To Over Indulge

When creating a performance around the subject of body image, it’s important to contemplate all the factors that cause issues and also confidence. Picking just two, to begin with, we chose make-up and also food. These are two things that weigh heavily on the mind when discussing the topic of body image and self-esteem. So, as theatre makers, it would only make sense that our next thought would be to experiment with different materials, and use food as make-up. How would it look? How would it feel? Would we create the next new craze of face masks?

We started by taking the following ingredients; peanut butter, custard, honey and crisps. First of all, a layer of peanut butter achieving a full coverage and acting as foundation. We then proceeded with a heap of custard, replacing highlighter to attain that ‘natural’ glow. Following with honey on the lips, to accomplish that glossy finish. We decided to round of the look by powdering our faces with a sprinkle of Skips, which would create a full and more rounded look.

We are interested in how people can use cosmetics to change their appearance and what they want people to see, for whatever reason. By using different materials to alter our appearance, we aim to challenge perceptions surrounding make-up and beauty regimes. Adding specific dialogue of verbatim memories and facts to this whilst undergoing our transformation, we aim to 'highlight’ all the ways we, as a society, will try things – no matter how silly – just to achieve this notion of what the epitome of ideal perfection really is. It also portrays the borderline relation of over-consumption with food and make-up.

This theatre image aims not to offend those who wear copious amounts of make-up, yet to raise awareness that both males and females will undergo regimes such as this, for multiple and personal reasons. As a group we are determined to reclaim the space as our own, empowering through the playfulness of our images without falling into the male gaze and protecting ourselves from any ideological traps that present themselves within our process.