Ways To Submit

“a fantastic and constantly surprising piece of theatre that discusses power on multiple levels”
The Spy In The Stalls

“They teach you in Physics that energy neither originates nor disappears but rather transfers and converts into different forms; so power is always present in relationships, given and taken, passed from person to person.
We’re watching an experiment that proves that.”
Exeunt Magazine

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A show about dominance and submission.

The ways we give in, and the ways we take control. Physically, psychologically, sexually, socially. Through the body, through language, and through structures of power.

Ways To Submit invites members of the audience to have a physical fight. It uses this seemingly simple frame to create a series of complex, slippery, encounters. The show opens out from what occurs on the mat, and within the space of the theatre, to evoke questions about the body, gender, violence, pleasure, and consent. It is different each night, a provocative reflection of who is in the audience and how they choose to participate.

How do we act? What do we want to see? What are we responsible for, individually and collectively? And what does it take for something truly unexpected to happen?

Ways To Submit explores what it means to play at dominance and submission. And who has the privilege to ‘play’?

A fantasy, a game, a dialogue, a performance, a fight: a series of duets in which power is at work.

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Upcoming tour dates:

Paris Globe Festival, Théâtre de la Concorde, Paris
Saturday 25th May, 19:30 & Sunday 26th May, 15:30
Booking: parisglobe.fr

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Past tour dates:
Festival TNT, 30th September 2023, Terrassa, Spain
CAMPO, 1st & 2nd February 2023, Gent, Belgium
Theaterfestival Boulevard, 5th & 6th August 2022, Den Bosch, The Netherlands
Festival Theaterformen, Braunschweig, Germany (CANCELLED)
Festival Cement, Den Bosch, The Netherlands (CANCELLED)
Monty Kultuurfaktorij, 13th & 14th February 2020, Antwerpen, Belgium
Scare The Horses, 17th January 2020, Exeter, UK
Arnolfini, 8th November 2019, Bristol, UK
New Queers on the Block, 1st November 2019, Folkestone Quarterhouse, UK
Frascati Theatre, 2nd & 3rd October 2019, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Theaterszene Europa, 15th June 2019, Köln, Germany
hiding in plain sight at DAS Theatre, 30th & 31st May 2019, Amsterdam, Netherlands
WATCH OUT Festival, 25th May 2019, Cambridge Junction, UK
NOW19 Festival, 5th-9th February 2019, The Yard, London, UK

Concept, text & performance Ira Brand | Dramaturgy Jo Bannon | Sound Yas Clarke | Lighting & Technical Design Jo Palmer & Noah Voelker | Trailer Claire Nolan

Commissioned by The Yard Theatre, and supported by Cambridge Junction and The Marlborough Theatre. Supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.