*******LOVE ME OR I’LL KILL MYSELF nominated for Origins Award at VAULT FESTIVAL 2023 ********
What?
A madcap, true-life saga of passion, crushing despair and salvation by bath bombs. Join Faith on a quest into the dark heart of Love’s enchantments - and if there's any life worth living without them.
Whether you’re a seasoned Lothario or yet to taste your first kiss, if you've ever experienced the pain of impossible love, Faith's here to help. Help you feel less alone. And less crazy. Maybe by falling in love with you.
Reviews for Love Me or I’ll Kill Myself:
‘Witty and woeful, an exhilarating freight train of pain and hope.’ ★★★★ Evening Standard
‘I laughed, I cried, I spat out my drink! Truly hilarious and deeply moving.’ ★★★★★ Funny Women
‘Ambitious, touching and entertaining, Love Me Or I’ll Kill Myself is an asset to contemporary devised work.’ ★★★★ London Theatre Reviews
"It's easy to talk about heart break, it's much harder to show it; and Faith did both." ★★★★ Edinburgh Guide
How?
Love Me Or I’ll Kill Myself explores how our culture encourages us to seek out ‘the One’ who will fulfill us romantically and how dangerous the social pressures of this ideal can be for our mental health.
The show takes audiences on a journey into Faith’s lived experience, and gives them a powerful sense of both the intoxicating hold romance can have over us, but also Cupid’s dark side.
Created by Faith Brandon and Jonathan Young
Performed by Faith Brandon
Directed by Jonathan Young
Photos: Alex Brenner
Where?
Past:
UK & EU Tour 2024 - Soho Theatre, METAL Southend, Tom Thumb Theatre, The Wardrobe Theatre, Teatre de Raval, Teatro Off La Latina, Theater Verlangertes Wohnzimmer
7th, 8th, 9th and 10th February 2023 @ VAULT FESTIVAL
5-28th August 2022 @ Zoo Venues, Edinburgh Fringe Festival
July 2022 @ METAL Southend
July 2021 Previews @ White Bear Theatre, Homecoming Festival
What?
"Showing Up" is a theatrical work by Ame Theatre that explores the inner mechanics of love and heartbreak. It's about how showing up and being present in the difficult moments of life can lead to a harder, but often fuller life.
In an attempt to demystify the preconceptions we have about romantic love we expose the shame that we all experience in the wake of rejection and the journey through loss, pain and eventually rebirth.
How?
Using the limitations of our bodies, objects, materials and masks two characters take the audience on a journey through one of the most common but bewildering human experiences.
Where?
Showing Up was developed at Boca Nord Cultural Centre in Barcelona and then in a 6 week long residency at Nau Ivanow Theatre. The show accumulated in a performance at Nau Ivanow and toured throughout Spain.
What?
The Moving Theatre is an award-winning feature length documentary looking at the migrant experience funded by Lebara.
How?
As part of the core creative team Faith designed, built and manipulated puppets in four individuals shows that were performed live and filmed. Each of the four puppet performances were poetic interpretations of real life stories which were told to Faith and her company by four migrants. They held creative workshops with the migrants to learn more about their stories and culture and then carefully designed a unique aesthetic for each performance.
Where?
The performances were presented to the migrants and then adapted for film and recorded. The Moving Theatre documentary has been touring international film festivals since 2017.
What?
Faith has created and facilitated theatre workshops for children and adults in London and abroad. She has also collaborated with a range of individuals; theatre practitioners, visual artists, musicians, dancers and producers from around the world on a variety of different projects, in communities, charities, schools, festivals and corporate environments.
How?
Workshops can explore anything from puppet making and performance, producing your own theatre work or devising and collaborative theatre-making. Workshops can be designed to suit a particular group, theme and age.
Faith is passionate about collaboration and keen to develop creative relationships exploring what we can create when we work together and what we can learn from each other on that journey.
Where?
University of Namibia, Curious Arts Festival, YMCA, St Mungos, National Youth Theatre of Great Britain, Soho House, Shambala Festival, Lebara.
What?
Meet Meeeeegan and Ammiiii, two outrageous fashion, beauty and dating experts! As hosts of their own Beeeauuutiffull Show they promise to transform men and women from the outside in to make them beautiful in a 5 minute 'metamorphosis'!
How?
As cabaret hosts and with their own show these two grotesque characters embody the dark and outrageous side of the beauty, fashion and dating industry through satire, singing, dancing, puppetry and bitching to and about each other, all in six inch heels and with the worlds longest gel nailzzzz!
Where?
The lovely ladies have performed and hosted in London and Berlin including,
The Box - Berlin, Bethnal Green Working Men's Club and Proud Cabaret - London.
Beeeauuutiffull Show is a 20 minute sketch available for cabarets. As cabaret hosts they can guaranteed to psych up any audience whilst dishing out the latest style tips and beauty tricks!
What?
Moon Play is a Bauhaus inspired show exploring the creation of life through puppetry, object and light manipulation.
How?
Two performers, two puppets, water, soil, light and objects combine in a piece of visual storytelling exploring from the micro to the macro the creation of life. An original devised piece, based on a rare Bauhaus text 'Mondspiel' by Lothar Schreyer.
Where?
