The City for Incurable Women

​​Ladies and Gentlethem – feeling a little upset? Have you tried hypnosis, psychoanalysis, smelling salts and it just doesn't work? Try The City for Incurable Women!

Paris, 1880s. In a psychiatric hospital, female patients performed ‘hysteria’ for the public. The doctors went to extraordinary lengths to prove their theories about the four stages of madness. Today, in the 21st century, the storyteller Kae, begins to explore this history. They trace the echoes to the present, feeling them linger in their own body, and perhaps get a little too caught in the story. 

International theatre-collective, fish in a dress follows the thread of the history of hysteria in their critically-acclaimed show (★★★★ The Guardian, ★★★★ The Stage, ★★★★★ Theatre Weekly) as the audience becomes complicit in an outrageous tale of medical misogyny. (Warning: hysteria cure not included).

Devised by fish in a dress. Supported by Goethe Institut and London Performance Studios.

More information about the Audio described version of City For Incurable Women

The audio described elements are integrated into the show so all audience members experience it in the same way. The alterations to the main performance are minimal, with small changes made to the show's sound design and some small changes made to the script. In addition to this a description of the full set, costumes and performers is read out at the start of the show.