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Tonight sees a new play launch in the UK called Batman. Or, for its full name, Batman (aka Naomi’s Death Show), in case any Warner Bros. lawyers are watching. That takes inspiration from the story of Bruce Wayne, his parents’ death and his transformation, to tell a story of mental health that may go a little further than a Killing Joke. And it’s on at the Pleasance Theatre in Islington this week. There will be performances tonight, Friday and Saturday. This Friday’s performance will be followed by a post-show talk by members of the creative team, who will be joined by the founders of Table 11, a UK-based bereavement peer-support group for people in their 20s, 30s and 40s who have lost a loved one. Tickets are £10 or £15, but those with Central Tickets membership can get tickets for £4.
A woman walks down a blossom-lined street, a knife clutched in her pocket. She’s on her way to confront the man who killed her mother.
BATMAN (aka Naomi’s Death Show) is a stage play and live storytelling piece exploring death, grief, love, art, religion, fish, and Batman, with the audience choosing the direction of the story. In May 2018, writer-performer Naomi Westerman’s mother died very suddenly. This autobiographical true story follows her quest to uncover the truth about her mother’s death, and enact justice – some might say vengeance – on those responsible.
BATMAN is an interactive live storytelling show that is not quite a play, and not quite a solo show. Join Naomi for an exploration of death, grief, bereavement, art, and fish. Eat cake, explore an underwater mansion, and participate (or not!) in an in-person shiva ceremony. A digital version of this production will be made available for audiences who not able to attend in person, which will be specially created for a digital audience using technology to capture the interactive elements of the live show.
WRITER/PERFORMER: NAOMI WESTERMAN. DIRECTOR: YASMEEN ARDEN
Batman is an original commission from Chronic Insanity, and being presented here as a co-production between Chronic Insanity, and Little but Fierce Theatre. Chronic Insanity is a Nottingham-based theatre company that creates and facilitates live events in a variety of traditional, found, and digital spaces. They make work accessibly, affordably, sustainably, and inclusively, and seek to change the definition of what theatre can be by playing with form, genre, medium, and technology. They don’t tend to beat around the bush, with productions jumping into the heart of an issue or story and spitting the audience out at the other end with the building blocks to interrogate a part of the world they may not have felt equipped to interrogate before.