Moon Play has been performed internationally at; Charleville Festival of Marionettes - France, Bauhaus Institute - Dessau, World Puppet Carnival - Indonesia, Little Angel Puppet Theatre - London, Tristan Bates Theatre - London.
What?
Secret Snake is a musical dance act, by three clowns whose performance falls apart as they push themselves to deliver the best show for the audience whilst keeping up with each other's creative feats. Allowing us to laugh at contradictions in the human experience such as being a team player, pushing ourselves to exhaustion, and our desire to be 'the best'.
Clouds is a poetic chorus inspired by the poetry of Dylan Thomas and surrealistic theatre.
Emoji conversation is a short sketch told through masks and mime, poking fun at our use of passive but pointed communication through emojis.
Ways to recover from a Break Up is a ridiculous parody of a 10 step self help guide found on the Internet to recover from a break up. Two women try everything to "get over" their ex's.
Elrow is an international party, set up in Barcelona and has since become a world wide phenomenon as one of the most extravagant parties in the world. Each party is a different theme and entertainers are employed to perform and interact with the crowd. As a performer at Elrow, I have been Pamela Anderson from Baywatch, Barbie in a box, and a Desparado.
How?
All of these characters embrace failure. Examining and shedding light on the most vulnerable parts of ourselves, the clown is present in the moment, being and sharing whatever it thinks and feels with the audience.
Where?
Secret Snake, Emojis, Clouds and Ways to Recover have been performed in Barcelona, Berlin, London and Edinburgh as part of cabarets.
What?
A devised performance by 5 theatre makers exploring people trafficking through myth, storytelling, paper and song.
How?
After thorough research into worldwide human trafficking Faith with her devising company created an original story which was transposed from a natural theatrical style with the use of paper, live drawing, group song and storytelling. The group were also inspired by the myth of Penta of the Chopped of Hands, using the loss of hands as a metaphor throughout the piece to embody the vulnerability of the characters.
Where?
Penta was devised as part of a collective ensemble in London and performed at The Yard Theatre.
What?
As a freelance artist Faith has worked as a puppeteer and performer with various theatre companies in the theatre, on TV and in music videos.
How?
Faith is an experienced deviser and puppeteer, able to perform shadow puppetry, table-top puppetry, bunraku, rod, marionettes as well as object manipulation.
Where?
Companies Faith has worked with include PifPaf, Caravan Stage Company and Grist to the Mill.
Other organisations include Puppet Centre Trust, Tate Modern, BBC, Bloomsbury Festival, Barbican Centre, Little Angel Puppet Theatre.
What?
Namibia Diaries is a photographic project Ame Theatre undertook during a trip to Namibia. The series of images created explore the themes of love and heartbreak; anger, loss, shame and hope.
How?
All the images were taken using a 30 second self timer and chart a journey through landscapes that the company visited on their 3 month travel. The human body is often juxtaposed against vast empty natural spaces, playing with scale and perspective. The naked body is exposed and fragile, but simultaneously empowered and defiant.
Where?
For more images please email.
Images available on request for sale and exhibit.
Previous exhibitions include; Boca Nord Cultural Centre, Barcelona
What?
Faith is a skilled maker with the ability to design and build a range of styles of puppets, masks and costumes. She has built set and props for all her own shows, as well as working as maker for other companies.
How?
Use of power tools including angle grinder and basic MIG welding skills.
Shadow, object, table-top and large scale puppet building.
Fine art fabrication; basic sculpting, casting and mould making.
Costume sourcing and alterations.
Where?
Set and prop maker for Love Me Or I’ll Kill Myself
Set builder and prop maker for Ame Theatre; Barcelona, London
Set and puppet maker for The Moving Theatre, Lebara
Set and puppet maker for Paper Jungle Theatre
Puppet Maker for Caravan Stage Company; Sicily
Assistant puppet maker for Little Angel Puppet Theatre; London
Assistant to sculptor, AB3 Studios; London
What?
A project investigating the movement of geometric structures focusing on space, rhythm and the objects interaction with the human body.
How?
A series of light weight wood 3D sculptures were fabricated to explore the dynamics of space. Performers and object interact with one other in a black box space, creating lines and depth with these inanimate objects.
Simple forms; blocks, cylinders, spheres mixed with light projections in an experiment in 'building our own' cities that took place of the Bauhaus Institute in Dessau. The project was part of a Barbican Centre residency with 20 selected artists that encouraged purposeful creativity that could contribute to social change.
Where?
Performed at the Bauhaus Institute; Dessau, The Barbican Centre and Three Mills Studio; London.
What?
Faith was selected as the UK participant for the Indonesian Arts and Culture Scholarship 2011. Living in West Java for six months she learnt the traditional dance, puppetry, music, language and martial arts from the region. The scholarship accumulated in a live televised show in which Faith performed music, puppetry and dance creations that she had developed during the scholarship with her fellow participants.
How?
Based in the art centre Saung Angklung Udjo in Bandung, Faith attended performance and language classes each day as well as specialising in puppetry, Faith was taught by masters of their form. She worked with other participants from Japan, East Timor and Pacific Islands, among others forming strong creative and personal relationships through the process, developing her collaboration skills.
Where?
Indonesian Arts and Culture Scholarship, Bandung, West Java. Faith also travelled through Indonesia at the end of the scholarship, meeting puppet masters along the way and taking one on one workshops with them.
Coming soon...
Coming soon...
