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About
A show about labia, labia-shaming, cosmetic surgery and - fundamentally - body lovin'.
Award-winning queer performer ELOINA hangs two beef steaks from her labia, butchers them up & sizzles them on a grill. And... her mum is in the show.
Seamlessly melding performance art and comedy clowning, HIGH STEAKS takes on rising demands in young people for labiaplasty - plastic surgery to make the labia smaller/more symmetrical.
Through live conversations with her mum and recorded interviews with labia-owners, this extraordinary, joyful show offers a call for increased visibility of varied vulvas - and a celebration of our vulvas in all their shapes & sizes.
Quotes & Reviews
Reviews for HIGH STEAKS
★★★★ 'So soulful, profound and ultimately joyful that it is necessary viewing for all' The Guardian
★★★★★ 'Subversive, witty and moving' Scotsman
★★★★★ 'Completely unique... truly special, thought-provoking, and vulnerable' Lost in Theatreland
★★★★ 'If only all mums and daughters could see this useful, smart, sly, funny and heartfelt show' The Stage
Winner: Summerhall Lustrum Award 2023 & Summerhall Pick of Vault 2023 Award
The Company
Credits
Birthed, Created, Performed & Produced by ELOINA
Directed by Louise Orwin
STAR OF THE SHOW: Mama (Annie Haines)
Developed with PARL (Performance Art Research, Ljubljana), Queen Mary University of London, Jackson’s Lane, Camden People’s Theatre
Outside Eye Frankie Thompson
Sound Design by Sammy Metcalfe & Louise Orwin
Sound Design Consultancy by Tom Foskett-Barnes & Liv Lynch
Technical Stage Management by Roshan Conn
Safeguarding Management by Joe Iredale, Beth Sitek and Millie Wood-Downie
Set Design by ELOINA & Joe Iredale
Lighting Design by Lily Woodford-Lewis
Producers ELOINA, Beth Sitek and Millie Wood-Downie
About the artist
ELOINA is a queer, multidisciplinary artist who makes work that dismantles taboos around the female body. She mixes epic, body-based performance art and quick, comedy clowning to make her work accessibly impactful at both the extremes and the in-betweens of the art world.
Since graduating from the innovative Drama degree at Queen Mary University of London in 2018, her practice has spread across London, opening conversations about menstruation, body hair, labiaplasty, vaginoplasty, female masturbation and ejaculation, motherhood, and breastfeeding. HIGH STEAKS was developed in residency at PARL (Performance Art Research, Ljubljana) in August 2021. Eloina has previously staged the show at VAULT Festival (2023) where she won the Show of the Week Award and the Summerhall Pick of VAULT Award. The show was then performed at Summehall for Edimburgh Festival Fringe 2023 and won the Summerhall Lustrum Award, as well as being nominated for two Offie Awards this year.