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Modern masculinity explored in wrestling show

Martin EvansBristol
BBC Three men dressed as wrestlers standing in front of a small stage with a blue background. The first man, who has short ginger hair is wearing a gold spandex leotard with a yellow headband. The man in the middle had a ginger beard and short blond hair, wearing a bright red sleeveless shirt and the man on the far right has a grey helmet on with a grey shirt and a black cape.BBC
Actors get ready to take to the stage

A new play is exploring themes of modern masculinity in a bid to attract people "who would not normally attend the theatre".

Gurt Productions spent more than six months researching male communities at football and rugby games before creating WWG GURTmania, which is set to show at Bristol's Tobacco Factory Theatre.

WWG GURTmania explores modern masculinity by using independent wrestling to discuss pride, vulnerability and ego.

Benj Foster, who plays Gurt Angle in the show, said: "We wanted to reach out to people who don't normally come to the theatre. The theatre is for everyone."

Toby George, whose character is The Silent Knight, added that wrestling was a huge part of their childhood.

"We wanted to explore what that's done for us later on in life and give something back to the wrestling world," he said.

Listen to the Bristol actors exploring masculinity through wrestling

Gurt Productions was formed in 2023 by Casey Lloyd, Foster and George, who came through Bristol Old Vic's Made in Bristol programme.

The trio are best known for creating Gurt Haunted, a paranormal comedy that parodies ghost-hunting shows, but now they're swapping the spooks for the slams.

During WWG GURTmania's development, the company ran workshops with Bristol men to look into themes of masculinity, aggression and cross-generational male mentorship in sporting environments.

Lloyd said: "We wanted to have discussions around what a positive male role model looks like and also discover how men can support each other within a community and wrestling felt like a really good community.

"We also look at power plays; making someone feel like they need someone else.

Different ways of mentorship as well, the different ways you can look to someone for inspiration, the pros and cons, the toxicities and good things about them.

Foster added that the audience might be surprised at how good some of their moves actually are as they've been working closely with a fight coordinator.

WWG Gurtmania runs from Wednesday to Saturday.

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