Vile (in Process)

Vile in Cannonball 2023 at Maas Studio. Photo by Ashley Smith, Wide Eyed Studios.

“A funny, surprising, disgusting, tender, clever, and playfully-designed, clown-and-bouffon-driven exploration of muddling through trauma and healing. A generous, cute, weird and confrontational transmutation of sexual violence into kink play, self-discovery, and vulnerable power.”

Vile is a solo show riding the line between pleasure and disgust, where clown and buffon hold a funhouse mirror to the artist’s self as she succumbs to overconsumption of food, products, media. If you’ve ever hated yourself and/or everyone in the world, welcome.

A playful clown exploration into the anguish of being alive right now - buying things we hope will fix everything, binge-eating and media oversaturation, watching tv while being on scrolling on a phone, all that to just try to not have a feeling, or not have a thought. In Vile, the clown moves through experiences of PMDD and consent violation through finding physicality and embodiment, through kink, as a way out of paralysis and into connection.

“A technical masterclass is clown & bouffant performance! A mirror to today's society. Everyone should see this show.”
“For a long time I didn’t think I liked comedy, but after seeing the show I now think I’ve just mostly seen men do it.”
“This is an important show. It takes on rape culture in a way that lets the audience in gently, and consistently balances comedy and drama so that we are not afraid to laugh or gasp.”

Created and Performed by Francesca Montanile Lyons.

Collaborative Support and Design by Alicia Crosby.

Sound Design by Tom Carman.