as theatre makers to tackle abuse in a way that is unflinching and hopefully beautiful, is not only an opportunity to heal, be heard and represent marginalised voices, but also open up more conversations around coercive control. It’s heartbreaking that so many people are living lives so deeply affected by it.’
The show brings focus on the huge impact and role that the sport of boxing is playing in empowering victims of domestic abuse in healing and recovery. The show has been made in collaboration with a number of experts and domestic abuse support services, domestic abuse survivors, as well as members of the boxing community in spreading the word about the benefits of the sport in helping people rebuild their lives and confidence. By rooting itself in communities across the tour, Frankie hopes to reach a wider audience, raising awareness of the isolation that victims and survivors experience in seeking support for what they are going through, and signpost audiences towards allyship and support of those experiencing domestic abuse.
The show received great response from Edinburgh critics and audiences alike, with four stars from The Scotsman and audience members offering heartfelt reactions:
- Although this piece of work tackles coercive control and domestic abuse there are no depictions of violence in the show
- The performance is approximately 70 minutes long
- Supported by Arts Council of Wales/Wales Arts International through the Wales in Edinburgh Fund and by Aberystwyth Arts Centre