Chiara Vascotto
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STUFFED: Are brands good? Bad? It’s complicated.
I spent twenty years in branding and market research, and I loved it. But I couldn’t ignore what excessive consumerism was doing to the world. Was mine a ‘good’ job or a ‘bad’ one? I couldn’t pick a side.
I wrote STUFFED to make sense of that push and pull. As I kept digging, I realised it had always been there in my personal life too. So this became a story about what we buy, but also about those we love.
Come with me from 1990s Italy, through the hundreds of focus groups I ran across the world, to post-Brexit Britain. Expect (fake) sponsors, unreasonable clients and 100 props. Handling so many objects live, through movement and confessional storytelling, makes our predicament with ‘stuff’ feel more real, and a lot more vexed. Some of the most theatrical moments are very, very true. Others I’ve stretched with a little creative licence. I’ll let you decide which is which…
Because what we buy is only part of the story. It’s what we’re buying into that keeps us hooked: the jumper that whispers a lifestyle dream, the nappies that tell you you’re a great mum.
We live in polarising times. I take issue with idolising brands, but also with demonising them. It’s the sectarianism that keeps us stuck, or worse, drives us further apart. I hope STUFFED invites a more nuanced view of… well, everything.
You can catch STUFFED at Canal Cafe Theatre on 8th November at 5pm, 11th November at 7:30pm & 12th November at 5pm (55mins). Tickets are available through the Voila! Theatre Festival Online Box Office.
Ben Powell
Salvador Kent
