“If you wanted to hold me. If you wanted to hold me. Hold me and tell me it’s okay”
Skin Hunger is about the power of touch - a vital aspect of humanity that so many of us didn’t realise we needed until it was restricted.
Daphna Attias directed three compelling monologues written by Ann Akinjirin, Tim Crouch and Sonia Hughes which explored the fundamental role that touch plays in our lives, with refreshing humour and insight.
Skin Hunger was a powerful live theatre experience set in a hidden chapel in London’s West End reflecting on intimacy and connection, after so many of us have been starved of human contact.
OFFIES WINNER 2022: IDEA Performance
A full archive recording of the production is available to stream now. It is Pay What You Decide, meaning you can chose to pay £5 - £20 to watch the show. Watch here.
A new beautifully produced Skin Hunger Book is also available now, read more here, or buy direct from the publisher now.
- Created by Daphna Attias & Terry O'Donovan
- Written by Ann Akinjirin, Tim Crouch & Sonia Hughes
- Directed by Daphna Attias
- Cast: Rachel-Leah Hosker, Oseloka Obi & Terry O'Donovan
- Design by Khadija Raza
- Additional Design by Jemima Robinson
- Music & Sound Design by Yaniv Fridel & Ofer OJ Shabi
- Lighting Design by Zia Bergin-Holly
- Movement Direction by Ayse Tashkiran
- Produced by Sophie Ignatieff
- Production Management by Keegan Curran
- Acting Production Management by Danny Cunningham
- Stage Management by Jenefer Tait
- Assistant Stage Management by Stefy Barton
- Cello by Yoed Nir
- Mixing by Dom Feil-Roots from Soho Sonic
- Marketing Management by Vic Shead
- PR Consultancy by Cliona Roberts
- Production Photography by Justin Jones
- Placements: Anna T. Stenberg & Sophia Enderby
- Original Production Management by Richard Williamson
Skin Hunger will be an installation within social distancing guidelines, exploring the power of touch and intimacy. It is based on the neurological phenomenon of skin hunger; our biological need for human touch. The project is inspired by the pictures we saw during the pandemic, of hug tunnels in Brazilian care homes, created to allow residents to embrace their loved ones during the coronavirus pandemic. The tunnel is made of a large plastic sheet with four arm holes and covers one of the facility’s entrances.
We are partnering with Stone Nest, to run the installation in their disused Welsh Chapel in Central London. Small numbers of audience will enter several times a day, to explore an installation created of plastic & an immersive sound design and find performers at the centre of the plastic maze. They will have an intimate one-on-one experience with a performer through the plastic embrace, who will tell them a short monologue while embracing them through the plastic.
We are excited to be able to offer audiences a live experience, at a time when live performance is restricted. While the project has been inspired by the deprivation of human contact enforced on many by the current global pandemic, this has led to a broader exploration of the power of physical human contact in our lives, beyond the current situation. We are excited about the potential to explore this vital aspect of the human condition; our desire to be physically close to each other and the impact on us when this is restricted.
"a reminder of theatre’s ‘ability to provoke deep, intimate connections between audience and performer"
- Exeunt
"The production plays with the illusion of intimacy, the encounters simultaneously tender and jarringly artificial"
- The Stage
"An exhilarating, intelligent production, that movingly articulates the importance of touch between humans"
- Everything Theatre
Preview:
"the whole experience feels incredibly intimate, private, quiet"
- Guardian
2021 & 2020 Coverage of the Announcement:
WINNER - OFFIES 2022 IDEA Performance
Skin Hunger is presented in partnership with Stone Nest and is funded by Arts Council England.
