.jpg)
Be.
2022
“Feminine? Masculine? Why can’t we just… be?”
The moment you were born, the doctor announced your gender, and the world put you in a box. And maybe that’s a comfortable box, and you’ll sit there happily for the rest of your life. But maybe it’s not… and what happens then? ‘Be.’ follows three characters trying to break out of their boxes, as they discover what it means to be ‘Her’, ‘Him’ or ‘Them’, in a story intertwined with the authentic collective experiences of over 60 real people.
With enchanting music and provocative, poetic storytelling, Greedy Pig Theatre Company’s latest production gives a voice to those made restless by the constraints of gender within our communities, and asks why sometimes it’s so difficult to just…be.
Photos from Greedy Pig's 2020 Be. R&D
Photography by Richard Kaby
Douglas Murdoch
Producer
Douglas Murdoch has produced 'Life, Still' (2019), 'Close Your Eyes, I'm Filming' (which he wrote), and will be producing a selection of Greedy Pig projects, due to launch this year.
Doug is also a marketing specialist, having previously worked at the Egg Theatre in Bath, and now working freelance. He studied at Bath Spa University, where he achieved an MA in Scriptwriting.
Lex Kaby
Director & Designer
Lex Kaby is a theatre-maker, producer and co-founder of Greedy Pig Theatre Company. She has directed all of Greedy Pig Theatre Company’s productions to date, including ‘Life, Still’ (2019), ‘Close Your Eyes, I’m Filming’ (2020), 'Nhair' (2021), 'The Fish Cage' (2021) and ‘The Last Thing He Saw Was A Ferret’ (2021). As well as this, she has worked extensively as a director and choreographer for Rare Productions.
Lex is currently studying an MA in Directing at Bath Spa University and works as a freelance director. She has recently directed 'The curse of the Sapphire Blade' for Black Dog Productions (2021), 'The Wave' for Calf2Cow (2021), 'DING!' for Flipside Productions (2021) and is looking forward to working with Black Hound Productions and His Terectomy in the near future.
Lex is passionate about gender in performance and is currently researching the ways in which actors and directors portray gender in theatre.
HOLLY JEFFERIES
Creative Producer
Holly Jefferies is a freelance creative producer, project administrator and theatre-maker, based in the South West. As a part-time MA student in Creative Producing she is also an associate producer for Bath Spa Productions. Holly has experience fulfilling arts administration roles for the Ustinov Studio at the Theatre Royal Bath and for Wise Children’s The School for Wise Children summer programme. Recent creative projects include Coven at SparkFest Digital 2020, Polly Teale’s ‘Jane Eyre’ at Bath Spa University Theatre, Greedy Pig Theatre Company’s upcoming small tour of ‘The Fish Cage’, and Gabrielle Finnegans ‘Cat and her Whittington’ at SparkFest 2021.
With a passion for the transformative power of the arts Holly enjoys making work that experiments with form to talk about real world issues.
FINN HARKIN
Actor
Finn is currently studying Politics with International Relations at the University of York, where he is a member of York DramaSoc. At university, he has taken roles such as Van Helsing in 'Dracula', Lucie Manette in 'A Tale of Two Cities', and Malvolio in 'Twelfth Night'. Outside of university, Finn was in the Youth Companies for both Creation Theatre, and the Oxford Playhouse, where they played Rose Gwynn in 'Nell Gwynn' at the Oxford Playhouse. Recently, Fergus acted in 'Zmora' with Black Elk Productions, winning Best Horror at the Florence Film Awards. 'Be.' will mark Finn's professional stage debut.
ALICIA POLLARD
Actor
Alicia studied acting at Bath Spa University and graduated with a First Class honours degree. She co-founded Black Dog Productions with Tiff and Russell in 2017. Alicia alternates between acting, directing and stage managing. She also wrote her first play for the company in 2020 with the support of her team which debuted in October 2021.
As well as acting for the stage, Alicia is also a professional voice actor as well as a VoiceOver coach for RichCraft.
MATTHEW KAY
Actor
Matthew originally trained in musical theatre almost twenty years ago. He continued his training, transitioning to stage & screen, finding a passion for voice-over and writing along the way. He can regularly be found training with Working Actors Studio London. Matthew’s most recent credits include the award winning audio series, “The Realm Tree” as Jonathan Hail, “The Sea Between” as Mike and “Sales of a Deadman” as Eddie.
HARRY MILLER
Composer/ Musician
Harry is a musician/actor who’s previous credits include: The National Theatre’s production of ‘Peter Pan’ and ‘The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe’ at The Bridge Theatre.
Musical composition credits include: Tales Of Gin & Tonic at the Playground Theatre, Beyond the Horizon’s productions of ‘Richard III’ and ‘Oedipus & Antigone’.
GABRIELLE FINNEGAN
Writer
Gabrielle is an actor, writer and director, with an aim to make work which gives a voice to those often forgotten. Gabrielle's credits include writing Be. for Greedy Pig, her first spoken-word play, which inspired her to create Cat and Her Whittington (a socialist-feminist retelling of the Dick Whittington story, all in rhyme), as part of Bath Spa's SparkFest, 2021. Additionally, she co-wrote series 2 of Mind Magicians with Toby Underwood, a podcast designed to inspire children to have fun being eco-friendly, and a poem called 'Flames', for Holly Jefferies Coven (SparkFest Digital, 2020), which has received airplay on various BBC Radio Uploads.
STEPHANIE HAZELL
Stage Manager
Stephanie is a freelance event coordinator. She studied Drama and Film studies at Bath Spa University and graduated in 2018. She is now back at Bath Spa University completing her MA in Arts Management. Stephanie has previously worked as a Production Manager for Novato Dance and Theatre Company and helped them to achieve two sell-out show weeks in 2017. Her most recent event has been the Green Park Station: Heritage Pop-Up Museum. She volunteers on the John Peel stage at Glastonbury Festival and aims to start her own festival and events company.
ALEX LATHAM
Lighting Designer
Alex Latham is a London, Bath and Bristol-based theatre designer and technician whose specialities include scenic, lighting, sound and video design. Alex has designed for a broad range of classic and new writing, musicals, dance pieces and sight-specific work.
His portfolio includes work at the Bristol Old Vic, Theatre Royal Bath and with various fringe venues and touring companies in Bristol and the south west. Other work with Greedy Pig includes the company’s research and development performance of ‘Nhair’ by Conny Hancock and our upcoming production of ‘Be.’
GARETH MAYER
Dramaturg
Gareth Mayer is a theatre-maker, director and dramaturg based in Bristol. He co-founded the company Sedated By A Brick, and has collaboratively devised, produced and performed in all of their work. He has a BA in Drama: Theatre, Film and Television from Bristol University, and is currently studying an MA in Directing at Bath Spa University.
With regards to dramaturgy, he especially likes outside eye work with an emphasis on world-building and the logic of the show. He works with companies to understand and enhance key elements of the work they want to present, considering all elements of production including textual and visual, to help build a coherent logic to the ‘world’ the performance sits within.
MEGAN SMETHURST
Graphic Designer
Megan studied at the School of Art and Design at Bath Spa University where she achieved a BA in Graphic Communication. She has previously enjoyed designing the posters for the majority of the Greedy Pig past projects! Meg also has her very own art shop on Etsy where she sells and commissions her designs and illustrations, check out @mgs_designn if you’re interested - she also takes commissions!