Work Performed At

EPOCHS & INSTANTS

Lorna Rees Company

BEYOND BELIEF

Tmesis Theatre

HAPPY HOUR

Tmesis Theatre

THAT’S AMORE

Tmesis Theatre

EPOCHS & INSTANTS

Writer

Epochs & Instants explores how performance unfolds across different scales of time — an epoch for the tree, an instant for the human — and enacts a fleeting encounter of mutual witnessing between them.

Epochs & Instants is part of CANOPY — an immersive sound installation by Lorna Rees Company. Joyful, hopeful, and thought-provoking, CANOPY celebrates the connection between humans and trees.

Lorna Rees collaborated with more than 500 people to develop the piece, from ecologists, artists and musicians to writers and young people.

Dates:
2025

Produced by:
Lorna Rees Company

Performed by:
Chris Fittock

Composer:
Chris Fittock

World Premiere:
July 19 – August 31, 2025 at the National Memorial Arboretum, Staffordshire

Other Performances:
Inside Out Dorset, Moors Valley, Dorset, 13-21 Sep 2025

Project Website:
Lorna Rees Company

BEYOND BELIEF

Writer | Co-Devisor | Dramaturgy

What would happen if you could live forever? If you could bring your loved one back to life and resurrect their digital soul?

Beyond Belief is a powerful and moving journey into the unnerving future of life and death in our social media obsessed, technology blinkered society.

With their trademark, playful physical style Tmesis explore how we cope with loss in the digital age and how we won’t ever let Elvis die.

‘Rich with the company’s trademark sinuous sections of movement, and with the narrative which suggests the cast and team share a subversive streak, it provides entertaining – and disturbing – food for thought’
★★★★
The Stage

‘A truly stunning piece of theatre. Unsettling, poignant and compelling’
★★★★★
North West End

‘[Tmesis Theatre] always stand out. With their latest production, they are simply out-standing’
★★★★★
Wirral Globe

‘A marvellous production… a true thinking piece and one that touches upon our deepest fears and hopes… a great pleasure to see someone of Chris Fittock’s stature address such a particular demanding question’
9/10
Liverpool Sound and Vision

Dates:
2018 — 19

Produced by:
Tmesis Theatre in association with Unity Theatre Liverpool and The Arts Centre, Edge Hill University

Directed by:
Elinor Randle

Performed by:
Adam Davies, Jennifer Essex, Eleni Edipidi, Charles Sandford, Nick Crosbie

Designed by:
Stephanie O’Hara

Composer:
Meike Holzmann

World Premiere:
September 28 – October 6, 2018 at Unity Theatre, Liverpool

Other Performances:
Arts Centre, Edge Hill University, Ormskirk, 12 Oct 2018
Square Chapel Arts Centre, Halifax, 15 Feb 2019
Harrogate Studio Theatre, Harrogate, 23 Feb 2019
Jacksons Lane, London, 9 Mar 2019
The Lowry, Salford, 14-15 Mar 2019
Drama Studio, University of Sheffield, 1 Apr 2019
The Civic, Barnsley, 2 May 2019

Project Website:
tmesistheatre.com

HAPPY HOUR

Writer | Co-Devisor | Dramaturgy

A poignant, fast-paced comedy, exploring our 21st century obsession with happiness and success.

The workers on Level 3 are racing against the clock to reach their quota of Smiley Faces. But are they really happy enough?

Can we learn to be happy? And can our emotions be bought and sold? The ‘happiness industry’ would have us think so…

 

‘Cleverly put together physical theatre, beautifully thought out choreography and quick witted humour’
★★★★★
North West End

‘Tmesis yet again have scored a direct hit… a performance of spectacle and true quality’
9/10
Liverpool Sound and Vision

‘Packed with madness but beautifully choreographed and brilliantly performed’
★★★★
Liverpool Arts Scene

‘Laugh out loud comedy on display, especially in the choreography, and the show has a big heart’
The Stage

‘For those new to physical theatre, Happy Hour will be the show to turn your head’
Urbanista

Dates:
2016 — 2018

Produced by:
Tmesis Theatre

Directed by:
Elinor Randle

Performed by:
Adam Davies, Jennifer Essex, Eleni Edipidi, Ian Cook

Designed by:
Lois Maskell

Composer:
Meike Holzmann

Lighting Design by:
Beccy Hillam

World Premiere:
October 5 – 8, 2016 at Unity Theatre, Liverpool

Other Performances:
St Mary’s Creative Space, Chester, 11 Oct 2016
The Atkinson, Southport, 13 Oct 2016
The Arts Centre, Ormskirk, 18 Oct 2016
Jacksons Lane, London, 1-2 Nov 2016
John Moore Theatre, Worcester, 10 Nov 2016
Stowe House, Buckingham, 11 Nov 2016
The Lowry, Salford, 24-25 Nov 2016
Coronation Hall, Ulverston, 30 Nov 2016
Bridport Arts Centre, Dorset, 10 Feb 2017
Memorial Court, Northwich, 16 Feb 2017
The Old Rep, Birmingham, 1 Mar 2017
Unity Theatre, Liverpool, 2 June 2017
Greenbelt Festival, 28 August 2017
Canterbury Festival, 21 October 2017
The Carriageworks, Leeds, 13 April 2018
Gala Theatre, Durham, 11 July 2018
Waterside, Sale, 23 July 2018

Project Website:
tmesistheatre.com

THAT’S AMORE

Writer | Co-Devisor | Dramaturgy

An hilarious, fast-paced, passionate and emotional piece of physical theatre which explores the culture of romantic love.

From chance encounters to hidden desires, and emotional extremes to the science of romance, this piece discovers the flesh and philosophy behind what makes our hearts beat faster.

That’s Amore combines Tmesis’ trademark physicality with stunning visuals, an ensemble of performers and an original score.

