Blue Chrysalis Productions bring their new show, Look at Me, to Brighton Fringe this month.
“Look At Me offers a powerful narrative that explores the suffocating pressures many women face due to unrealistic expectations around their bodies, often leading them to consider drastic measures.
The piece explores the topic of body image and incorporates elements of the experience of body dysmorphic disorder.
With a commitment to authenticity, Look At Me seeks to champion the body acceptance movement and raise awareness about the mental health challenges arising from body image pressures, ensuring that those affected feel seen and represented.”
Where: The Lantern
When: 31 May-1 Jun
Ticket link: https://www.brightonfringe.org/events/look-at-me/
Co-creator and cast member Christina Leitner tells us more.
Can you tell us a bit about your new show?
Look At Me is a movement piece, delving into a powerful narrative about the suffocating pressures many women face due to unrealistic expectations around their bodies and the mental health challenges arising from it.
It’s an exploration of the story of a woman as she moves through the different stages of her life. We follow her journey as her view of herself changes and evolves through external influences and the internal battles she comes up against.
The piece deals with the topic of body image and explores elements of body dysmorphic disorder. It was developed in affiliation with the Body Dysmorphic Disorder Foundation.
It’s a big anniversary for Brighton Fringe this year – what do you like most about it?
It’s our first time at Brighton Fringe this year, and we’re so excited to be a part of such a well-established festival.
Brighton is one of the most vibrant and creative places in the country that celebrates art at every stage of its life. The programme at the Fringe is so vast and diverse so we are really excited to see some other performances ourselves to get inspired for our own future work.
It draws very forward-thinking, open-minded, innovative people who advocate for positive change and artists who bring forward brave, bold and progressive work.
We believe that these are the people that can help us spread a more positive message around body image and mental health and help us raise awareness to support changing the narrative.
It’s also a real privilege to come into something that’s been around for 20 years that puts their artists first and really advocates for community and collaboration.
Your show focuses on body dysmorphic disorder – what made you focus on this and how did you develop the show?
Initially, our first draft for this piece started from the desire to bring awareness to and normalise the conversation around how society views female bodies.
Throughout our creative process of devising, improvisation, playing with and exploring seeds of ideas and inspirations through movement, text and music, our narrative developed organically into one relating to body image pressures and body dysmorphic disorder.
We then started using information and resources from the BDD Foundation and incorporated that aspect into our R&D process to help tell this story with integrity and authenticity.
What else is in the pipeline after these shows?
It is really important to us that people who see the show who have struggled with their body image or suffered from any form of BDD feel seen and represented, so we’re planning to apply for funding, go back in the rehearsal room after summer to develop the show further.
We always take into consideration our audiences’ feedback. This is very useful for us as we expand this show and explore new ideas. The long-term goal is a national tour to introduce the show to new audiences.
Sell us your show in three words!
Raw. Moving. Powerful.