A deeply personal, wildly funny, and unapologetically honest journey through chronic eczema, queer identity, and the flaky mess of being human. ITCH blends trapeze, storytelling, humour, and physical theatre to explore the ITCH that just won’t go away both literally and metaphorically.
“Have you ever tried to change your voice to fit in? Tried a fad cure? Felt like a monster? Tried to eat a sausage roll without getting pastry everywhere?”
“Now imagine that sausage roll monster is me.”
Through 50 minutes of full-frontal silliness, radical vulnerability, and even a conversation with his dad, Christopher unpicks what makes us who we are. Born and raised in the post Northern Irish conflict, and post Good Friday Agreement - Belfast, and living with chronic eczema since childhood, ITCH is a heartfelt call for self-acceptance, one flake of skin at a time. ITCH is a multi-disciplinary performance, combining conversational autobiographical text, projections, dance, aerial circus performance and recorded interviews with family. It is a multifaceted performance stitching together these deeper themes of difference, identity and self-acceptance.
ITCH premiered September 2025 as part of Dublin Fringe Festival, where it played 6 sell out performances, reviewed twice and was celebrated by audiences. Christopher was nominated for the CoisCéim Dance Theatre Movement Award.
Throughout the creation period of ITCH, a preview of the performance was shown at Cirque Mania, in Korzo Theater, The Hague, Netherlands - made possible with the support from Culture Ireland. Another preview was performed at Scene and Heard Festival 2025. It has since been performed on the 15th and 16th November in Belfast at the Brian Friel Theatre, as part of a co-production with Outburst Queer Arts Festival, to 2 sold out audiences.
Supported by: Scene and Heard Festival, Korzo Netherlands, Circusful, Motion Chapel, Circus Factory Cork, Irish Aerial Creation Centre, Jacksons Lane
Coproducers: Outburst Queer Arts Belfast, Circusful
Funded by Arts Council Ireland, Arts Council Northern Ireland, Cairde Festival as part of the Shared Island Trust.
Team behind ITCH
Consultant Director: Laura Murphy
Executive Producer: Flora Herberich
Line Producer: Elysia McMullen
Counterweighter and touring rigger: Emmen Jude Donnelly
Sound Designer and touring technician: Marty Byrne
Lighting Designer: Adrian Wall
Images by Lily Schlinker, Ajuna Braunschweiger, Simon Lazewski
Funded by the Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaíon & Arts Council Northern Ireland.
Produced by Circusful, co-produced by Outburst Arts, Belfast.
Developed at Scene+Heard Festival of New Work.
Supported by Circus Factory, Dublin Fringe Festival, Irish Aerial Creation Centre, Motion Chapel, Jacksons Lane and Korzo NL
Feedback
If you’ve caught any of the previews or some of the Work-in-Progresses along the way, we would love to gather some feedback! Please click the link below. All thoughts and images shared are confidential and will help sculpt the final chapter