‘Resembles a Richard Curtis romcom reworked by DV8, and is absolutely full of heart’
The Guardian

‘A wild, sinuous, yelping physical trip’
★★★★
Liverpool Echo

‘A fantastic ensemble piece with a fresh approach that conjures up a fantasy world of romantic quests’
★★★★
The Public Reviews

Dates:
2015

Produced by:
Tmesis Theatre

Directed by:
Elinor Randle

Performed by:
Adam Davies, Jennifer Essex, Eleni Edipidi, Ross McCall

Designed by:
Lois Maskell

Composer:
Meike Holzmann

Lighting Design by:
Beccy Hillam

World Premiere:
January 28 – 31, 2015 at Unity Theatre, Liverpool

Other Performances:
Norwich Arts Centre, 4 Feb 2015
The Arts Centre, Ormskirk, 10 Feb 2015
The Met, Bury, 12 Feb 2015
Square Chapel, Halifax, 15 Feb 2015
The Brindley, Runcorn, 24 Feb 2015
The Civic, Barnsley, 27 Feb 2015
The John Moore Theatre, Worcester, 29 Sept 2015
Canada Water Cultural Space, London, 30 Sept 2015
Lakeside Theatre, Colchester, 1 Oct 2015
The King’s School, Chester, 6 Oct 2015
Salford City College, Salford, 7 Oct 2015
Pyramid & Parr Hall, Warrington, 8 Oct 2015
Brio, Northwich, 9 Oct 2015
Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, 10 Oct 2015
Bridport Arts Centre, Dorset, 24 Oct 2015
Coronation Hall, Ulverston, 27 Oct 2015
Unity Theatre, Liverpool, 28 Oct 2015
The Courtyard, Hereford, 30 & 31 Oct 2015

Project Website:
tmesistheatre.com

WOLF RED

Tmesis Theatre

THE DREADFUL HOURS

Tmesis Theatre

RED

LLT

THE TRACK OF THE CAT

Bearplate

WOLF RED

Writer | Co-Devisor

Deep in the dark woods, a woman is held prisoner. But is her sinister captor a predator of the body or her mind? Fairytale and reality blur in Wolf Red, a menacing and entertaining exploration into the dark side of human nature.

With skillful physicality and a playful original soundtrack, this solo show from one of the UK’s leading physical theatre companies is quirky and disturbingly memorable. With input from renowned international practitioners including the late Nigel Charnock (co-founder DV8), Fin Walker and Lorna Marshall.

Winner of Best Choreography, New York United Solo Festival 2015

‘A dark and exhilarating journey of moods and ideas that harnesses physical theatre’s rich symbiosis of movement and acting to startling effect’
Total Theatre Magazine

‘Wolf Red is a very incredible piece of theatrical art, simply breathtaking and one of the defining moments of physical theatre’
★★★★
LSMedia

Dates:
2012 — 2015

Produced by:
Tmesis Theatre

Performed by:
Elinor Randle

Directed by:
Yorgos Karamalegos

Dramaturgical Input by:
Nigel Charnock, Lorna Marshall, Fin Walker

Set and Costume Designed by:
Lois Maskell

Sound Design by:
Xenia Bayer

Original Score by:
Meike Holzmann

Lighting Design by:
Arek Chrusciel

World Premiere:
September 26 – 29, 2012 at Unity Theatre, Liverpool

Other Performances:
The Sundial Theatre, Circencester, 17 Oct 2012
Arts Centre, Edge Hill University, 22 Oct 2012
The Lakeside Theatre, Colchester, 25 Oct 2012
mac, Birmingham, 29 Nov 2013
Unity Theatre, Liverpool, 24-25 Jun 2014
Theatre Row, New York, NY, 8 Nov 2015

Project Website:
tmesistheatre.com

THE DREADFUL HOURS

Writer | Co-Devisor

A darkly comic, physically charged drama that exposes the quiet disintegration of love’s first flourish through one couple’s relationship. What happens when one hour’s dinner can seem like years, yet years seem to pass in a heartbeat?

Combining Tmesis Theatre’s trademark physicality with new writing from Chris Fittock, this wonderfully inventive production, directed by Peepolykus’ Javier Marzan, takes you on an emotional and humorous journey with striking visuals and an original sound design.

‘They say good things come in small parcels and this production is lovingly presented… the audience lapped it up’
★★★★★
Whatsonstage.com

‘Fittock’s script is witty, well-observed and remarkably restrained — allowing the silences to express more than words… an exciting and thought-provoking piece of theatre’
★★★★
Liverpool Daily Post

‘The best dance scene this side of John Travolta and Uma Thurman’s in Pulp Fiction… a stunning stylised performance’
★★★★
Remotegoat.co.uk

‘Painfully well-observed by Fittock… It’s funny but it almost hurts to laugh. A more touching exploration of love you might be hard pressed to find’
★★★★
Liverpool Live Magazine

Dates:
2010

Produced by:
Tmesis Theatre in association with Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse

Directed by:
Javier Marzan

Performed by:
Elinor Randle, Yorgos Karamalegos

Set and Costume Designed by:
Kevin Pollard

Sound Design by:
Xenia Bayer

Lighting Design by:
Marc Williams

World Premiere:
February 11 – 13, 2010 at the Everyman Theatre, Liverpool

Other Performances:
Lakeside Theatre, Colchester, 25 Feb 2010
The Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester, 3-6 Mar 2010
Tristran Bates Theatre, London, 11-15 May 2010
Arts Centre, Edge Hill University, 30 Sept 2010
The Carriageworks, Leeds, 6 Oct 2010
Gulbenkian Theatre, Canterbury, 25 Oct 2010
The Junction, Cambridge, 24 Nov 2010
The Civic, Barnsley, 1 Dec 2010

Project Website:
tmesistheatre.com

RED

Writer

Red is a remote boy in a removed land, shredded by his war and his lovers Val and Amy — three people savagely in love. It’s the unseen, the uncontrollable, that is slowly killing them all.

Val and Red call each other mother and son, and fight over the pungent durian fruit with sexual brutality. Amy has missed Red like a hunger, like an insatiable bloodlust. And in the outhouse, someone or something is bleeding to death… violently.

