Poster by Alexandro Valcarsel.

Poster by Alexandro Valcarsel.

 

EATING MYSELF is a powerful and vulnerable female exploration about food, the kitchen, and the act of nurturing ourselves within the construction of a woman’s identity in Peruvian society. A communal experience through the real task of cooking on stage while digging into the performer’s deep fight around body image and self-care, this is. A shared ritual with South American flavour, that pretends to take the audience back to our roots and question how different we are.

 
 

The show was born out of the urge to talk about the relationship between women and food, and the act of nurturing oneself and others. Through storytelling, movement and music Eating Myself aims to bring the audience closer to their own traditions, it sees questioning and exploring our roots as a way of understanding ourselves. The play uses on stage cooking to generate an intimate sensory experience full of flavour.

 

The play started with a seed commission in CASA festival 2019. It was then programmed by the Battersea Arts Centre to be part of their Homegrown Festival 2020 but was postponed because of lockdown. Then it was programmed by the Golden Goose Theatre for a run in November 2020. Again it was cancelled after the announcement of a second lockdown. The play producer Ameena Hamid Productions partnered with Applecart Arts to ensure the premiere of Eating Myself would still go ahead online on the 24th of November 2020.

 
intimate and inventive one-woman show… What gives the show its unique power is an overt and audacious theatricality
— ★★★ The Guardian
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a well-crafted piece of theatrical storytelling … nourishing, and created with a great deal of heart and soul
— ★★★★ The Spy in the Stalls
a brave and deeply personal account of one woman’s complicated relationship with food, family and heritage.
— ★★★★ A Younger Theatre
Duarte’s exploration of food (from every angle) is warm, generous and asks all the right questions
— ★★★★ The Reviews Hub