Introduction
We’re creating a near-apocalyptic near-future climate chaos play - and we need your help to bring it to life. (Ticket info here!)
Are you terrified of the climate crisis - or taking it all a bit less seriously? Are you ready to cope with a little dark humour?
‘Skin in the Game’ wonders what would happen if the response to the real climate apocalypse wasn’t action, nor indifference… but “bread & circuses” light entertainment.
Whatever your feelings about our climate-future, the question is: Are you game enough to be in the audience? Are you game enough to help bring it to life? Do YOU have Skin in the Game???
'Skin in the Game’ has been in development since the summer of 2019, when playwright Gill Kirk was struck by lightning whilst walking in Scotland.
Ok, not exactly- but a freak storm did strike her with inspiration… and now it’s time to bring that inspiration to the stage. Excitingly, Skin In The Game has been chosen as one of three new writing plays to make its debut at the New Wimbledon Studio theatre as part of their FIRST-EVER Premieres Season. But to get it on stage and to do credit to Gill Kirk’s brilliant (and bonkers!) writing, we need a cast, rehearsals, costumes… and a Derek the Bee God mask.
To thank you for your support of grassroots independent theatre, we have some excellent rewards on offer for supporters - check the rewards list on the right for all the latest.
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The Costs
We’re aiming to raise £4510 by 8th November (less than a week before we open!)
We’re already covering £5000 out of our own production company funds, but even if we completely sell out tickets, we can't pay actors and creatives national minimum wage. Your support will allow us to do so.
Your generous support will cover:
Cast & crew wages: £2000 (the difference between what we can now pay and NMW)
Licensing fees: £800 (playwright fee, music licensing)
Costumes and props: £750 (as a climate change show, we are attempting to source all costumes second-hand, however, there is still a cost involved with a cast of five. The good news is that this we won't be contributing to cheap mass production or landfill waste!)
Marketing and printing: £550
Crowdfunding platform fees: £410
At Slackline, we want to make sure there’s real diversity in the stories we tell. Because of this, paying our cast and crew fairly has to be central to our work- which is impossible in fringe theatre based on ticket sales alone. If the only people working in theatre are those who can afford to do it for free, we’ll never hear the full range of voices we need for theatre to thrive. And, after the last year of dark theatres and locked doors, it’s time for us all to come together and fund what we love - grassroots and fringe theatre has produced some of the most striking voices in the British arts scene, and it’s essential we don’t lose that.
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The Team
At Slackline Productions, we put women in the driver’s seat to provide audiences with uplifting entertainment experiences that will impact their lives. We are redressing the balance in the stories being told and who’s telling them- working with female writers to offer new-writing plays that have female characters at their heart, focusing most specifically on stories of women aged 35+.
Slackline is more than just a theatre company. We support our artists and extend our reach beyond the actors, writers and directors who work on our shows to create a community (and have a lot of fun doing it!)
The team consists of:
Gill Kirk, Playwright- Gill Kirk is consistently recognised for the quality of her work: awarded 1/12 places (3200 applicants) on Channel 4 4Screenwriting & representation; Verity Bargate Award final stages & BBC’s Drama Scriptroom top 3%.
Gill received a Pitlochry Theatre 10-day Residency grant to develop ‘Skin in the Game’.
Sarah Gain, Director- Sarah Gain has worked across theatre for 30+ years and is Creative Producer at Sarah Gain Productions, with connections to Derby Theatre & the Lowry. Her work focused on making theatre & creativity accessible. She brings consultancy skills as a coordinator for Disney marketing events. 'Home Sweet Home Girl’ for Derby Plus One is now being shown by the National Theatre (the projected animation for their show); Sarah is bringing her ideas around animation to ‘SITG’.
Kristin Duffy, Producer & Actor- Slackline Productions was founded by Kristin Duffy who has often been referred to as a Renaissance woman. She has been a fashion designer, Ironman triathlete and triathlon coach, spin teacher, writer, and of course, amongst other things, a theatre maker.
Kristin also hosts The Second Chapter podcast, chatting with women who changed their lives and/or careers after the age of 35. She is an advocate for roles for women of all ages, telling important stories with humour and bringing people together in a variety of ways.
Actor bios coming soon!!
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The Play
Skin in the Game is a darkly hilarious, irreverent look into the near-apocalyptic near-future.
The once-unimaginable has happened and it’s time for the world to be saved… by a game show host?
It’s up to the courageous Elizabeth Smuir to bring down a glitter-blazered game show host with dictatorship ambitions, the charismatic Danny McCree. But her blundered kidnapping by a troll and a bee-god called Derek galvanises her: she’s going to save the planet and stop Danny becoming a dictator.
Well… she thinks she is.
Skin in the Game is an entertaining and disturbing adventure into a not-so-distant future where climate despair is met with tasteless “bread & circuses” light entertainment and abuses of power.
Audience comments from the sold-out script-in-hand development performance of 'Skin in the Game' included:
‘Terrifyingly watchable’
'Dark, dirty, weird and funny'
‘A great reflection of the conflict between science and expertise, celebrity culture, politicians & the media’
'Made me cry with laughter'
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The Show
Tickets are already available for the debut run at New Wimbledon Theatre, 12-19 November 2021. And if you’d like to make sure your visit is something special, we have a few rewards which include tickets - how about the opportunity to be one of 10 sponsors recognised on our website as a project producer, plus a free ticket to opening night, two glasses of wine at the theatre and a personalised thank you on bee-friendly wildflower seed paper? And bigger pledges bring even bigger rewards, like the chance to be an executive producer on the show!
We also have rewards that reflect the climate-change themes of the show, including planting trees for your pledges!