A poetic debut play that trawls around the basis of existence — a refreshingly powerful take on the age-old battle: Love.

‘A tremendous, frightening force-field of a 70-minute drama… straightforward, hard as nails, and yet full of a true sense of tragedy. The final impression is one of some primal sexual horror that will not go away; of women invaded and abused; and of men whose savagery makes them feel strong, but utterly impoverishes them in the end’
★★★★
Joyce McMillan, The Scotsman

‘The language is rich, and colours the play with its flow and rhythm as well as its allusions to classical tragedy’
★★★★
ThreeWeeks

‘Pure animalistic need pulses and throbs throughout Fittock’s chewy text… styled like some undiscovered Greek tragedy’
The Herald

‘What is astonishing about Fittock’s hypnotically poetic script is the freshness which he brings to the Oedipus myth. He uses it to bring a real understanding to the way men think about those they love’
The Stage

Dates:
2006

First Produced by:
Liverpool Lunchtime Theatre

First Directed by:
Graeme Maley

First Performed by:
Mark Wood, Lucia Cox, Simone Holmes

World Premiere:
May 20 – 27, 2006 at Unity Theatre, Liverpool

Other Performances:
Citizens’ Theatre, Glasgow, 31 May-3 June 2006
Theatre503, London, 13- 24 June 2006
Upstairs at the Three and Ten, Brighton Fringe, 20-24 May 2008
Crescent Arts Centre, Belfast, 24-25 July 2013

PERFORMANCE RIGHTS:
For performance rights enquiries, please contact Nick Hern Books

BUY THE BOOK:


THE TRACK OF THE CAT

Writer

1900. An isolated ranchhouse in the Sierra Nevada. The Bridges are on the verge of meltdown. A once powerful pioneer family, they are trapped by the early arrival of the first winter storm and an unseen but terrifying black panther destroying their livestock.

Whilst the two eldest sons embark upon a deadly murder-trail to end the veiled cat, the youngest navigates a visit by his fiancée through the dark dynamics of their pious mother and alcoholic father, as the captivating visitor lays bare the dying heart of a crumbling clan.

Meanwhile, the ancient dreams and rituals of their native American manservant embody the devastating consequences upon the Bridges when faced with an inescapable evil that they don’t understand.

Set at the end of the silver boom, The Track of the Cat depicts the death-rattle kitchen sink erosion of a once wealthy family when economic collapse occurs, and the effects of man’s barbaric materialism upon the natural and spiritual world.

The play is adapted from the novel Track of the Cat by Walter Van Tilburg Clark.

Dates:
2008 — 2010

Produced by:
Bearplate Theatre and C Venues

Directed by:
Graeme Maley

Original Live Score:
Benni Hemm Hemm

Performances:
Playwrights’ Center, San Francisco, 25 Apr 2008
Eugene O’Neill Festival, California, 2010
C Venues, Edinburgh Festival Fringe, 4-30 Aug 2010

CONSTRAINÈD THINGS

Red Ant

VARIATIONS OF THE HEART

Tmesis Theatre

AN ANATOMY OF GRAPPLING

Slung Low

WAITING FOR THE LATE MIGUEL ROMERO

Fuel Theatre

CONSTRAINÈD THINGS

Writer

A Labour Prime Minister declares war on a Middle Eastern country. His grasping wife loves power, and power dressing. As their dreams of glory and shopping unravel, the story interweaves another, earlier tale of over-reaching ambition.

A political re-imagining of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, in light of the war in Iraq.

Winner of the Merseyside Left Theatre Trust Best New Play Award, 2004.

Dates:
2004

Produced by:
Red Ant Theatre

Directed by:
Ged Quayle

Performed by:
Neil Edwards, Elizabeth Lucena, Anthony Large, Andy Brophy, Sean Halligan, Jane Phillips, Tamira Henry

Premiere:
June 1 – June 3, 2004 at Unity Theatre, Liverpool

VARIATIONS OF THE HEART

Writer

What happens to our brain, body and heart when we ‘fall in love’? Why are we attracted to another person? Is romantic love real, and what happens when that initial passion fades?

Variations of the Heart is a passionate duet between two women: a story of the human heart, its power, and its many variations.

Firstly inspired from Meike Holzmann and Egle Mei’s musical project Heart Variations for String Quartet — an incredible story of over thirty people’s hearts — this piece is accompanied by music from the project, played live by a string quartet.

‘Variations of the Heart is a powerful, tender piece, serious in intent, spirited in execution. It is a delight’
★★★★½
The Public Reviews

‘Extraordinary movement… creating a dazzling effect… another triumph for this company’
★★★★
Liverpool Daily Post

Dates:
2013

Produced by:
Tmesis Theatre

Choreographed by:
Elinor Randle

Performed by:
Eleni Edipidi, Ellen Turner

Voiceover:
Caroline Ryder

Costume Designed by:
Shelley Moore (with assistance from Lois Maskell)

Music:
from Egle Mei’s musical project Heart Variations for String Quartet, composed by Meike Holzmann

Lighting Design by:
Phil Saunders

Novo Quartet:
Simon Jones, Rod Leung, Tommy Geddes, Stephanie Kearley

World Premiere:
November 9, 2013 at Unity Theatre, Liverpool

Other Performances:
Z-arts, Manchester, 20 Feb 2014

Project Website:
tmesistheatre.com

AN ANATOMY OF GRAPPLING

Writer

Slung Low makes adventures for audiences outside of conventional theatre spaces. Their aim is to make unlikely, ambitious and original adventures, each with powerful, moving story at its heart.

I have written for Slung Low’s 15 Minutes Live — a live radio project whereby plays are performed in front of an audience, with on-stage sound effects and live music.

In An Anatomy of Grappling, Mick is an ageing, unemployed miner. He also competes on the British wrestling circuit, enduring long roads and hard bumps to make money to put food on the table.

But as he has to compete within a younger and more violent brand of wrestling, bodies and pride are put on the line. An elegy to youth, and to the passing of a lost era of a peculiarly British entertainment.

