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RashDash
Formation2009 (2009)
TypeTheatre group
Membership
  • Abbi Greenland (2009-pres.)
  • Helen Goalen (2009-pres.)
  • Becky Wilkie (2017-pres.)
Websitewww.rashdash.co.uk

RashDash is a British feminist theatre company. The company was founded by Abbi Greenland and Helen Goalen. Becky Wilkie later joined. They have produced and created many works, including We Want You to Watch.

Although they lead with feminism at the forefront, they describe their agenda as “…political and Political but always begins with people - we tell stories that call for cultural change.”[1]

History

[edit]

Abbi Greenland and Helen Goalen formed RashDash in 2009 while attending the University of Hull.[2][3] Greenland's parents were also theatre creators and participated in the political punk-theatre of the 1970s.[4] While still students, Greenland and Goalen took a play called Strict Machine to the National Student Drama Festival.[2]

The first play officially produced by RashDash was The Honeymoon (2009), which centred on two women who had left their fiancés at the altar.[4] Goalen and Greenland created the show with singer-songwriter Becky Wilkie.[5]

Their third member, Becky Wilkie, grew up with Greenland in their home county of Suffolk. A skilled pianist, Wilkie found success in local bands playing pub gigs. It was during the development of The Honeymoon that Greenland suggested bringing Wilkie in to write songs for the show. At the time, she was studying English at the University of Bristol. [3] They collaborated on subsequent RashDash productions Another Someone (2010) and The Frenzy (2013), before becoming a core member of the company when they produced Two Man Show (2016 and 2017).[1]

They say: “We are women and we talk, move, write and make as women. That’s important. We are furious and radical and hopeful. That’s important. We are friendly, but scary creatures live under the surface. We want to show you a really good time. All of this might change in a minute. At the moment it’s true.”[1]

Influences

[edit]

RashDash's influences include The Dresden Dolls, Meow Meow, and Bjork, although they have always strived to use a diverse palate of music and performers as their basis. They also cite Cabaret, and that genre of musical theatre, as a performance influence.[3]

Don’t Go Back To Sleep – The Lockdown Album

[edit]

In 2020, as a response to the Covid-19 global pandemic, RashDash created a verbatim concept album titled ‘Don’t Go Back To Sleep’.

Goalen and Greenland interviewed 18 people from across the world, including participants from China, Sweden, Brazil, and the UK, asking them about their experiences of the first 6 months of the pandemic. Conducting these interviews over Zoom, interviewees were asked the same set of questions over the course of an hour.[6]

Then, with the songwriting and scoring skills of Wilkie, they turned them into songs. It was described by the company as ‘a time to reflect on the past six months and our place in the world, to a banging musical soundtrack'. The album samples the interviews, and sets the exact words and intonations - ‘y’know’s’ and ‘likes’ included - to a genre-bending original musical score written by Wilkie.[6]

Following easing of lockdown restrictions in the UK, it was announced in August 2020 that RashDash would perform a live concert version of the album, being among the first in a season of socially distanced shows reopening the Manchester art venue HOME. Despite the tiered system being announced a week before the shows, with Manchester in tier 3, they were thankfully still allowed to proceed.

Wilkie summed up the experience of finally being back on stage simply as ‘awesome’.[6]

One week after they completed the run, it was announced that the UK would enter a second lockdown.

The album was made to be listened to however the audience chooses, but they suggest “…(at least once) you listen to it all the way through, in order.”[7]

It includes a track titled ‘I Have To Keep Going’, a song in BSL and English, created with and performed by Nadia Nadarajah.[7]

Productions

[edit]
  • The Honeymoon (2009)[4]
  • Another Someone (2010)[8][9]
  • Scary Gorgeous (2011)[4]
  • Set Fire to Everything!!! (2012)[10]
  • The Ugly Sisters (2014)[4]
  • We Want You to Watch (2015) – created by RashDash and Alice Birch, at the National Theatre[11]
  • Two Man Show (2016 and 2017)[12][13]
  • Snow White & Rose Red (2017)[14]
  • The Darkest Corners (2017) – as part of the Transform 17 festival[15]
  • Future Bodies (2018) – written by Clare Duffy, in collaboration with Unlimited Theatre[16]
  • Three Sisters (2018) – adapted from Anton Chekhov, co-production with Royal Exchange Theatre[17][18]
  • Don't Go Back to Sleep (2020)[19][20]
  • Look at Me Don't Look at Me (2021) – about Elizabeth “Lizzie” Siddal[21]
  • Oh Mother (2022) – written by Abbi Greenland and Helen Goalen, devised with Simone Seales, at HOME[22][23]

