Rot Hat

Rot Hat

How lovely it is to be eaten!
How sensual to be disintegrated into pure energy and return to the cycle.

Rot Hat is a messy, boisterous and joyous work. It’s an ecstatic release and a speculative ceremony to decompose back into the earth and pass through the portal of life and death. With humour and disarming vulnerability, Nate Yaffe reminds us that we are not only consumers but also consumable; that our bodies will one day die and nourish new growth.

The work is live each night — Nate improvises sacrificial rituals helped by Ben Grossman on the Hurdy Gurdy, Thea who coaches Nate throughout the performance, and Nien Tzu who lights the action in real time. Together they recall long lost songs of joy and grief, and medieval dances with logs and rotting fruit.

Nate taps into his neurodivergent body-logic, and becomes the sacred clown. With a subversive naïveté, he reverses the normal order to seed creation through chaos.

Artistic Direction, Choreography & Performance: Nate Yaffe
Music Composition & Performance: Ben Grossman
Dramaturgy & Performance: Thea Patterson
Light Design & Performance: Nien Tzu Weng
Set Design: Elly Reitman
Costume Design: Courtenay Mayes
Assistance in Set Research: Lari Jalbert
Production: Le Radeau

Accessibility

*Please note that the elevator to the Franco Boni Theatre is out of service. Audiences will have to climb stairs to access the theatre.*

All performances of Rot Hat will be a Relaxed Environment.

All performances will offer a pre-show Touch Tour for Sensory Seeking Audiences.

You can learn more about SummerWorks' Access Measures HERE.

Sensory Advisories: use of fog, dead leaves, rotting logs and rotting fruit.

Content Advisories: Available here. This link will open to a webpage that lists Content Advisories for ALL SummerWorks 2026 projects.

Duration: 60 Minutes

Venue: The Theatre Centre Franco Boni Theatre - 1115 Queen St W

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