Dates:
2013

Produced by:
Slung Low

Performed by:
John Carter, Chris Price, Ruth Middleton, Lisa Howard, Patrick Young, Stuart Richman, Frances Macnamee, Alex Kelly, John Hunter

Musical Director and Composer:
Heather Fenoughty

Band:
John Arnesen, Chris Brain, Tom Collingwood, Sam Jones, Chris Noble

Sound:
Matt Angove and Andy Thomson

Recording:
Matt Angove

First Performed:
February 24, 2013 at The HUB, Leeds

Project Website:
slunglow.org

WAITING FOR THE LATE MIGUEL ROMERO

Writer

Fuel produces an adventurous, playful and significant programme of work — live, digital, and across art forms – for a large and representative audience across the UK and beyond. They collaborate with outstanding artists with fresh perspectives and approaches.

I have written for Fuel’s While You Wait project — a series of podcasts, each of which is a different meditation on the idea of waiting, created by artists in collaboration with academics from King’s College London.

In Waiting for the Late Miguel Romero, a Spanish traveller waits to arrive somewhere on a train. But he cannot flee from confronting his own identity, even when it is informed by a memory he would rather forget.

The podcasts toured the UK in four bespoke listening stations.

Dates:
2013

Produced by:
Fuel Theatre, Roundhouse and King’s Cultural Institute

Commissioned by:
Unity Theatre Liverpool

Performed by:
Javier Marzan

Recorded by:
Alexander Mee

Project Website:
fueltheatre.com

RED IN TOOTH AND CLAW

Liverpool Everyman Theatre | Lime Pictures

SUPERNATURAL VIOLENCE

Unity Theatre Liverpool | China Plate

THE BIG PICTURE

Litfest

MARGINS

Litfest

RED IN TOOTH AND CLAW

Writer

In 2009, I was commissioned by the Liverpool Everyman Theatre and Lime Pictures to write a short drama to mark the 150th anniversary of Darwin’s On the Origin of Species. This was for Channel 4’s Three Minute Wonder series.

A woman proves the extraordinary lengths to which she is willing to go to protect her home when the local council plans to demolish it in the name of regeneration, and in so doing proves the power of Darwin’s Theory of Evolution.

Dates:
2008

Produced by:
Lime Pictures, Liverpool Everyman Playhouse, All 3 Media

Produced for:
Channel 4

Executive Producers:
Jamie Hall, Tony Wood

Producers:
Tim Compton, Suzanne Bell

Directed by:
Paul Riordan

Performed by:
Eileen O’Brien, Kevin Harvey

First Broadcast:
September 16, 2009 on Channel 4

Other Performances:
Everyman Theatre, Liverpool, 18 Jun 2009

Project Website:
everymanplayhouse.com
limepictures.com

SUPERNATURAL VIOLENCE

Writer

China Plate is an independent theatre studio that works with artists, venues, festivals and funders to make original, exciting theatre that plays with form and has narrative at its heart.

They are passionate about creating adventurous and imaginative new work with popular appeal. Using theatre to engage and inspire, the company takes work into venues, village halls, schools, on to the streets and to festivals in the UK and internationally.

I have written for China Plate’s Ballot Box Ballads — part of the U-Decide week of politically-inspired work at Unity Theatre Liverpool during the UK’s General Election week 2015.

In Supernatural Violence, quiet poverty haunts the streets: the spectre of austerity, a ghost of slow decay, is creeping doorsills and devouring kitchens while we sleep. A young girl describes the strange disappearances of the poor and dispossessed on the Gideon Estate, whilst ghostly voices from the political elite haunt her every step.

Dates:
2015

Produced by:
China Plate Theatre and Unity Theatre Liverpool

Directed by:
Sarah Van Parys

Performed by:
Caitlin Clough

First Performed:
May 6, 2015 at Unity Theatre, Liverpool

Project Website:
chinaplatetheatre.com

THE BIG PICTURE

Writer

Three writers from the North West of England join one from Kampala, Uganda to find out what happens when they put down their pens for a second and talk.

Where do they come from? What are their shared concerns? Their common understanding? What is the Big Picture?

Then being writers they pick their pens back up and explore the world through the written word, following up on each other’s themes, pursuing characters and creating journeys.

My contribution to this project was a radio play, Tunnel, charting the construction of the Mersey Tunnel, as well as poetry and prose.

The four writers’ work was published as The Big Picture anthology, and read and performed at The Duke’s Theatre, Lancaster.

Dates:
2005 — 2006

Produced By:
Lancaster Litfest

Project Website:
litfest.org

MARGINS

Writer

In 2006, Lancaster Maritime Museum and the Judges’ Lodgings worked in partnership with Litfest in Lancaster and BBC Radio Lancashire to commission three writers to create three new ten-minute pieces for radio.

The pieces are based on the writers’ research using Lancaster Maritime Museum and the Judges’ Lodgings archives of material relating to Lancaster’s involvement with the Transatlantic Slave Trade.

My play, Margins, focused on a Lancastrian Quaker who has just entered into the trade, in a short play that looks at the ethical struggle between the realities of the trade and his faith

The plays were broadcast on Radio Lancashire on the 5th November 2006.

The project was related to the ‘ABOLISHED?’ programme of exhibitions and events marking the bicentenary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade in 2007.

Dates:
2006

Produced By:
Lancaster Litfest

Project Website:
litfest.org

THE WIRELESS SKETCH SHOW

The Dog-Eared Collective

THE WIRELESS SKETCH SHOW

Co-Writer | Co-Devisor

The Wireless Sketch Show is a high octane sketch set that pokes at the flab of culture.

Jim Deathman and his macabre puppet troupe prepare to stage the end of the world. Mime and ornithology join forces as Karl and Johan spot coots. And the pressure is on in Bridlington for the final of the Regional Bowing Championships.

The Dog-Eared Collective was originally a quintet of funny mongers championing a wildly anarchic and mischievously surreal brand of live comedy.

I co-founded the Collective in 2005, alongside Kathryn Hanke, James Huntington, Joanna Hutt and Jenny Thomson.

