Old Fire Station
40 George Street, Oxford, OX1 2AQ
T: 01865 263980
www.oldfirestation.org.uk
PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate release, 17th April 2014
Snuff Box Theatre with house in collaboration with Richard Jordan Productions present:
BITCH BOXER
by Charlotte Josephine
Following sell-out runs across the world, multi-award-winning and internationally
touring Snuff Box Theatre brings the “phenomenal” BITCH BOXER to the Old Fire
Station on 13th May 2014
London 2012 saw women’s boxing go down in history as it made its first appearance at an Olympic Games.
Incredible performances by boxers such as Nicola Adams inspired women and audiences from across the
globe, demonstrating to all that women’s boxing is here to stay.
Capturing the thrill of that journey, BITCH BOXER invites you ringside to follow 21 year old Chloe Jackson from
Leytonstone, East London. She is training for the fight of her life – a chance to represent Great Britain at the
2012 Olympic Games. With lights in her eyes and sweat on her face she is dealt an unexpected blow from
outside of the ring. In a man’s world can she prove she’s worth the title?
Cultivated at Soho Theatre’s Writer’s Lab the play is a personal piece for writer Charlotte Josephine, and is in
equal parts an expression and exploration of what it means to be a woman. The piece grew from feeling
frustrated after somebody witnessed her lugging boxes at a coffee shop and remarked how “un-lady-like” it
was. BITCH BOXER explores the idea that Chloe can fight with strength both physical and emotional, be it for
her dreams inside of the ring or to make sense of the world around it.
Josephine pulled no punches in her research, training extensively with Islington Boxing Club throughout the
show’s development. This not only gave the piece its critically acclaimed authenticity but now sees Josephine
fully trained as an amateur boxer alongside her work as a writer and performer.
“I discovered a whole boxing community I knew nothing about, and they warmly welcomed me with a
generosity and kindness that, I admit, I found surprising for such a violent sport. I fell in love with it. ”
The play won both the Soho Theatre Young Writer's Award and Old Vic New Voices Edinburgh Award in 2012
putting Snuff Box Theatre and Charlotte Josephine on the map as some of the fastest rising talent in the UK.
An intensely physical five-star performance from young performer Holly Augustine saw the piece win the 2013
Holden Street Theatres award and transfer to the Adelaide Fringe in 2014.
Jeremy Spafford, Director of the Old Fire Station, said of Bitch Boxer, “This award winning show will be great
and you’d be mad to miss it. It is tightly written and performed with real clarity and intensity. We try and bring
the best of contemporary theatre to the Old Fire Station and on this occasion we have definitely succeeded.”
Press Quotes:
"A terrific little package" Lyn Gardner, The Guardian
★★★★ “An involving drama from a young company to watch” The Telegraph
★★★★ "Sweat-slick and tough, yet sweet and gifted with terrific timing" The Times
★★★★★ “Unmissable” ThreeWeeks
★★★★★”Phenomenal” A Younger Theatre
★★★★★ “UK actor Holly Augustine is an absolute knockout and gives a world championship contender
performance as 21-year-old Chloe” Adelaide Advertiser
“Exudes the intelligence and bottled-up energy of one determined to prove to the whole world she’s worth
something” The Stage
Notes to editors
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For further press info, high resolution images or interviews please contact
o Anna Munday, Communications Officer, Arts at the Old Fire Station
anna.munday@oldfirestation.org.uk / 01865 263988
Bitch Boxer is at the Old Fire Station Tuesday 13th May, 7.30pm
Tickets, £12, Concessions £10. Group bookings of 10+ or more £8 per person.
Tickets can be purchased via Tickets Oxford – www.ticketsoxford.com / 01865 305305 / via the Oxford
Playhouse Box Office on Beaumont Street
Running time: 50 mins (no interval)
For more information visit the Old Fire Station website – www.oldfirestation.org.uk
Image Credit – © Alex Brenner
Arts at the Old Fire Station
Arts at the Old Fire Station is a charity and social enterprise offering performances and exhibitions for all to
enjoy, support for emerging artists and enterprising ways to sustain and develop art as a business. We have a
shop, a gallery, a theatre and a studio and we work closely with Crisis Skylight Oxford to enable homeless
people to access training and work. We aim to help artists make and showcase work, to entertain and engage
the public and to help homeless people develop skills and confidence.
Website: www.oldfirestation.org.uk
Facebook: www.facebook/artsattheoldfirestation
Twitter: @ArtsatOFS and @ShopatOFS
house
house supports venues to increase audiences and improve the range, quality and scale of theatre presented
across South East and Eastern England. house is led by a group of eight producers and programmers
comprising Farnham Maltings, Brighton Dome, Newbury Corn Exchange, New Theatre Royal, Portsmouth,
Oxford Playhouse, South Street, Reading, The Point, Eastleigh, and Watford Palace Theatre. It is funded by Arts
Council England.
Website: www.housetheatre.org.uk
Twitter: @houseTheatre
Snuff Box Theatre
Snuff Box Theatre is a multi-award winning, internationally acclaimed collective of theatre makers who thrive
on creating new work from a blank page. Founded in 2011, the company has a rich, diverse background in
performance and creative play which drives us in the creation of our work.
Currently Associate Company at Redbridge Drama Centre, we collaborate with multi-skilled actors (actormusicians, actor-writers, actor-directors and devising specialists) on each new idea, and there is always a
strong sense of ensemble within Snuff Box. Whether large scale or intimate, political or fantastical, we have
one singular aim: to tell great stories on stage.
Bitch Boxer was Snuff Box Theatre’s second show. The first, The Observatory, won several awards including the
Scottish Daily Mail/CDS Edinburgh Festival Fringe Award and the NSDF/Methuen Arts/IdeasTap Edinburgh
Show Award. They currently have two further pieces in development, The Altitude Brothers developed with
Redbridge Drama Centre and Weald which was shortlisted for the inaugural Royal Exchange Hodgkiss Award
in 2013 and is being developed in 2014.
Performer: Holly Augustine
Writer: Charlotte Josephine
Director: Bryony Shanahan
Designed by: Seth Rook Williams
Original Music/Sound Designer: Daniel Foxsmith
Website: www.snuffboxtheatre.co.uk
Twitter: @SnuffBoxTheatre and #BitchBoxer