Cardigan’s Small World Theatre presents ‘Period Drama’ on Friday 18 October at 7.30pm.

After packed preview performances at Circus City, the show comes to Ceredigion, combining dark humour, roller skating, lip sync and physical comedy.

‘Period Drama’ by Olga Kaleta (with integrated British Sign Language by Sherrie Eugene-Hart) is a surreal, episodic show about mental health, identity and recovery that mixes autobiographical storytelling with bold physicality.

A deep dive into the question of wellness through a feminist lens, via slasher flicks, bloody knickers and existential dilemmas of insects.

‘Period Drama’ is an autobiographical piece that looks at the experiences of anxiety disorder through a female experience and our relationship with time.

The piece draws parallels between menstrual cycle, the life cycle of a butterfly and the fluidity of our mental health. The performance uses corde lisse) an aerial circus skill or act that involves acrobatics on a vertically hanging rope), new writing, physical and verbal comedy, and original music by Ashley John Long (www.ashleyjohnlong.co.uk).

Writing on her website, Olga explains: “The first phase of development focused on text, dramaturgy and the relationship between the action and the music.”

In the next stage of development, Olga searched for ways to further explore the possibilities for the piece to exist in unusual spaces that in some way relate to the notion of time passing, such as clock towers, old watch factories, decaying buildings, and nature spots based around water.

The first stage of reading and development took place in January/February of 2020.

The show is funded by the Arts Council of Wales, with in kind support from NoFit State and Circomedia.

Due to the themes of the show – it involves a frank discussion about sexuality and mental health, and it contains strong language, ‘Period Drama’ is for people over the age of 16.

You can book tickets to the show through Small World Theatre’s website: https://www.smallworld.org.uk/.

The doors and bar open at 7pm, and the performance starts at 7.30pm with a possible discussion at the end.