About the show

Pulled earrings. Slit wrists Chopped veins. T-rex arms.

Eva is just a regular rat racer. Single mother to a 6-year-old boy, she is stuck in a world that keeps punching her down, and is desperately trying to play the game – pay the bills, get him to football, try to survive mum’s comments.

But her mind has different plans. On her way to an important job interview, Eva gets bombarded by a series of ever-worsening intrusive thoughts.

So prepare for the uncomfortable and dive into Eva’s mind. Guided by Arthur, a grotesque, sadistic, half-real figure, The Extraordinary Life of a Rat Racer brings audiences on a journey where violent thoughts, trauma and self-hatred meet self-acceptance and empowerment. The play is highly interactive, with Arthur almost continuously breaking the 4th wall, providing the missing link between Eva’s brain and the audience. The show also relies on the use of balloons and balloon popping, both of which serve as multi-faceted metaphors for the instantness and irreversibility of trauma and pressures building up, as well as physical stand-ins for the people Eva meets on her commute.

The Extraordinary Life of a Rat Racer is a two-hander surreal drama that explores the consequences of trauma without glamourising or demonising them, but instead aiming to accept them and have a better relationship with them.

The Extraordinary Life of a Rat Racer debuts at the Barons Court Theatre as part of the Voilà Festival 2025 on 13th and 14th November at 7.30pm.

Who are we?

Stage Leftovers is an emerging duo founded by Italian actors and theatre-makers Chiara Fumanti and Andrea Guerini. The company is born out of an idea that has been brewing in our head for a few years: that of creating an “accent-blind theatre”, a space in which migrant actors and creatives can feel represented by playing characters which just happen to be from somewhere out of the English speaking world, instead of being relegated to niche work because of their accent. We both have first-hand experience on how tough and lonely the entertainment industry can be for artists in a foreign market, and therefore we want to help create an industry that will give more opportunities to performers whose first language is not English, that pushes for inclusivity and innovation, and that reflects the multi-cultural society in which we live. The Extraordinary Life of a Rat Racer is our first project (to see the light of day!), and our goal is to bring it to Edinburgh in 2026. Our hope as a theatre company is to keep evolving and developing, connecting with similar migrant-based companies and work together towards a more innovative, representative theatre world!

Chiara’s work as a writer very much draws from her own experience and culture, and mainly focuses on displacement, mental health issues, and the fine line between fiction and reality. Moreover, by bringing gritty, real-life experiences to the stage, she aims to highlight the normality of "abnormal" situations. This is especially true with The Extraordinary Life of a Rat Racer.

Why now?

There is (thankfully) a lot of talk and awareness around mental health at the moment. However, we feel that somewhere along the way there’s been a glamourisation of various mental health disorders, which has resulted in the loss of some of their grittiness, real ugliness, and authenticity. The Extraordinary Life of a Rat Racer aims to scratch way below the surface and show the ugliest, deepest parts of a person, those that are often concealed out of shame or fear of judgement – both by the outside world and by the person themselves. More importantly, it highlights the normality of those parts, the ordinariness of horrible thoughts, and therefore aims to empower those who might feel at a loss in the battle against themselves.

How can you help us?

The Extraordinary Life of a Rat Racer has, until now, been completely self-funded. Because of this, we have decided to keep our team and expenses to a minimum. However, the costs of producing a play quickly add up, and although we are lucky enough to have a supporting network of people who have very kindly offered their time/services to us, we believe in paying creatives fairly for their hard work. We are currently not receiving any other type of funding.

Here's a breakdown of the costs:

Cast & Creatives: £3000

Marketing: £200

Venue hire & Festival fees: £340

Props (helium is oddly expensive!): £150

Rehearsal studio: £150

Travel costs: £100

Pot for future endeavours (Edinburgh 2026, here we come!): £1000

Cast:

Eva – Chiara Fumanti

Arthur – Andrea Guerini

Creative team:

Writer – Chiara Fumanti

Director – Andrea Guerini

Lighting Designer – Francesco Angeloni

Sound Designer – Andrea Guerini

Producer – Chiara Fumanti

Assistant Producer – Garth Oates

Marketing Photography – Agnieszka Konarska

Marketing Manager - Chiara Fumanti

Social Media Manager – Chiara Fumanti