FAT CHANCE Comes to Scarborough's Stephen Joseph Theatre Next Month

Fat Chance comes to Scarborough’s Stephen Joseph Theatre next month.  This unconventional show looks at the pitfalls of trying to have it all.          

Meet Rachel – a 20-something actress from Boro whose one-woman play explores her true-life experience of weight gain from size eight to 18. From audition nerves and throwaway comments to literally breaking a leg, this play is for anyone who’s felt like they had to shrink themselves; anyone who's adapted to be more palatable to others; anyone who's ever put on or lost weight and been treated differently; anyone who had free school dinners; anyone who feels they don’t fit.                  

 Directed by Jonluke McKie, Fat Chance is written and performed by Rachel Stockdale, who says: “Fat Chance condenses my 20s into a 70-minute show which examines everything from the changing relationship I’ve had with my body, other people’s fear of fatness and class stigma. Since the age of seven I have wanted to be an actor. After growing up in a single parent family on benefits living in the top 1% of underprivileged areas in the UK – central Middlesbrough – I went on to graduate from Academy of Live and Recorded Arts (ALRA) after gaining a scholarship. Since then in my career as a professional actor I’ve been told by top agents that even though I have talent I’m ‘too fat, Northern and female’.

“Fat Chance is a funny, reflective look at my life and struggles to succeed in an industry that doesn’t want to represent people like me. After four years in development, preview performances at Newcastle’s Live Theatre and a month-long run at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2022, we are passionate about sharing this important story with audiences across the UK.” 

Rachel is from Middlesbrough and trained at ALRA North and the National Youth Theatre. Her acting credits include Dick Whittington (Harrogate Theatre), Scar Top (BBC Radio 4), Black Dark (Live Theatre), Tub Time (Northern Stage), Coal Girls (Oldham Coliseum), A View From The Bridge (Bolton Octagon), The Black Prince (Netflix) and the award-winning Bin Day (BBC iPlayer).

As a writer/performer, Rachel has been selected as a BBC Development Fund Comedy Creative 2023 and is working on adapting her work for screen. Previously, she was Assistant Director on the Northern Stage tour Hound of the Baskervilles and on 10 Things To Do In A Small Cumbrian Town at Alphabetti Theatre, and has directed short plays, rehearsed readings and youth theatre productions across the North. She was Assistant Director on the SJT’s production of These Majestic Creatures last autumn.