Clap Hands opens in July
I watched a lot of Columbo at Goldsmiths. Not as part of my degree. It was my own extra-curricular activity. Preferable to watching bad cover bands at The Venue on New Cross Road.
This was back in the heady days when DVDs were ubiquitous: 2003 – 2006. I must have watched close to 100 hours of Peter Falk solving crimes.
This July my play Clap Hands opens at the Hackney Showroom. The play is about two siblings who have been imprisoned in the basement of their family home for fifteen years. Enough is enough, and they hatch a plan to set themselves free, by whatever means necessary.
The play was certainly influenced by the Josef Fritzl case. Or to put it in Goldsmiths parlance: it is a post-Fritzl narrative that examines how a corrupt town confronts the folk devil it helped to create. It is a study of ennui and domestic imprisonment.
But just importantly, it is a love letter to Columbo.
The play is produced by the wonderful Pluck Theatre. Their previous production was The Cow Play by Ed Harris. You can get a sneak peek of the talented team by watching the trailer for Clap Hands:
The play runs until 25 July, and it is disturbing, absurd, and lots and lots of fun. If you are in the mood for some soothing existential dread or just a good old whydunit, then you can find out more.
Guest post by Aaron Hubbard (BA Media and Communications, 2006). Aaron lives in Manchester with his wife and zero children. You can find out more about his writing here.