Dates:
2005

Produced By:
The Dog-Eared Collective

Performed by:
Chris Fittock, Kathryn Hanke, James Huntington, Joanna Hutt, Jenny Thomson

Performances:
West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds, 14 Apr 2005
Barbican Theatre, Plymouth, 16 Jul 2005
Rosemary Branch Theatre, London, 6-7 Aug 2005
Ilkley Playhouse, West Yorkshire, 1 Oct 2005

BEYOND BELIEF

Tmesis Theatre

HAPPY HOUR

Tmesis Theatre

THAT’S AMORE

Tmesis Theatre

BEYOND BELIEF

Writer | Co-Devisor | Dramaturgy

What would happen if you could live forever? If you could bring your loved one back to life and resurrect their digital soul?

Beyond Belief is a powerful and moving journey into the unnerving future of life and death in our social media obsessed, technology blinkered society.

With their trademark, playful physical style Tmesis explore how we cope with loss in the digital age and how we won’t ever let Elvis die.

‘Rich with the company’s trademark sinuous sections of movement, and with the narrative which suggests the cast and team share a subversive streak, it provides entertaining – and disturbing – food for thought’
★★★★
The Stage

‘A truly stunning piece of theatre. Unsettling, poignant and compelling’
★★★★★
North West End

‘[Tmesis Theatre] always stand out. With their latest production, they are simply out-standing’
★★★★★
Wirral Globe

‘A marvellous production… a true thinking piece and one that touches upon our deepest fears and hopes… a great pleasure to see someone of Chris Fittock’s stature address such a particular demanding question’
9/10
Liverpool Sound and Vision

Dates:
2018 — 19

Produced by:
Tmesis Theatre in association with Unity Theatre Liverpool and The Arts Centre, Edge Hill University

Directed by:
Elinor Randle

Performed by:
Adam Davies, Jennifer Essex, Eleni Edipidi, Charles Sandford, Nick Crosbie

Designed by:
Stephanie O’Hara

Composer:
Meike Holzmann

World Premiere:
September 28 – October 6, 2018 at Unity Theatre, Liverpool

Other Performances:
Arts Centre, Edge Hill University, Ormskirk, 12 Oct 2018
Square Chapel Arts Centre, Halifax, 15 Feb 2019
Harrogate Studio Theatre, Harrogate, 23 Feb 2019
Jacksons Lane, London, 9 Mar 2019
The Lowry, Salford, 14-15 Mar 2019
Drama Studio, University of Sheffield, 1 Apr 2019
The Civic, Barnsley, 2 May 2019

Project Website:
tmesistheatre.com

HAPPY HOUR

Writer | Co-Devisor | Dramaturgy

A poignant, fast-paced comedy, exploring our 21st century obsession with happiness and success.

The workers on Level 3 are racing against the clock to reach their quota of Smiley Faces. But are they really happy enough?

Can we learn to be happy? And can our emotions be bought and sold? The ‘happiness industry’ would have us think so…

 

‘Cleverly put together physical theatre, beautifully thought out choreography and quick witted humour’
★★★★★
North West End

‘Tmesis yet again have scored a direct hit… a performance of spectacle and true quality’
9/10
Liverpool Sound and Vision

‘Packed with madness but beautifully choreographed and brilliantly performed’
★★★★
Liverpool Arts Scene

‘Laugh out loud comedy on display, especially in the choreography, and the show has a big heart’
The Stage

‘For those new to physical theatre, Happy Hour will be the show to turn your head’
Urbanista

Dates:
2016 — 2018

Produced by:
Tmesis Theatre

Directed by:
Elinor Randle

Performed by:
Adam Davies, Jennifer Essex, Eleni Edipidi, Ian Cook

Designed by:
Lois Maskell

Composer:
Meike Holzmann

Lighting Design by:
Beccy Hillam

World Premiere:
October 5 – 8, 2016 at Unity Theatre, Liverpool

Other Performances:
St Mary’s Creative Space, Chester, 11 Oct 2016
The Atkinson, Southport, 13 Oct 2016
The Arts Centre, Ormskirk, 18 Oct 2016
Jacksons Lane, London, 1-2 Nov 2016
John Moore Theatre, Worcester, 10 Nov 2016
Stowe House, Buckingham, 11 Nov 2016
The Lowry, Salford, 24-25 Nov 2016
Coronation Hall, Ulverston, 30 Nov 2016
Bridport Arts Centre, Dorset, 10 Feb 2017
Memorial Court, Northwich, 16 Feb 2017
The Old Rep, Birmingham, 1 Mar 2017
Unity Theatre, Liverpool, 2 June 2017
Greenbelt Festival, 28 August 2017
Canterbury Festival, 21 October 2017
The Carriageworks, Leeds, 13 April 2018
Gala Theatre, Durham, 11 July 2018
Waterside, Sale, 23 July 2018

Project Website:
tmesistheatre.com

THAT’S AMORE

Writer | Co-Devisor | Dramaturgy

An hilarious, fast-paced, passionate and emotional piece of physical theatre which explores the culture of romantic love.

From chance encounters to hidden desires, and emotional extremes to the science of romance, this piece discovers the flesh and philosophy behind what makes our hearts beat faster.

That’s Amore combines Tmesis’ trademark physicality with stunning visuals, an ensemble of performers and an original score.

