the afflicted
the multi award-winning debut from groupwork
“one of the best debuts on the fringe” - lyn gardner
conceived and created by groupwork and jake jeppson
In the town of hope river, new york, a group of twenty-four teenage girls starts behaving strangely – twitching and stuttering uncontrollably and without any cause. they quickly become a national news story and the town becomes a hotbed of fear, fascination and mistrust. Is it a case of mass hysteria Or something darker?
Inspired by real events and drawing on the conventions of podcast, documentary and horror The Afflicted is an explosive exploration in to the phenomena of mass psychogenic illness. combining hypnotic choreography, video and text to examine how a community deals with abnormality in its midst.
presented as part of the made in scotland showcase at the edinburgh fringe festival.
31st july - 25th august 2019. the demonstration room, summerhall
fringe first and scottish arts club award winner
“utterly transfixing” - exeunt
“a darkly elusive hour of theatre with an aftertaste” - the guardian
cast olivia barrowclough, felixe forde, grace gibson, amy kennedy
direction vicki manderson, finn den hertog
choreography vicki manderson
text & dramaturgy jake jeppson
video lewis den hertog
music & sound lewis den hertog
design camilla clarke
lighting benny goodman
stage manager carrie taylor
associate producer (for thickskin) carla marina almeida
the voice of hope river jessica hardwick
additional text the company
produced in association with thickskin with support from tramway
developed with the support of creative scotland, national theatre of scotland, the work room and the eugene o’neill centre
production photographs by mihaela bodlovic. see a full selection here
thanks: annabel baldwin, charlotte baldwin, lois chimimba, sophie dessauer, laura fisher, jessica hardwick, katy higgins, rachel-leah hosker, lucy mangan, natali mcleary, emma mullen, rose riley, eleanor sutton, nima sene, laura wohlwend. sarah jane murray. anna hodgart. paul burns. ailie crearer. daisy douglas. kathryn joseph. sara johnstone. anita clark. jill smith and all at tramway. laura mallows, neil bettles & all at thickskin. steven hogget. martin o’neill. caroline newall, rosie kelleghar, stewart laing. imogen brodie and kirsten adam, the young vic. andrew twyman. english touring theatre. ilona greive. neil murray. susie solis. emma skaer. roy fairhead. malcolm cumming. jon young. andy reid. rich price. lesley & jim manderson. annie & nils den hertog.