Volpe Theatre is a female-led, international physical theatre company, based in the UK and we would like to invite you to contribute to the creation and staging of our new piece 'Hyena' and the community project that runs alongside it. 

We came together during the pandemic to create theatre that would transcend the limitations of language and create an international community. We wanted to celebrate our collective cultures (we come from Brazil, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands... and Manchester) by telling women’s stories; stories that merge into a polyphony of voices and languages in “Hyena”.

Told through movement, and celebrating the many languages of our company, we watch Dorothea as arrives in Paris in the 1930's. She is drawn there by the freedom of the Surrealist movement and the need to emancipate herself from the constricting expectations of her family and society. 

The desire to write consumes her but grief stands in her way. No matter how far she runs, the demands of home pursue her.
She sits in her hotel room, having broken every rule and liberated herself from the past, but memories hide in the shadows and lie in wait under the bed.
This piece of physical theatre, devised by the company, explores one woman’s journey to find her voice when all around her demand her silence. It’s about what happens when we stop suppressing what we most desire, and let out the beasts that lurk within.

The concept of the piece is inspired by a story written in 1937 by Leonora Carrington about a rebellious upper class girl who, on the night of a ball thrown by her mother, rejects all expectations by sending, in her place, a hyena, who eats her maid and offends her family.
 

Our story explores the emotional journey of a writer who is struggling between the duties of home and the need for self expression; searching for a voice in a world that would ask her to remain silenced.

Having found our community, we want to include as many people as possible. Because of this, it is very important to us that our production work is combined with a strong community practice. We have put together an outreach project that goes alongside 'Hyena'. We are welcoming female-identifying participants to workshops that will encourage creativity through writing and movement. Letters will be sent from group to group so there is a cross-pollination of ideas, and a sense that our stories will be heard, learned and remembered by others seeking connection.

Anything you can offer in support would go towards;

- fair and equal pay for the creatives we collaborate with. 

- the hiring of rehearsal space. 

- resources to allow our community project to run successfully. 

Thank you. Very much.  

Volpe Theatre.