‘Resembles a Richard Curtis romcom reworked by DV8, and is absolutely full of heart’
The Guardian

‘A wild, sinuous, yelping physical trip’
★★★★
Liverpool Echo

‘A fantastic ensemble piece with a fresh approach that conjures up a fantasy world of romantic quests’
★★★★
The Public Reviews

Dates:
2015

Produced by:
Tmesis Theatre

Directed by:
Elinor Randle

Performed by:
Adam Davies, Jennifer Essex, Eleni Edipidi, Ross McCall

Designed by:
Lois Maskell

Composer:
Meike Holzmann

Lighting Design by:
Beccy Hillam

World Premiere:
January 28 – 31, 2015 at Unity Theatre, Liverpool

Other Performances:
Norwich Arts Centre, 4 Feb 2015
The Arts Centre, Ormskirk, 10 Feb 2015
The Met, Bury, 12 Feb 2015
Square Chapel, Halifax, 15 Feb 2015
The Brindley, Runcorn, 24 Feb 2015
The Civic, Barnsley, 27 Feb 2015
The John Moore Theatre, Worcester, 29 Sept 2015
Canada Water Cultural Space, London, 30 Sept 2015
Lakeside Theatre, Colchester, 1 Oct 2015
The King’s School, Chester, 6 Oct 2015
Salford City College, Salford, 7 Oct 2015
Pyramid & Parr Hall, Warrington, 8 Oct 2015
Brio, Northwich, 9 Oct 2015
Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, 10 Oct 2015
Bridport Arts Centre, Dorset, 24 Oct 2015
Coronation Hall, Ulverston, 27 Oct 2015
Unity Theatre, Liverpool, 28 Oct 2015
The Courtyard, Hereford, 30 & 31 Oct 2015

Project Website:
tmesistheatre.com

WOLF RED

Tmesis Theatre

THE DREADFUL HOURS

Tmesis Theatre

RED

LLT

WOLF RED

Writer | Co-Devisor

Deep in the dark woods, a woman is held prisoner. But is her sinister captor a predator of the body or her mind? Fairytale and reality blur in Wolf Red, a menacing and entertaining exploration into the dark side of human nature.

With skillful physicality and a playful original soundtrack, this solo show from one of the UK’s leading physical theatre companies is quirky and disturbingly memorable. With input from renowned international practitioners including the late Nigel Charnock (co-founder DV8), Fin Walker and Lorna Marshall.

Winner of Best Choreography, New York United Solo Festival 2015

‘A dark and exhilarating journey of moods and ideas that harnesses physical theatre’s rich symbiosis of movement and acting to startling effect’
Total Theatre Magazine

‘Wolf Red is a very incredible piece of theatrical art, simply breathtaking and one of the defining moments of physical theatre’
★★★★
LSMedia

Dates:
2012 — 2015

Produced by:
Tmesis Theatre

Performed by:
Elinor Randle

Directed by:
Yorgos Karamalegos

Dramaturgical Input by:
Nigel Charnock, Lorna Marshall, Fin Walker

Set and Costume Designed by:
Lois Maskell

Sound Design by:
Xenia Bayer

Original Score by:
Meike Holzmann

Lighting Design by:
Arek Chrusciel

World Premiere:
September 26 – 29, 2012 at Unity Theatre, Liverpool

Other Performances:
The Sundial Theatre, Circencester, 17 Oct 2012
Arts Centre, Edge Hill University, 22 Oct 2012
The Lakeside Theatre, Colchester, 25 Oct 2012
mac, Birmingham, 29 Nov 2013
Unity Theatre, Liverpool, 24-25 Jun 2014
Theatre Row, New York, NY, 8 Nov 2015

Project Website:
tmesistheatre.com

THE DREADFUL HOURS

Writer | Co-Devisor

A darkly comic, physically charged drama that exposes the quiet disintegration of love’s first flourish through one couple’s relationship. What happens when one hour’s dinner can seem like years, yet years seem to pass in a heartbeat?

Combining Tmesis Theatre’s trademark physicality with new writing from Chris Fittock, this wonderfully inventive production, directed by Peepolykus’ Javier Marzan, takes you on an emotional and humorous journey with striking visuals and an original sound design.

‘They say good things come in small parcels and this production is lovingly presented… the audience lapped it up’
★★★★★
Whatsonstage.com

‘Fittock’s script is witty, well-observed and remarkably restrained — allowing the silences to express more than words… an exciting and thought-provoking piece of theatre’
★★★★
Liverpool Daily Post

‘The best dance scene this side of John Travolta and Uma Thurman’s in Pulp Fiction… a stunning stylised performance’
★★★★
Remotegoat.co.uk

‘Painfully well-observed by Fittock… It’s funny but it almost hurts to laugh. A more touching exploration of love you might be hard pressed to find’
★★★★
Liverpool Live Magazine

Dates:
2010

Produced by:
Tmesis Theatre in association with Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse

Directed by:
Javier Marzan

Performed by:
Elinor Randle, Yorgos Karamalegos

Set and Costume Designed by:
Kevin Pollard

Sound Design by:
Xenia Bayer

Lighting Design by:
Marc Williams

World Premiere:
February 11 – 13, 2010 at the Everyman Theatre, Liverpool

Other Performances:
Lakeside Theatre, Colchester, 25 Feb 2010
The Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester, 3-6 Mar 2010
Tristran Bates Theatre, London, 11-15 May 2010
Arts Centre, Edge Hill University, 30 Sept 2010
The Carriageworks, Leeds, 6 Oct 2010
Gulbenkian Theatre, Canterbury, 25 Oct 2010
The Junction, Cambridge, 24 Nov 2010
The Civic, Barnsley, 1 Dec 2010

Project Website:
tmesistheatre.com

RED

Writer

Red is a remote boy in a removed land, shredded by his war and his lovers Val and Amy — three people savagely in love. It’s the unseen, the uncontrollable, that is slowly killing them all.

Val and Red call each other mother and son, and fight over the pungent durian fruit with sexual brutality. Amy has missed Red like a hunger, like an insatiable bloodlust. And in the outhouse, someone or something is bleeding to death… violently.

A poetic debut play that trawls around the basis of existence — a refreshingly powerful take on the age-old battle: Love.

