Jen Malarkey

Residency: MAM

Originally seed supported by Company Chameleon through the UPLIFT dance artist in residency programme in Manchester, and supported by Yorkshire Dance and Punchdrunk Theatre – MAM is a metamorphic solo exploring the complexities of motherhood in three movements: The Mother, A Mythical Cowboy and The Son.

In this stage of research, Jen and dancer Ryan O’Neill will explore how the work can exist in outdoor spaces, what a sound world might be and how we can give platform to how the maternal and caregiving experience is negotiated within societal expectations in modern Britain. 

About Jen

Jen Malarkey is an artist from Croydon, living in Hebden Bridge and making work across dance, theatre and screen. She works with dancers through acting processes to create movement led work that is rooted in character and emotion. 

 Her work often explores themes of family life, relationships, class and community. 

She created I Heart Catherine Pistachio (2016) and The Kids Are Alright, (2019 – 2020) both collaborations with performer Carl Harrison. Jen’s projects have partnered, collaborated with and toured to Northern Stage, Soho Theatre, The Yard, The Lowry, The Place, The Albany, Stanley Arts, and Fuel Theatre. 

Alongside her own work, Jen is a movement director and has created choreography and movement directed for 15 years in the UK, most recently at Leeds Playhouse, Royal Exchange Theatre, National Theatre Studio and for Dark Horse, a theatre company of learning disabled creatives.