Blood On Your Hands

Our Company:

Patch Plays produces new work that engages with issues surrounding environmental sustainability, climate change, animal ethics, and their intricate connection. We focus on telling personal and entertaining stories to engage audiences with these themes. We aspire to challenge, provoke empathy and provide inspiration for a better future ahead.  Since establishment in 2020 we have produced three new plays, have received Arts Council funding twice, 5 star reviews and have been nominated for an OffFest award. 

At the core of our work lies our belief that storytelling through entertainment is a crucial form of activism as it can engage wide audiences on an emotional level, which is often the motivating factor to instigate change. 

This August we produced ‘‘Meat Cute’ by Bibi Lucille at the prestigious Gilded Balloon theatre for Edinburgh Fringe Festival for a 4 week run. The show transferred after a run at Vaults Festival, being 2 years in development receiving 5 star reviews and an award nomination. We also have a residency at the prestigious Vault Festival where we stage monthly new writing evenings. Earlier in the year we produced a children’s musical ‘Birdie’s Adventures in the Animal Kingdom’ by Grace Joy Howarth at Greenhouse Theatre, following a development of the show at London’s leading Children’s theatre, Polka Theatre in 2022. 

In 2022, we previewed Blood On Your Hands for two nights at The Cockpit Theatre, receiving 4 and 5 star reviews and standing ovations. We received Arts Council funding for 22k to fund this iteration of the show. 

About the play:

Blood on Your Hands is a contemporary play that looks at the forgotten victims of the meat industry: the slaughterhouse workers.  

Kostyantyn was a veterinarian back in Ukraine, and Dan used to be the king of his school. Now their paths cross in a slaughterhouse breakroom, and an unlikely friendship begins to grow. It’s pretty grim work, but one thing makes their life just 1% more bearable: moisturiser. 

In a workplace rift with toxic masculinity, mental health issues, xenophobia, and classism, Blood on Your Hands is the tale of two men trying to save each other from slaughter.

Written by Grace Joy Howarth and directed by Anastasia Bunce, this play has been shortlisted and longlisted for national awards such as BBC Writersroom, the New Diorama Theatre Untapped Award, the Phoebe Frances Brown Award, the London Library Emerging Writers Programme, and the Masterclass Pitch Your Play award. 

Where will the raised money go?

We are aiming to raise £10,000 to pay for:

• Theatre rental - £3k for 1 week
• Paying actors and creatives - £5k between 5 actors
• Props, costumes, set and production costs - £3k

We have a brilliantly talented team consisting of drama school graduates and professional theatre makers who are willing to throw themselves into this project, believing in the importance of the show. 

We are applying to grants left right and centre, but we all know the nature of the game and just how competitive the funds are out there for fringe level emerging artists in the theatre. The kindness of the Southwark Playhouse has enabled us to have the space to perform in, we now just need to muster up the funds to make the show physically happen.

Reviews of the show:

Reviews: Blood On Your Hands, Cockpit Theatre, 2022 

‘The direction and performances are skilfully and impressively executed and it’s captivating to watch’ (4 stars, West End Best Friend) 

‘An incredibly moving and disturbing piece. Its bravery in highlighting the lesser-known story of the exploited abattoir workers is commendable and brings to light the fact that a controversial topic such as veganism, has no need to be controversial at all.’ (5 stars, London Theatre 1) 

‘Four gripping tales that explore the complexity of the human relationship with animals and the environment’ (5 stars, London Theatre 1)