the rotting hart
"Blood pools around my paws. Blood soaks my fur. Blood trickles down my throat."
A young man spends years in isolation with his father when a stranger bursts into their lives. Tall and proud and full to the brim. Now, despite resisting, the young man can feel something stirring inside him…
Predator or prey. Hunt or be hunted. A new queer horror about how ignorance and hate can transform men into wild beasts.
ABOUT THE SHOW
Created in Edinburgh by a group of multicultural artists, The Rotting Hart is a queer horror solo show that combines traditional theatre, storytelling and choreography to create an unsettling exploration of homosexuality through the ages and the effects of toxic masculinity, ignorance and stoicism on queer bodies.
It is summer in the valleys of Toledo, c. XVII. HIM and his father live in isolation in the shadow of an abandoned Augustinian monastery. One day, a stranger comes into their lives: Diego, tall and proud and full to the brim. Diego talks to HIM like his father never does, he drags HIM out on adventures around the abandoned monastery, reads HIM poetry. HIM doesn’t know what any of it means. All he knows is that, since Diego arrived, something has started to change: feelings he doesn’t understand are bursting through his skin like black fur; words and language are starting to lose their meaning; and intrusive thoughts make him wonder whether Diego’s proud neck would fit between his growing canines…
CAST & CREW
Directed by
FLAVIA D'AVILA
Technical Manager
ELI MARSH
Costume Maker
Photography
Performer (recorded)
WALID AL-SHAIBANI
Tour Producer
VALERIE ANDREWS
Written and Performed by
DANIEL OREJON
PRESS
★★★★★ Starburst Magazine
★★★★★ Binge Fringe Magazine
★★★★ Corr Blimey
★★★★ The Reviews Hub
★★★★ The Quintessential Review
★★★★ Stagey Chaos
PERFORMANCE HISTORY
May 2024
INTERNATIONAL DUBLIN GAY THEATRE FESTIVAL
BIRMINGHAM PRIDE
October 2023
BRIGHTON HORRORFEST
September 2023
DUNDEE FRINGE FESTIVAL
August 2023
SCOTTISH STORYTELLING CENTRE
(EDINBURGH FRINGE)
July 2023
DURHAM FRINGE FESTIVAL
April 2023
KING'S HEAD THEATRE (LONDON)
October 2022
EDINBURGH HORROR FESTIVAL
The Rotting Hart is available for tour bookings. You can find more information below on our tour pack.
For any enquiries, please contact us at crestedfools@gmail.com.
TOUR
PACK
TECHNICAL INFORMATION
Show duration: 55 minutes.
Set: one chair (provided by the company).
Space requirements:
- 2.5m width x 1.5m depth minimum.
- can be performed on any flat surface, including public spaces and alternative venues.
- the show includes ground-level performance so tiered seating would be beneficial.
- audience and stage layout can be proscenium, thrust or in the round.
Teched version:
- team of 2 (performer, technician).
- lighting and sound design + haze.
- 2 hour get-in / 30 minutes get-out.
Unteched version:
- team of 1 (performer).
- closer to traditional storytelling.
- 1 hour get-in / 30 minutes get-out.
MARKETING INFORMATION
Target audiences:
- 20-to-45-year-old theatregoers.
- horror and Gothic fans.
- Spanish-speaking and Hispanic-adjacent locals.
- queer theatregoers.
Age group: 15+ (descriptions of gore, violence and sex).
AVAILABILITY
For the unteched version of the show, we are available through 2023/24.
For the teched version of the show, we are available through 2024 but we require two months notice and can't commit to runs over a week long.
To confirm availability or discuss bookings for 2024, please contact us on crestedfools@gmail.com.