DENTATA arrives at Brighton Fringe with a clear intention: to unsettle, provoke and reclaim. Julia VanderVeen’s solo show leans hard into the grotesque, using bouffon and bold visual theatre to challenge long-standing ideas about how women’s bodies and desires are framed, feared and controlled.
Rooted in the contradictions of a religious Southern American upbringing, the piece blends poetry, satire and physical performance. There are echoes of the Three Weird Sisters, a reimagined teenage Medusa navigating rejection, and a deliberately confrontational relationship with the audience. At the centre of it all is a striking visual motif, a large-scale operatic puppet designed by Eva Lansberry, with Medusa realised by Mae Merkle, signalling the show’s refusal to be subtle or polite.
Directed by Jess Lazar, with creative input from Lucy Smith of SITI Company (credited here as ‘Show Doula’), the work positions itself somewhere between ritual and rebellion. Sound design by Hans Meyer and an original song by Jackson Sturkey underpin a piece that is as sonically considered as it is visually ambitious, with additional puppet support from Scottie Rowell.
DENTATA is unapologetically explicit in places and committed to pushing discomfort into something playful and, at times, cathartic. With nudity, strong language and audience interaction, it’s firmly pitched as adult work. But for those interested in feminist performance that takes risks, both aesthetically and politically, and it offers more than shock value alone. There’s an exploration of misrepresentation, fear and power, albeit delivered through chaos and dark humour.
Details
DENTATA at The Actors Theatre
Venue: The Actors Theatre, 4 Prince’s Street, Brighton
Tickets: Tickets are priced at £10, with £8 concessions and 2-for-1 offers available.
Dates: DENTATA plays at The Actors Theatre on Tuesday 19 May and Wednesday 20 May at 9pm. Running time is approximately 60 minutes.
The show is recommended for audiences aged 16+. Content warnings include strong language. Babes in arms are not permitted.
Accessibility: The venue offers wheelchair access, accessible toilets and welcomes assistance dogs, although audiences are advised to check with the box office for full accessibility details depending on performance set-up.
For any queries about venue accessibility, including step free access, please contact box office.
Age suitability: 18+ (Restriction)
Babes in Arms policy: Under 2s are not allowed at this event.
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