Preview: Flux by Smoking Apples at Shoreditch Townhall

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Inspired by interviews with female scientists, Flux charts the story of Kate, a young physicist burning with potential. She struggles to be noticed until a male colleague uncovers her brilliance and pushes her forward. But, just as Kate begins to excel professionally, the balance between life and work suddenly flips.

Smoking Apples use extraordinary life-size puppetry, an electrifying set of shadow and light and a filmic score to tell Kate’s story as she navigates what it means to be a woman in a male dominated environment.

2018 marks the centenary of Women’s Suffrage. Having previously focused on predominantly male stories, Smoking Apples challenged themselves to create a piece about a woman, exploring how puppetry can express the objectification of the female form.

Flux has been developed in London and Oxford and heavily influenced by female figures from the world of science. Most notably Lise Meitner, a physicist who discovered nuclear fission in the late 1930s but whose work was undermined by her colleague Otto Hahn, who was later awarded the Nobel Prize for the discovery.

With a dynamic, tetris-like set evoking Kate’s world, a blend of live action and shadow puppetry and a thumping 80s soundtrack by award-winning composer Jon Ouin, Flux explores the ever-resonant story of a woman fighting to be heard.

The development and premiere of Flux has been generously supported by Arts Council England, the Institute of Physics, Shoreditch Town Hall, Oxford Playhouse, Old Fire Station Oxford and Cornerstone Arts Centre.

Flux is at Shoreditch Townhall 1st and 2nd November 2018 before continuing on tour.