‘Ear-splittingly loud, raucous, rambling, thoughtful, clever, provocative and absolutely and utterly brilliant.’ What’s On Stage ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Ridiculed then revered, The Shaggs defied categorisation. IN BED WITH MY BROTHER attempt to wrangle their story into a three-act biopic. Part tribute act, part feminist reclamation, part rambling flight of ideas. PHILOSOPHY OF THE WORLD is about fate, freewill, power, patriarchy, band t-shirts, daddy issues, and the best worst album ever made. It’s about who holds the power to define you - who gets to say whether you’re a legend or loser - who owns the right (and the rights) to tell your story.
Featuring questionable mime, high-intensity dance sequences, awkward crowd work, stage combat, cheap wigs, jump scares, philosophising and a well trained actor, IN BED WITH MY BROTHER twists Rock ‘n’ Roll history into a sticky, sweaty, searing rebellion.
CREATIVE TEAM
Writers, creators and performers - Nora Alexander, Dora Lynn and Kat Cory
Dad - Nigel Barrett
Dramaturg/Director - Louise Mari
Outside Eye - Louise Orwin
Sound Design and Music Production - Brain Rays and Quiet
Movement Director - Dana Chmielewska
Lighting Designer - Lily Dawford
Design Consultant - Anna Orton
Fight Director - Ruth Cooper-Brown
Production Manager - Benji Huntrods
Promotional photography - Fotometro (Rona Bar and Ofek Avashalom)
Poster and Merch Design - Fran Ortega
Producer - Ben Welch
Assistant Producer - Beth Sitek
Strategic Producer - Ruby Glaskin
Access Support - Jen Smethurst
PR - Storytelling PR
PARTNERS
PHILOSOPHY OF THE WORLD is supported by Arts Council England. The show was commissioned by Cambridge Junction and developed with the support of the National Theatre’s Generate programme, New Diorama Theatre’s Intervention 01, Bristol Old Vic, Curious Directive and Exeter Northcott Theatre.
PHILOSOPHY OF THE WORLD premiered at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2025 (SUMMERHALL) to sold out audiences after work-in-progress sharings at Cambridge Junction's Disrupt Festival, The Yard Theatre and National Theatre Studios.
PHILOSOPHY OF THE WORLD IS AVAILABLE FOR TOURING. CONTACT US AND WE WILL BE HAPPY TO SHARE DOCUMENTATION OF THE SHOW AND START A CONVERSATION X
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PRESS
'Rigorous, intelligent show’ THE STAGE ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
‘The show is messy, but every provocative decision is justified, stacking up into a coherent, caustic comment on the inescapability of the patriarchy’ THE SCOTSMAN ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
‘A wild and raucous assault-course emancipation... There are essays to be written about this show’ THE LIST ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
‘Ear-splittingly loud, raucous, rambling, thoughtful, clever, provocative and absolutely and utterly brilliant.’ WHAT'S ON STAGE ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
‘IBWMB have made a visceral, uneasy but hilarious work of performance art that is both high-brow and accessible, provocative, honest and intellectual. There is no-one quite like them right now, but it feels like the beginning of a movement.’ BRITISH THEATRE GUIDE ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
‘Original, unsettling, and oddly moving’ NORTH WEST END ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
‘Effervescent and bubbling at the brim with anger, wit and vitality’ CORR BLIMEY ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
‘Bold experimental comedy and relentless energy’ THEATRE VIBE ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
‘Furious and funny rallying cry against patriarchy and perfection’ THE GUARDIAN ★ ★ ★ ★
‘Assault on bourgeois conformity’ THE TELEGRAPH ★ ★ ★ ★
‘The show cracks open, its thin veneer of narrative coherency shattering to reveal something molten and dangerous... a roaring, discordant symphony... There’s nobody doing it quite like them – furious voices, howling in a wilderness they’d rather die than leave’ TIME OUT ★ ★ ★ ★
‘A brilliantly bonkers, metatextual and high-octane take on outsider artists The Shaggs’ FEST MAGAZINE ★ ★ ★ ★
‘A cacophonous, raucous howl that batters your eardrums and paints the floor with your blood’ THREE WEEKS ★ ★ ★ ★
‘Unpredictable, and wholly original… a thrilling, maniacal meditation on destiny and performance’ EDINBURGH FESTIVALS MAGAZINE ★ ★ ★ ★
‘A stupidly smart jab at patriarchy and at performance itself… funny, disturbing and not a little exhilarating’ALL EDINBURGH THEATRE ★ ★ ★ ★
‘Loud, chaotic, and dangerous, their work gleefully dismantles both dramaturgical and health-and-safety rule books’ THE SPY IN THE STALLS ★ ★ ★ ★
‘A mix of wild energy and layered thoughtfulness… This is a show which looks and feels like chaos by a company who are in complete control and have thought very hard about what they are doing and how they are doing it.’ LYN GARDENER FOR STAGE DOOR
‘Darkly impressive stuff’ CLASH MAGAZINE
‘A wild, messed-up blast of late-night fury’ THE INDEPENDENT
'An absolutely ferocious meditation on power and control in a man's world... a show that looks like something Pussy Riot's kid sisters might have dreamed up' THE HERALD
'This is theatre so off the chain that it all but dares you to dislike it.' THE QUINNTESSENTIAL REVIEW ★ ★
