Elephant in the Room

Something’s wrong. Can’t get out of bed, can’t concentrate, can’t shake the mounting tension. Something unspoken is building up, leaking out, taking over…

Fusing physical theatre, hip hop dance and spoken word, Elephant in The Room is an explosive solo show that explores the mental health crisis and the phenomenon of toxic masculinity.

This semi-autobiographical work, created and performed by Lanre Malaolu, takes a sharp sideways look at the insidious stigma around mental health issues, asking how race, class and culture can affect the way we choose to address them. And what happens when we don’t…

With live sound manipulation from Jan Brzezinski and dramaturgical support from Season Butler and Zoe Lafferty.

The ‘elephant’ is never named, but it is shown – beautifully.

A powerful tour de force.

About Lanre Malaolu

Lanre Malaolu is an award winning director, choreographer and performance artist. He was chosen as the overall winner of the  Zealous Emerge performance prize, a nationwide search championing the UK’s best-emerging performance artists in 2018. He is currently developing his next physical theatre production SAMSKARA, supported by the Jerwood Arts New Work fund and Battersea Arts Centre.

Commissioned by Camden People’s Theatre with support from the Paul Hamlyn Foundation. Supported by Arts Council England, Battersea Arts Centre, Talawa Theatre Company, The WellcomeTrust, MGCfutures and The Place.