A SUFFOCATING CHOKING FEELING

PRESENTED BY TOMYUMSIM
A Suffocating Choking Feeling is what happens when a lie becomes content—and the content is contagious. 📱BRING YOUR PHONE and LEAVE IT ON.

A darkly funny, unsettling deep dive into truth, lies, and the performance of authenticity online. Inspired by the real-life scandal of influencer and cancer-con, Belle Gibson (BBC’s Bad Influencer & Netflix’s Apple Cider Vinegar).

Living day to day, not knowing if tomorrow will come, Simone Hamilton is overcoming the odds. Rising pop star, influencer, and fighting a serious illness, her followers have witnessed it all…

But what makes them believe it’s true?

Part live gig, part digital fever dream, A Suffocating Choking Feeling is a subversive, satirical, and disturbingly funny look at how social media shapes our collective appetite for tragedy, beauty, and belief.

Each night, Simone goes live on Instagram from the stage, transforming the theatre into a real-time livestream. As her followers (that’s you) comment, question, and troll, her story of survival starts to crack. The feed glitches. The truth warps. What began as confession turns into confrontation.

 

Winner of Best Contemporary & Experimental Performance: Melbourne Green Room Awards & fresh off a tour to: The Lowry, English Theatre Berlin, Colchester Arts, Chichester Showroom Theatre, Pleasance Theatre London, and La Mama Theatre Melbourne. 

CREDITS
Creator & Performer: Simone French
Director & Technical: Tom Halls
Lighting Design: Assa Davidsdottir, Caitlin Clarke & Amy Daniels
Set & Costume: Rūta Irbīte
Outside Eye: Paula Varjack

About the Company:

TomYumSim (Tom Halls & Simone French) are a UK/Australian duo creating sharp, playful and unpredictable theatre that collides technology, music and performance art. Their award-winning work has toured internationally, blending liveness, interactivity, and satire to explore how we connect, perform, and pretend.

Recent works include:

Trainwreck (Croydonites Festival) – immersive theatre gone wrong that uses AI to fix itself; Hotline (Word of Warning/MIF) – one-to-one live phone performance turning the mundane into magic; The Salon (Cambridge Junction/Bridgewater Hall) – a surreal, self-care hair ritual;

Be My Embrace Now (Manchester Pride); Rebels of Extinction (Manchester International Festival); String Lines (Royal Exchange Theatre); Rage Face (The Yard Theatre); Nothing Special (Melbourne Fringe/Camden People’s Theatre).

25 - 29 NOV
7:30PM (TUES – SAT) 2:30PM (SAT)
£18 STANDARD, £16 CONCESSION, £10 PREVIEW

A SUFFOCATING CHOKING FEELING

PRESENTED BY TOMYUMSIM
A Suffocating Choking Feeling is what happens when a lie becomes content—and the content is contagious. 📱BRING YOUR PHONE and LEAVE IT ON.

A darkly funny, unsettling deep dive into truth, lies, and the performance of authenticity online. Inspired by the real-life scandal of influencer and cancer-con, Belle Gibson (BBC’s Bad Influencer & Netflix’s Apple Cider Vinegar).

Living day to day, not knowing if tomorrow will come, Simone Hamilton is overcoming the odds. Rising pop star, influencer, and fighting a serious illness, her followers have witnessed it all…

But what makes them believe it’s true?

Part live gig, part digital fever dream, A Suffocating Choking Feeling is a subversive, satirical, and disturbingly funny look at how social media shapes our collective appetite for tragedy, beauty, and belief.

Each night, Simone goes live on Instagram from the stage, transforming the theatre into a real-time livestream. As her followers (that’s you) comment, question, and troll, her story of survival starts to crack. The feed glitches. The truth warps. What began as confession turns into confrontation.

 

Winner of Best Contemporary & Experimental Performance: Melbourne Green Room Awards & fresh off a tour to: The Lowry, English Theatre Berlin, Colchester Arts, Chichester Showroom Theatre, Pleasance Theatre London, and La Mama Theatre Melbourne. 

CREDITS
Creator & Performer: Simone French
Director & Technical: Tom Halls
Lighting Design: Assa Davidsdottir, Caitlin Clarke & Amy Daniels
Set & Costume: Rūta Irbīte
Outside Eye: Paula Varjack

About the Company:

TomYumSim (Tom Halls & Simone French) are a UK/Australian duo creating sharp, playful and unpredictable theatre that collides technology, music and performance art. Their award-winning work has toured internationally, blending liveness, interactivity, and satire to explore how we connect, perform, and pretend.

Recent works include:

Trainwreck (Croydonites Festival) – immersive theatre gone wrong that uses AI to fix itself; Hotline (Word of Warning/MIF) – one-to-one live phone performance turning the mundane into magic; The Salon (Cambridge Junction/Bridgewater Hall) – a surreal, self-care hair ritual;

Be My Embrace Now (Manchester Pride); Rebels of Extinction (Manchester International Festival); String Lines (Royal Exchange Theatre); Rage Face (The Yard Theatre); Nothing Special (Melbourne Fringe/Camden People’s Theatre).

25 - 29 NOV
7:30PM (TUES – SAT) 2:30PM (SAT)
£18 STANDARD, £16 CONCESSION, £10 PREVIEW

“Not shying away from the provocative“

The Guardian

“A notorious collision between social media and the truth“

The Age

★★★★

“TomYumSim walk the fine line between madness and truth“

The Plus Ones

2021 Victorian Green Room Award for Best Experimental & Contemporary Performance 

 & 2025 Best Technical / Digital Design

A Suffocating Choking Feeling | Production Shots

A Suffocating Choking Feeling | Trailer

Company

Simone French

Performer & Creator

Tom Halls

Director

Paula Varjack

Outside Eye

Ruta Irbite

Designer

Assa

Lighting and Technical

Book Now

Concessions

Concessions apply to students, under-18s, over-60s and more. For more info on our concession policy click here→

Accessibility

All performance spaces and facilities are fully wheelchair-accessible. For more info please contact Box Office on 0207 498 4699.

Ticket Collection

We operate a paperless box office system. You will be emailed a receipt once you have booked in advance. There is no need to print this off, just state your name at the box office on arrival.

Café Bar

Serving a menu of hot drinks, craft beers, wine and seasonal cocktails before and after every show and a full home-made food menu including freshly baked pastries, delicious cakes and savoury light bites from Friday – Sunday.

Content Warnings

References to cancer & terminal illness 

Audience interaction & social media experimentation 

Contains strobe lighting and haze.  

Mild Coarse Language & Sexual References. 

Find out more here.

Age Recommendation

16+

Duration

70m

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