It’s a great week in the London International Mime Festival which continues with Raven, a Fringe First award winning piece from German company Still Hungry. It uses circus to consider child-rearing and what it means to be a good parent. If that doesn’t appeal definitely check out Peeping Tom’s Child at the Barbican, the latest in a family-themed trilogy from the Olivier-Award-winning Belgian company who have a rare ability to enchant and disturb in equal measure. Or there is Chimpanzee in the Pit, Nick Lehane’s puppet play about a captive chimp in a biomedical facility who uses her imagination to escape the bars of her cage.
Am I strict enough? Am I away too much? Did I breastfeed for long enough? Should I be back in shape by now? Did I want this? Am I still myself? Do they call me raven mother? This fresh, forceful, feminist new work breaks down the crippling self-doubt and social expectations of modern mothers – whether to return to work or stay at home, whether to sacrifice or preserve themselves. In this 2019 Edinburgh ‘Fringe First’ winner from Germany, Berlin circus collective Still Hungry reveal the uncomfortable dark sides of their own motherhood in this mix of aerial circus and physical theatre. Laced with humorous insight and told through personal experience and world-class aerial skills, Raven shines a spotlight on dilemmas faced by every working mother. Pitch-perfect in combining language and movement, the result is thoughtful and thrilling circus-theatre.