mars.tarrab (www.marstarrab.co.uk) was set up in 2007 by Rachel Mars and visual artist/live artist nat tarrab. We create new pieces of experimental theatre, live art and installations that are joyful, sharp, sad and witty.
We make visceral and physical work, always starting from our bodies - one small (Rachel) and one tall (nat). We are concerned with the funny, sad, revealing moments of life; both the moments that change the course of your life as you know it, and the ones that whip past almost without your noticing.
Our shows often include singing, dancing, dressing up, faux science and sometimes just talking. They are uncompromising, intelligent in construction and intricately layered.
We make visceral and physical work, always starting from our bodies - one small (Rachel) and one tall (nat). We are concerned with the funny, sad, revealing moments of life; both the moments that change the course of your life as you know it, and the ones that whip past almost without your noticing.
Our shows often include singing, dancing, dressing up, faux science and sometimes just talking. They are uncompromising, intelligent in construction and intricately layered.
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Mars.tarrab and the Ovalhouse present:
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Tomboy Blues - The Theory of Disappointment
In 2010 nat was asked for 94th time if she was in the right toilet, and Rachel refound the Spiderman trainers of her youth, and so began the journey towards Tomboy Blues – The Theory of Disappointment. They began conversations with each other, academics, doctors, children, parents and audiences about when and where our childhood hopes and expectations for the future change, sexual politics, gender and whether disappointment is an inevitable by product of human existence.
Funny, poetic and disarmingly honest, it is a bittersweet tale of how it feels to wonder what life would be like if you weren’t who you are.
Quick-witted, original and smart.- contemporary performance at its best. This show has stayed with me for days and will for years to come. Phenomenal. ***** Broadway Baby
This show is a powerful, visceral and blackly comic mosaic of stories of otherness. With humour, passion and poignancy, Mars.tarrab travel from glass blowing warehouses to supermarket aisles, from a female bootcamp to the scripts of ‘When Harry Met Sally’ in a quest to see where love can exist when you can even find yourself.
"Three weeks before my cousin's Bar Mitzvah, the clothing negotiations with my family began. I ended up in a culotte compromise. In the photos I stood with my legs really far apart so everyone could see it wasn't a skirt."
Created with the Barbican Theatre as part of the Flourish programme with additional support from the Oval House Theatre. Supported by a grant from The Arts Council UK.
You can watch the 5 minute trailer below.
Funny, poetic and disarmingly honest, it is a bittersweet tale of how it feels to wonder what life would be like if you weren’t who you are.
Quick-witted, original and smart.- contemporary performance at its best. This show has stayed with me for days and will for years to come. Phenomenal. ***** Broadway Baby
This show is a powerful, visceral and blackly comic mosaic of stories of otherness. With humour, passion and poignancy, Mars.tarrab travel from glass blowing warehouses to supermarket aisles, from a female bootcamp to the scripts of ‘When Harry Met Sally’ in a quest to see where love can exist when you can even find yourself.
"Three weeks before my cousin's Bar Mitzvah, the clothing negotiations with my family began. I ended up in a culotte compromise. In the photos I stood with my legs really far apart so everyone could see it wasn't a skirt."
Created with the Barbican Theatre as part of the Flourish programme with additional support from the Oval House Theatre. Supported by a grant from The Arts Council UK.
You can watch the 5 minute trailer below.
EDINBURGH FESTIVAL- All done and home again. A brilliant time - you can read Scotsgay interview with Mars.tarrab CLICK HERE and 4* review HERE, 5* review with Broadway Baby HERE and 4* one from Three Weeks HERE. Lovely. Thank you to everyone who made it happen and came to see the show.
27 Ways I Will Never Fuck My Mother
27 Ways I Will Never Fuck My Mother is a raw, funny and moving solo show for two people. The show asks how we prepare for loss, whether there’s any point in doing so, and what becomes of you after you lose something. Rachel’s narrative explores her love affair with her 92 year old grandmother, being shit at sport, how Hitler is always at the breakfast table and why 5’3” is two inches too tall to be Jewish. nat’s side of the story is about how far you should go in a quest to be teacher’s pet, how to find your way home without a trail of crumbs and what you do when you become older than your older brother. The stories are linked by an on-going competition to be the best boy, and an obsession with Dustin Hoffman.
"We are now going to learn Brace Position A. Should the fear of loss overcome you in a public setting this position can be employed without risk of discovery."
The show runs at approximately 50 minutes
The show was first developed and performed as part of the Barbican Theatre Plymouth’s ‘In the Flesh’ Festival in 2007. It then received support from ‘The Scene Pool’ at Camden People’s Theatre where it was shown in early 2008. It received development support from BAC and was performed there in Summer 2008.
Feedback from the Show
‘I found it extremely feminine and generous, full of beautiful scenes but also raw and powerful’
Mamoru Iriguchi, Live Artist
‘Fantastic performances’
Julian Fox, Live Artist
‘Poetic without being pretentious’
‘Made me think about everything I have lost. Very moving’
‘It made me feel normal’
Audience Members
"We are now going to learn Brace Position A. Should the fear of loss overcome you in a public setting this position can be employed without risk of discovery."
The show runs at approximately 50 minutes
The show was first developed and performed as part of the Barbican Theatre Plymouth’s ‘In the Flesh’ Festival in 2007. It then received support from ‘The Scene Pool’ at Camden People’s Theatre where it was shown in early 2008. It received development support from BAC and was performed there in Summer 2008.
Feedback from the Show
‘I found it extremely feminine and generous, full of beautiful scenes but also raw and powerful’
Mamoru Iriguchi, Live Artist
‘Fantastic performances’
Julian Fox, Live Artist
‘Poetic without being pretentious’
‘Made me think about everything I have lost. Very moving’
‘It made me feel normal’
Audience Members
