My Champion Heartache is non-linear, cross-disciplined, mongrel performance about people and their pets looking at the surprising aspects of pet-ownership that go way beyond the predictable. It's inspired by conversations with hospital patients temporarily separated from their pets, interactions in parks with dog walkers and their dogs, all those lost owners and lost pets on missing posters and artists Dot Howard and Holly Bodmer's own memories of pet ownership.
My Champion Heartache will take up a week-long residency at The Yard Theatre in London from Tuesday 26 - Saturday 30 May as part of the Now 15 Festival (following its world premier at the Norfolk & Norwich Festival on 16 May). It appears as part of a double-bill with There They Carved A Space by Emilia Weber & Claire Healy.
Over a period of almost a year Dot and Holly worked with The Hospital Arts Project at Norfolk & Norwich University Hospital, talking to patients about their personal experiences of pet ownership, the benefits they reap from those experiences and the roles that household animals play in our lives.
Holly Bodmer said 'Pets play a significant part in people's lives and they help with and encourage social interaction.' 'My Champion Heartache celebrates our relationship with our domestic animals, including the joy and comfort but also the sorrow that pet ownership can bring' added Dot Howard.
My Champion Heartache is performed by Holly and Dot and special guest star Rosie the tortoise.
Odd Comic is Holly Bodmer and Dot Howard, cross-disciplinary artists with a passion for devising unconventional performance for intimate audiences in unusual spaces. They met at Dartington College of Arts in 2007 and have been collaborating since, creating performances that are observational, unpredictable, comic and odd. Their recent show Would Be Nice Though was a hit at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
For more information, visit
www.oddcomic.co.uk or go to
mychampionheartache.tumblr.com.
DETAILS:My Champion Heartache
26-30 May 7.30pm
£10 (for double-bill with There They Carved A Space by Emilia Weber & Claire Healy)
The Yard Theatre Unit 2A, Queen's Yard, White Post Lane, Hackney Wick E9 5EN
www.theyardtheatre.co.uk
07548 156 266
