Joan’s enchanted shoe shop has appeared overnight and portals through time are hidden in the shoeboxes on the shelves. Will you take a walk In Her Shoes?

In Her Shoes is an immersive installation experience exploring the concepts of identity, stereotypes, and relationship to home.

Venue: Metal Culture, Chalkwell Hall, Chalkwell Avenue, Southend-on-Sea, Essex SS0 8NB

Dates: Saturday 23rd and Sunday 24th April

Tickets: Free, booking recommended to guarantee a slot

Book tickets: online at blownfusetheatre.co.uk/ihs-booking

Your 20-minute adventure begins as you step inside a shoe shop built for one. With former Bata Shoes employee Joan as your guide, you’re transported through time and along the way, you’ll meet real women from Essex, past and present.

As if by magic, the shoeboxes will transport you to the Bata Shoe Factory & Estate, the Marconi Factory, Kynochtown, and the Thames Explosive Works. You’ll visit Zimbabwe, Jamaica, and Southend Seafront in an intimate adventure that asks you: what is an Essex Girl? Will you take a walk In Her Shoes?

Learn even more about women from Essex and add your voice to the conversation at the In Her Shoes ‘Story Station’. Interact with prompts that surround the installation, read about other women from Essex and record your own story for our growing archive.

Praise for In Her Shoes

“Genuinely incredible”
“A totally unique experience, I was absolutely blown away by it”
“The imagination, the care and the detail […] Is quite extraordinary”

Other dates and venues:

18th & 19th June – Basildon, The Dutch Barns, Wat Tyler Park
9th and 10th July – Chelmsford, The Meadows Shopping Centre
16th and 17th July – Colchester, Culver Square

In Her Shoes is supported with public funding by Arts Council England and The National Lottery Heritage Fund.