LLL Productions
2010 - 2011
Short stories by Catherine Smith
Performed by Catherine Smith and Kathryn McGarr
Directed by Mark Hewitt
Incidental music by Peter Copley
played by Anne Hodgson (flutes) and Jo Eagle (accordion)
Sound design by John Avery
Lighting design by Clare O'Donoghue
Photo © Stephanie Sian Smith
Three gritty stories by the 'gloriously subversive' Catherine Smith from her short story collection, The Biting Point, developed for the stage in an absorbing new live literature production.
SOW: a thin woman confesses to a priest the toxic secrets that have weighed her down for years. (Performed by Kathryn McGarr.)
THE KETTLE: five days after a married woman’s married lover dies in a road accident, the kettle stops working. (Performed by Catherine Smith.)
THE ASCENSION OF MARY: an unassuming, middle-aged woman discovers she can defy gravity – and that she’s not the only one!woman in a confession box confides to a priest the toxic secrets that have haunted her and weighed her down for years. (Performed by Catherine Smith.)
Photographs of the production can be viewed in the accompanying photo gallery »
The work was previewed in July 2010 at South Street, Reading and Nightingale Theatre, Brighton. Read the online review from the Brighton Evening Argus.
About the writer
Catherine Smith was born and raised in Windsor, where she attended Windsor Girls’ School. She has degrees from the Universities of Bradford and Sussex. Her first short poetry collection, The New Bride (Smith/Doorstop) was short-listed for the Forward Prize for Best First Collection, 2001. Her first full-length collection, The Butcher’s Hands, (Smith/Doorstop) was a PBS Recommendation and was short-listed for the Aldeburgh/Jerwood Prize, 2004. In 2004 she was voted one of Mslexia’s ‘Top Ten UK Women Poets’ and the PBS/Arts Council ‘Next Generation’ promotion. Her most recent collection, Lip, (Smith/Doorstop) was short-listed for the Forward Prize for Best Collection, 2008. She also writes short fiction and radio drama and teaches for Sussex University, Varndean College in Brighton, The University of Sussex and the Arvon Foundation. Her poetry, short stories and a radio play have been broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and Radio 4.
The three performance pieces featured in Weight are adaptations of three stories from the collection, The Biting Point, published by Speechbubble Books, a new writer-led publishing venture.
'... pulls no punches in taking us to the darkness at the very edge of our dreams. Gloriously subversive ... ' Vanessa Gebbie
Left: Catherine Smith / Right: 'The Kettle' (South Street, Reading - photo © Candida Lucca)
