Martha Pailing

Martha Pailing

Martha Pailing is a spoken word and performance artist hailing from Blackpool.

Her performances blend personal material with distinct fictional characters to create absurd and tender narratives.

Pailing’s work considers what it is to remain empathetic and soft in a brutal, emotionally temperamental world.

Sometimes a bit funny. Sometimes a bit obscene. Sometimes a bit tragic.

Following a residency at the Roundhouse, Pailing’s debut show Background People toured as an R&D project and its next phase is now underway. Commissioned by Penned In The Margins, her short experimental film Seagulls Don’t Like Me is due to be released March 2020. She has performed across the UK including the Royal Court, LADA, People’s Palace, Curve Theatre and Bootleg Social.

This is her second year of working with Essex Book Festival in partnership with METAL. At Estuary 2020 alongside two contemporary writers, Pailing will perform a new piece in response to Sutton Manor - a C17th Grade II* listed manor house sitting on MOD territory.


Instagram @marthapailing
Facebook @mmarthapailing


Estuary 2021 is made possible by

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