Flatties

Although Flatrate Theatre is still cutting its teeth, it places itself firmly at the cutting edge, with the aspiration of finding future famous names. Their monthly arts night, Initial Itch, at 13th Note, welcomes all performers of every discipline. With their second play production, the company are out to break controversial material to the stage. And what better topic for an admirer of Sarah Kane to tackle than that of the snuff film industry?

A couple of years ago, artistic director Redman discovered that snuff films had been distributed in this country in the early 80s, with no more illegality than the regular porn on sex shop shelves throughout the UK, a fact that many people are unaware of. The culmination of this investigation is Flatrate’s latest work, The Zeros Keep Going, developed into numerous collisions between feminism and pornography. Redman challenges himself with his subject material: “I knew that if it was an area I knew little about, then there was a good chance that if we managed to discover some truth in the rehearsal room there was a good chance the show would also have an element of discovery for the audience.”

When questioned on the appropriateness of the theatre for dealing with such a controversial topic, Redman does not claim to be an expert: "I just know it in my gut." With Redman’s unwavering confidence in his project, the audiences can certainly expect a bold, polemical work. [Anna Fenton]