‘A tremendous, frightening force-field of a 70-minute drama… straightforward, hard as nails, and yet full of a true sense of tragedy. The final impression is one of some primal sexual horror that will not go away; of women invaded and abused; and of men whose savagery makes them feel strong, but utterly impoverishes them in the end’
★★★★
Joyce McMillan, The Scotsman

‘The language is rich, and colours the play with its flow and rhythm as well as its allusions to classical tragedy’
★★★★
ThreeWeeks

‘Pure animalistic need pulses and throbs throughout Fittock’s chewy text… styled like some undiscovered Greek tragedy’
The Herald

‘What is astonishing about Fittock’s hypnotically poetic script is the freshness which he brings to the Oedipus myth. He uses it to bring a real understanding to the way men think about those they love’
The Stage

Dates:
2006

First Produced by:
Liverpool Lunchtime Theatre

First Directed by:
Graeme Maley

First Performed by:
Mark Wood, Lucia Cox, Simone Holmes

World Premiere:
May 20 – 27, 2006 at Unity Theatre, Liverpool

Other Performances:
Citizens’ Theatre, Glasgow, 31 May-3 June 2006
Theatre503, London, 13- 24 June 2006
Upstairs at the Three and Ten, Brighton Fringe, 20-24 May 2008
Crescent Arts Centre, Belfast, 24-25 July 2013

PERFORMANCE RIGHTS:
For performance rights enquiries, please contact Nick Hern Books

BUY THE BOOK:


THE TRACK OF THE CAT

Bearplate

CONSTRAINÈD THINGS

Red Ant

VARIATIONS OF THE HEART

Tmesis Theatre

THE TRACK OF THE CAT

Writer

1900. An isolated ranchhouse in the Sierra Nevada. The Bridges are on the verge of meltdown. A once powerful pioneer family, they are trapped by the early arrival of the first winter storm and an unseen but terrifying black panther destroying their livestock.

Whilst the two eldest sons embark upon a deadly murder-trail to end the veiled cat, the youngest navigates a visit by his fiancée through the dark dynamics of their pious mother and alcoholic father, as the captivating visitor lays bare the dying heart of a crumbling clan.

Meanwhile, the ancient dreams and rituals of their native American manservant embody the devastating consequences upon the Bridges when faced with an inescapable evil that they don’t understand.

Set at the end of the silver boom, The Track of the Cat depicts the death-rattle kitchen sink erosion of a once wealthy family when economic collapse occurs, and the effects of man’s barbaric materialism upon the natural and spiritual world.

The play is adapted from the novel Track of the Cat by Walter Van Tilburg Clark.

Dates:
2008 — 2010

Produced by:
Bearplate Theatre and C Venues

Directed by:
Graeme Maley

Original Live Score:
Benni Hemm Hemm

Performances:
Playwrights’ Center, San Francisco, 25 Apr 2008
Eugene O’Neill Festival, California, 2010
C Venues, Edinburgh Festival Fringe, 4-30 Aug 2010

CONSTRAINÈD THINGS

Writer

A Labour Prime Minister declares war on a Middle Eastern country. His grasping wife loves power, and power dressing. As their dreams of glory and shopping unravel, the story interweaves another, earlier tale of over-reaching ambition.

A political re-imagining of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, in light of the war in Iraq.

Winner of the Merseyside Left Theatre Trust Best New Play Award, 2004.

Dates:
2004

Produced by:
Red Ant Theatre

Directed by:
Ged Quayle

Performed by:
Neil Edwards, Elizabeth Lucena, Anthony Large, Andy Brophy, Sean Halligan, Jane Phillips, Tamira Henry

Premiere:
June 1 – June 3, 2004 at Unity Theatre, Liverpool

VARIATIONS OF THE HEART

Writer

What happens to our brain, body and heart when we ‘fall in love’? Why are we attracted to another person? Is romantic love real, and what happens when that initial passion fades?

Variations of the Heart is a passionate duet between two women: a story of the human heart, its power, and its many variations.

Firstly inspired from Meike Holzmann and Egle Mei’s musical project Heart Variations for String Quartet — an incredible story of over thirty people’s hearts — this piece is accompanied by music from the project, played live by a string quartet.

‘Variations of the Heart is a powerful, tender piece, serious in intent, spirited in execution. It is a delight’
★★★★½
The Public Reviews

‘Extraordinary movement… creating a dazzling effect… another triumph for this company’
★★★★
Liverpool Daily Post

Dates:
2013

Produced by:
Tmesis Theatre

Choreographed by:
Elinor Randle

Performed by:
Eleni Edipidi, Ellen Turner

Voiceover:
Caroline Ryder

Costume Designed by:
Shelley Moore (with assistance from Lois Maskell)

Music:
from Egle Mei’s musical project Heart Variations for String Quartet, composed by Meike Holzmann

Lighting Design by:
Phil Saunders

Novo Quartet:
Simon Jones, Rod Leung, Tommy Geddes, Stephanie Kearley

World Premiere:
November 9, 2013 at Unity Theatre, Liverpool

Other Performances:
Z-arts, Manchester, 20 Feb 2014

Project Website:
tmesistheatre.com

AN ANATOMY OF GRAPPLING

Slung Low

WAITING FOR THE LATE MIGUEL ROMERO

Fuel Theatre

RED IN TOOTH AND CLAW

Liverpool Everyman | Lime Pictures

AN ANATOMY OF GRAPPLING

Writer

Slung Low makes adventures for audiences outside of conventional theatre spaces. Their aim is to make unlikely, ambitious and original adventures, each with powerful, moving story at its heart.

I have written for Slung Low’s 15 Minutes Live — a live radio project whereby plays are performed in front of an audience, with on-stage sound effects and live music.

In An Anatomy of Grappling, Mick is an ageing, unemployed miner. He also competes on the British wrestling circuit, enduring long roads and hard bumps to make money to put food on the table.

But as he has to compete within a younger and more violent brand of wrestling, bodies and pride are put on the line. An elegy to youth, and to the passing of a lost era of a peculiarly British entertainment.

Dates:
2013

Produced by:
Slung Low

Performed by:
John Carter, Chris Price, Ruth Middleton, Lisa Howard, Patrick Young, Stuart Richman, Frances Macnamee, Alex Kelly, John Hunter

Musical Director and Composer:
Heather Fenoughty

Band:
John Arnesen, Chris Brain, Tom Collingwood, Sam Jones, Chris Noble

Sound:
Matt Angove and Andy Thomson

Recording:
Matt Angove

First Performed:
February 24, 2013 at The HUB, Leeds

Project Website:
slunglow.org

WAITING FOR THE LATE MIGUEL ROMERO

Writer

Fuel produces an adventurous, playful and significant programme of work — live, digital, and across art forms – for a large and representative audience across the UK and beyond. They collaborate with outstanding artists with fresh perspectives and approaches.