Awards and nominations

[edit]
Year Award Category Work Result Ref.
2018 UK Theatre Awards Best Touring Production Three Sisters Won [24]
2022 Edinburgh Festival Fringe Popcorn Writing Award Look at Me, Don't Look at Me Longlist [25]
2016 Scotsman Fringe Firsts Two Man Show Won [26]
2011 Scary Gorgeous Won [10]
2010 Another Someone Won [27]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c "What we do". RashDash. Retrieved 2025-04-04.
  2. ^ a b Thompson, Jessie (2016-09-09). "RashDash: Dismantling the patriarchy with thought and feeling". Evening Standard. Retrieved 2022-11-16.
  3. ^ a b c "Between the Big and the Small Picture: An Interview with RashDash" (PDF). Auralia Space. 2020. Retrieved 2022-11-15.
  4. ^ a b c d e Costa, Maddy (2014-01-22). "RashDash: punking feminist theatre". The Guardian. Retrieved 2022-11-15.
  5. ^ Mack, Kathryn (2009-08-16). "The Honeymoon: 4 star review by Kathryn Mack". Broadway Baby. Retrieved 2022-11-16.
  6. ^ a b c ""You're not alone in feeling weird, sad, happy, anxious, or anything else" – RashDash on their verbatim lockdown album: Don't Go Back to Sleep". TheatreGB. 2020-11-02. Retrieved 2025-04-04.
  7. ^ a b "Don't Go Back To Sleep". RashDash. Retrieved 2025-04-04.
  8. ^ Longhurst, Alice (2011-03-28). "Review: Another Someone". A Younger Theatre. Retrieved 2022-11-16.
  9. ^ Gardner, Lyn (2011-08-15). "New Edinburgh act of the day: RashDash". The Guardian. Retrieved 2022-11-16.
  10. ^ a b Whitehead, Charlotte (2012-06-14). "Make a RashDash for Theatre in the Square". A Younger Theatre. Retrieved 2022-11-16.
  11. ^ Billington, Michael (2015-06-16). "We Want You to Watch review – fantasies of a porn-free world". The Guardian. Retrieved 2022-11-15.
  12. ^ Goalen, Helen; Greenland, Abbi (2017-02-20). "Two Man Show: our feminist quest to smash the patriarchy". The Guardian. Retrieved 2022-11-15.
  13. ^ Gardner, Lyn (2016-08-09). "Two Man Show at Edinburgh festival review – RashDash play with patriarchy". The Guardian. Retrieved 2022-11-15.
  14. ^ Trueman, Matt (2017-12-04). "Review: Snow White and Rose Red (Battersea Arts Centre)". WhatsOnStage. Retrieved 2022-11-15.
  15. ^ "How the Reclaim the Night movement has inspired new production in Leeds car park". Yorkshire Post. 2017-04-18. Retrieved 2022-11-15.
  16. ^ Crowther, Sacha (2018-10-07). "Future Bodies: "Stop Being Normal"". Harpy. Retrieved 2022-11-15.
  17. ^ Crowther, Sacha (2018-05-11). "Who or what are the classics for?: RashDash present Three Sisters". Harpy. Retrieved 2022-11-15.
  18. ^ Garnder, Lyn (2018-05-11). "Three Sisters review – RashDash's gloriously playful take on Chekhov". The Guardian. Retrieved 2022-11-15.
  19. ^ Wood, Alex (2020-08-26). "HOME Manchester to restart live shows in October with Gateau Chocolat, RashDash and more". WhatsOnStage. Retrieved 2022-11-15.
  20. ^ "Review: Don't Go Back to Sleep: The Lockdown Album – RashDash focuses on 'small joys and revelations'". The Stage. Retrieved 2025-04-04.
  21. ^ Wyver, Kate (2021-09-07). "Muse and model or painter-poet? Elizabeth Siddal given fresh portrait". The Guardian. Retrieved 2022-11-15.
  22. ^ Crowther, Sacha (2022-05-22). "Oh Mother at HOME, RashDash Theatre Review". Harpy. Retrieved 2022-11-15.
  23. ^ Love, Catherine (2022-05-23). "Oh Mother review – clever collage on the messy truth of parenting". The Guardian. Retrieved 2022-11-15.
  24. ^ "UK Theatre Awards 2018". UK Theatre. Retrieved 2025-04-04.
  25. ^ Wood, Alex (2022-08-06). "Popcorn Writing Award reveals 2022 longlist and judges". WhatsOnStage. Retrieved 2022-11-15.
  26. ^ "Fringe First award winners announced". The Scotsman. 2016-08-19. Retrieved 2022-11-16.
  27. ^ Ritchie, John (2010-08-30). "Record Breaking Edinburgh Fringe: Nearly 2 Million Tickets Sold". EdinburghGuide.com. Retrieved 2022-11-16.
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