About
Hannah Lawless (she/they) is an NHS nurse by day and a professional wrestler, drag king and performance artist by night. They use wrestling in cabaret and digital stages to make satirical, political and queer performance. Whilst counterbalancing the intensity of their job with the silliness of their art, they carry that tension through to their process, juxtaposing potent messages with the ridiculous and camp. By framing wrestling in a Live Art context, they politicise violence in a literal call to action, whilst contradicting it with an irreverent tone.
“Wrestling is essentially drag: a physical performance with elaborate costumes, storytelling and characters. Wrestling is always good guy vs bad guy – and it is almost always guys.” At a Hannah Lawless show, expect to cheer, boo and dive deep into social, cultural and political issues via pro wrestling – the ultimate form of queer physical theatre.
Lawless started wrestling by embodying concepts (Brexit, the patriarchy, Karen) because wrestling is an absurd way to explore cultural discourse with humour and spectacular delivery.
Lawless’s work enables the audience to participate by exploring rage: how it is expressed and who is allowed to do so. They make space for the pro-wrestling trope encouraging spectators to scream, boo and cheer. The audience has a voice and their role in the piece is vital – they can make or break a performance. Lawless wants people to scream about injustice, Covid and the inequalities in our society because it’s cathartic, good for mental health, and particularly important in the context of the pandemic, as people are angry and isolated.
