Grace Joy Howarth’s Blood On Your Hands is a searing journey into the lives of slaughterhouse workers and is presented by up-and-coming activist theatre company Patch Plays.
This is billed as the story of the forgotten victims of the meat industry. Examining the human impact on those who work in slaughterhouses, it centres around Ukrainian refugee, ex-veterinarian Kostyantyn who, arriving in a sleepy Welsh town, finds work in an abattoir. Here he befriends Dan, a happy-go-lucky Welsh lad who cracks too many jokes for his own good. All the while, Kostyantyn’s wife and daughters are home in Ukraine, and Dan’s activist ex-girlfriend won’t stop pestering him at work. Can these two men endure the harsh realities of their everyday lives and their bleak, bloody working environment?
A study of human strength, connection, and hope in pitiless surroundings, Blood on Your Hands is directed by Anastasia Bunce and features award-winning Welsh actor and writer Phillip John Jones as Dan, Ukrainian – Vietnamese actor, Ivan Doan as Kostyantyn, Megan Louise Wilson as Eden, Ukrainian actress Kateryna Hryhorenko as Nina, and Mountview alumni Jordan El Balawi as The Man/Callum.
Patch Plays is a theatre company devoted to staging new writing that explores environmental sustainability, animal welfare, and their intricate connection.
This production contains discussions around addiction, war, animal cruelty, and suicide. It also contains visual depictions of blood.
Recommended for ages 16+
Southwark Playhouse Borough, The Little, 77-85 Newington Causeway, London, SE1 6BD from 17th January – 3rd February. Times: Monday to Saturday at 8pm; Tuesday and Saturday matinees at 3.30pm. Admission: £10 – £18
Booking: 020 7407 0234 – https://southwarkplayhouse.co.uk
