Gemma Bond

About the Artist:

“Gemma Bond is a freelance cabaret and circus performer, puppeteer and maker based in Liverpool. After working for over a decade in the professional cabaret scene she has spent the past three years collaborating with companies specialising in outdoor arts and family theatre.

About the Project:

Gemma’s project will see the creation of a scratch version of her first solo outdoor show “Pirate Princess”.
Pirate Princess is a story of hope against adversity inspired by strong and inventive women of history.
The show will be set around a pole prop with a custom built crows nest on the top. Poor Princess Poppy has been shipwrecked and finds herself stranded on a desert island in a most cumbersome ball gown. Try as she might, her unwieldy dress prevents her from climbing the mast to see where the nearest land is. With the help of the audience she transforms her outfit into a practical and fabulous solution that enables her to climb to the top in an impressive display of circus strength and hoist the flag for clothing equality for all! The show will be aimed at ages 5 to 11. It will make the audience feel empowered and be an interactive visual spectacle.

The show will also look at the impact of fast fashion in the modern world and encourage the audience to reuse, recycle and reinvent. Gemma will undertake research with young people to find out how clothing makes them feel and to get feedback for the first version of the show.

She has paired with Wonder Arts and Theatre Porto to bring the project to life and hopes to be showcasing the first performances in Spring 2024.