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The Shape of the Pain

By Chris Thorpe and Rachel Bagshaw

Summerhall, Edinburgh Fringe 2017 - FRINGE FIRST WINNER

★★★★ Guardian
★★★★ Sunday Times
★★★★ Edinburgh Festival Magazine
★★★★ British Theatre Guide

“kaleidoscopic exercise in empathy” The Guardian

“What could have been dry and earnest is instead funny and sad and wise, not least because of a totally open and winning performance from Hannah McPake who plays Bagshaw without a hint of sentimentality.” Lynn Gardner The Guardian

“ a remarkable reconstruction……a compelling evening” British Thearte Guide

“McPake gives a stunningly sharp and vulnerable performance.” Disability Arts

"This one-woman show is a smart, funny and far from disconsolate inquiry into the knowability of someone else’s experience. The sound design and visuals have a pulsing power." - Sunday Times

“The masterful combination of sound design, lighting and projections coinciding with McPake’s performance offers an overwhelming glimpse into a life unwillingly shared with pain.” – The Edinburgh Festival Magazine

“And there he was. Right person, right place, right time. Tick, tick, tick.”

Fringe First award-winning production about love, perception and constant, relentless pain.

This tour de force performance from Hannah McPake sees one woman attempt to articulate her experience of pain. Physical pain with no apparent cause. Also, she’s met someone, and they really want to make this work.

Funded by The Wellcome Trust and supported using public funds from The National Lottery through Arts Council England. Commissioned by Battersea Arts Centre / New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich. Supported by artsdepot.


Developed by Rachel Bagshaw and Chris Thorpe
Written by Chris Thorpe
Directed by Rachel Bagshaw
With an original score by Melanie Wilson
Designer | Madeleine Girling
Video & Lighting Designer | Joshua Pharo
Movement Director | Raquel Meseguer
Access & Audio Description Consultant | Michael Achtman
Production Manager | Helen Mugridge
Associate Director | Rachel Lincoln
Sound Associate | Kirsty Gillmore
Video & Lighting Associate | Sarah Readman
Artist Wellbeing Practitioner | Louise Platt
Filmmaker | Rachel Bunce
Producer | China Plate

Performed by Hannah McPake
Photos: The Other Richard

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©2024 by Hannah McPake.

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