I have written for Fuel’s While You Wait project — a series of podcasts, each of which is a different meditation on the idea of waiting, created by artists in collaboration with academics from King’s College London.

In Waiting for the Late Miguel Romero, a Spanish traveller waits to arrive somewhere on a train. But he cannot flee from confronting his own identity, even when it is informed by a memory he would rather forget.

The podcasts toured the UK in four bespoke listening stations.

Dates:
2013

Produced by:
Fuel Theatre, Roundhouse and King’s Cultural Institute

Commissioned by:
Unity Theatre Liverpool

Performed by:
Javier Marzan

Recorded by:
Alexander Mee

Project Website:
fueltheatre.com

RED IN TOOTH AND CLAW

Writer

In 2009, I was commissioned by the Liverpool Everyman Theatre and Lime Pictures to write a short drama to mark the 150th anniversary of Darwin’s On the Origin of Species. This was for Channel 4’s Three Minute Wonder series.

A woman proves the extraordinary lengths to which she is willing to go to protect her home when the local council plans to demolish it in the name of regeneration, and in so doing proves the power of Darwin’s Theory of Evolution.

Dates:
2008

Produced by:
Lime Pictures, Liverpool Everyman Playhouse, All 3 Media

Produced for:
Channel 4

Executive Producers:
Jamie Hall, Tony Wood

Producers:
Tim Compton, Suzanne Bell

Directed by:
Paul Riordan

Performed by:
Eileen O’Brien, Kevin Harvey

First Broadcast:
September 16, 2009 on Channel 4

Other Performances:
Everyman Theatre, Liverpool, 18 Jun 2009

Project Website:
everymanplayhouse.com
limepictures.com

SUPERNATURAL VIOLENCE

Unity Theatre Liverpool | China Plate Theatre

THE BIG PICTURE

Litfest

MARGINS

Litfest

SUPERNATURAL VIOLENCE

Writer

China Plate is an independent theatre studio that works with artists, venues, festivals and funders to make original, exciting theatre that plays with form and has narrative at its heart.

They are passionate about creating adventurous and imaginative new work with popular appeal. Using theatre to engage and inspire, the company takes work into venues, village halls, schools, on to the streets and to festivals in the UK and internationally.

I have written for China Plate’s Ballot Box Ballads — part of the U-Decide week of politically-inspired work at Unity Theatre Liverpool during the UK’s General Election week 2015.

In Supernatural Violence, quiet poverty haunts the streets: the spectre of austerity, a ghost of slow decay, is creeping doorsills and devouring kitchens while we sleep. A young girl describes the strange disappearances of the poor and dispossessed on the Gideon Estate, whilst ghostly voices from the political elite haunt her every step.

Dates:
2015

Produced by:
China Plate Theatre and Unity Theatre Liverpool

Directed by:
Sarah Van Parys

Performed by:
Caitlin Clough

First Performed:
May 6, 2015 at Unity Theatre, Liverpool

Project Website:
chinaplatetheatre.com

THE BIG PICTURE

Writer

Three writers from the North West of England join one from Kampala, Uganda to find out what happens when they put down their pens for a second and talk.

Where do they come from? What are their shared concerns? Their common understanding? What is the Big Picture?

Then being writers they pick their pens back up and explore the world through the written word, following up on each other’s themes, pursuing characters and creating journeys.

My contribution to this project was a radio play, Tunnel, charting the construction of the Mersey Tunnel, as well as poetry and prose.

The four writers’ work was published as The Big Picture anthology, and read and performed at The Duke’s Theatre, Lancaster.

Dates:
2005 — 2006

Produced By:
Lancaster Litfest

Project Website:
litfest.org

MARGINS

Writer

In 2006, Lancaster Maritime Museum and the Judges’ Lodgings worked in partnership with Litfest in Lancaster and BBC Radio Lancashire to commission three writers to create three new ten-minute pieces for radio.

The pieces are based on the writers’ research using Lancaster Maritime Museum and the Judges’ Lodgings archives of material relating to Lancaster’s involvement with the Transatlantic Slave Trade.

My play, Margins, focused on a Lancastrian Quaker who has just entered into the trade, in a short play that looks at the ethical struggle between the realities of the trade and his faith

The plays were broadcast on Radio Lancashire on the 5th November 2006.

The project was related to the ‘ABOLISHED?’ programme of exhibitions and events marking the bicentenary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade in 2007.

Dates:
2006

Produced By:
Lancaster Litfest

Project Website:
litfest.org

THE WIRELESS SKETCH SHOW

The Dog-Eared Collective

THE WIRELESS SKETCH SHOW

Co-Writer | Co-Devisor

The Wireless Sketch Show is a high octane sketch set that pokes at the flab of culture.

Jim Deathman and his macabre puppet troupe prepare to stage the end of the world. Mime and ornithology join forces as Karl and Johan spot coots. And the pressure is on in Bridlington for the final of the Regional Bowing Championships.

The Dog-Eared Collective was originally a quintet of funny mongers championing a wildly anarchic and mischievously surreal brand of live comedy.

I co-founded the Collective in 2005, alongside Kathryn Hanke, James Huntington, Joanna Hutt and Jenny Thomson.

Dates:
2005

Produced By:
The Dog-Eared Collective

Performed by:
Chris Fittock, Kathryn Hanke, James Huntington, Joanna Hutt, Jenny Thomson

Performances:
West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds, 14 Apr 2005
Barbican Theatre, Plymouth, 16 Jul 2005
Rosemary Branch Theatre, London, 6-7 Aug 2005
Ilkley Playhouse, West Yorkshire, 1 Oct 2005

Produced By