Mushroom Language: A Fungal Gothic

Nature is hilarious, and terrifying...

Mushroom Language: A Fungal Gothic is about the cycles that shape us – eruption, reproduction and decay. It’s about role-playing the lichen love stories, spore shoot-outs and truffle siren songs found in our forests.

They eat nappies

They eat toothbrushes

They eat bombs

They eat newspapers about how the world will end…

A species running slowly in parallel preaching change silently, digesting muck into matter and back again.

In an eerie and funny homage to folk horror, two human performers absorb and mimic ‘mushroom language’ through ritual and power dynamics. Who are these creatures, and what are the mushrooms trying to tell them? Dreamlike conversations and movement sequences are underpinned by original music from composer Hannah Miller (of the Moulettes) and playful design by Rūta Irbīte.

Join our panel-led 30-minute post-show Q&A on Tuesday, April 15 – Don’t miss out!

Press Quotes

“Gleefully concentrates on how the unpleasant business of decomposition and rotting helps to promote a cycle of rebirth after death” – British Theatre Guide

“Highly original” – British Theatre Guide

“Engaging, funny, and both interesting and interested” – Adventures in Theatreland

“Rūta Irbīte’s design is clever and effective.” – Adventures in Theatreland

“Dreamy, disquieting and dystopian” – Live Art Alive

“Both central performances are perfectly pitched – clever and wonderfully weird” – Live Art Alive

Developed with support from: The Lowry, Dartington Trust, Wainsgate Dances, Slung Low, New Adelphi Theatre/University of Salford, Centre for Live Art Yorkshire, The Centre for Folklore, Myth and Magic, and the British Mycological Society. R&D design support from Jamie Simmons. Supported with funding from Arts Council England.