Claudia Shnier’s new show Split Ends comes to Brighton Fringe this month.
“Claudia is consumed by her split ends until she fell in love with a Vacuum, an actual Vacuum, who happened to be the hairiest thing she’d ever fallen in love with. A thing that made her want to pluck her arm hairs, wax her legs and cut her hair. The Vacuum would shed his hairs, leave, disappear, reappear, shed, tell her he loved her, tell her he lied, leave, shed, appear, shed, malt, love, lie, cheat, shed, shed while she waited for him to pull the plug on what they had because she couldn’t.
In an exploration of control, love and the addiction to people who hurt us, ‘Split Ends’ uses a combination of stand-up comedy, puppetry and multi-media to attempt to understand when we are meticulously in control or incredibly out of it.”
Where: Rotunda Theatre
When: 22-24 May
Ticket link: https://www.brightonfringe.org/events/split-ends/
Claudia stopped by to bring ‘hair’ views on the show.
Can you tell us a bit about your new show?
I once asked a man why he shaved his chest and he told me it was about being in control. I laughed at him, but I think he was right.
Split Ends is an autobiographical one-woman show about OCD (hair related compulsions) and psychological abuse. Sounds intense, but my friend described the show as ‘a Sarah Kane rave.’
I use a combination of puppetry, multi-media and physical theatre to explore a narrative of falling in love with a Vacuum (capital ‘V’ because he’s my boyfriend) who sucks the life out of me.
I use objects associated with hair removal, (Scissors and Tweezers) as puppets to represent other characters in the play.
It’s a big anniversary for Brighton Fringe this year – what do you like most about it?
I’ve never been to Brighton before. I just moved here from Australia, so I was absolutely stoked to find a festival where I could perform this piece.
The organisers have been super accommodating and it was a very seamless process to get this show logistically up and running (way easier than I thought). I’m so excited to attend the Fringe!
Apparently, the vibes and sense of community that the Fringe invites are unparalleled, so I’m super keen to be a part of it!
Split Ends sounds absolutely bonkers, but unmissable! Where did the idea come from and how did you develop the show?
I love that you think it’s bonkers because I’m bonkers. It’s autobiographical!
I have always had a habit/ addiction/ compulsion to cut my split ends, since I was about fifteen, and it gets kind of out of control and feels like I can’t stop unless someone takes the scissors away from me.
Anyway, last year I fell in love with a man who would shed his body hair all over my apartment. He would disappear for months, and I would continue to find his hairs, everywhere, I found one in my kettle.
I thought it was a great metaphor for how I felt in the relationship; a feeling that something was controlling me that I couldn’t escape from.
During my time at RADA, a lot of the pieces I wrote were about him/ things that he brought up for me/ and decided to flesh it out to a full hour long piece, so I wrote the script first and created the soundtracks before I started rehearsing it.
What else is in the pipeline after these shows?
I’m working on a collaborative devised piece called RATKING, with my colleagues from RADA. It’s about the Roman Empire, rats and the office workplace, exploring the power trip within these worlds and what happens when they collide.
Sell us your show in three words!
Fun. Trauma. Party.