ELVIS DIED OF BURGERS

Francis, a black man, is dressed as Elvis with a tall afro hair style. He is sitting on a toilet with his trousers around his ankles. He has a burger in his hand and looks into the camera. Text at the top in neon writing reads 'ELVIS DIED OF BURGERS'

During the 2023 tour, ELVIS DIED OF BURGERS was enjoyed by nearly 700 audience members, at seven different venues in six cities. We also shared extracts of the show as part of FOODAHOLIX at Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch, and Tourettehero’s Biscuit Land Cabaret. An encore performance of ELVIS DIED OF BURGERS took place at Liberty Festival 2025, as part of Welcome to Wandsworth; Wandsworth’s London Borough of Culture programme.

ELVIS DIED OF BURGERS was supported using public funding by Arts Council England, The Eclipse Award (Eclipse Theatre Company and Summerhall), and Welcome to Wandsworth, with additional in-kind support from National Youth Theatre, Battersea Arts Centre and Redbridge Drama Centre.

As their journey progresses, they explore the thin line between the hilarity and tragedy of overeating and find themselves deep diving into the culinary conundrum surrounding the exact events of Elvis, The King of Rock ‘n’ Roll, at the end of his life.

ELVIS DIED OF BURGERS has a non-linear narrative; it’s semi-improvised form creates an exhilarating ‘edge of your seat’ experience for audience and cast alike.

ELVIS DIED OF BURGERS is devised by the four BLINK performer-directors who love food. If they’re not eating, they’re talking about it, dreaming about it, and now…dancing, rapping and rhyming about it.

Take a seat at their table as the cast spill the tea on their own memories, food stories and relationship to eating with plenty of their signature sensory and often bizarre tangents…Good Food Gospel anyone?

CREATIVE AND PRODUCTION TEAM

Cast / Creatives / Production Team

Cast

Performers Rachel Gildea, Vicki Hawkins, Francis Majekodumni, Delson Weekes, Laura Day (Liberty Festival 2025), Sabir Abdul (Liberty Festival 2025)
BSL Interpreter Rachel Jones (Pegasus Theatre, Battersea Arts Centre, Attenborough Arts Centre), Greg Colquhoun (Summerhall, Déda, National Youth Theatre, Liberty Festival 2025)
Understudies (2023 Tour) Laura Day, Sabir Abdul

Creatives

Co-Directors and Co-Creators Rachel Gildea, Vicki Hawkins, Francis Majekodumni, Delson Weekes
Dramaturgy Catherine Horton, Sue Mayo, Deborah Minà
Directors' Assistant Laura Day
Set and Costume Designer Hazel McIntosh
Initial Design Kat Heath
Lighting Designer Carly Altberg
Sound Designer Mat Hawkins, Alastair McNeill
Story Consultant Polar Bear
Dramatherapist Nikkia Da'Silva

Production Team

Artistic Support Workers Connie Chinn, Georgia Clark, Linden Sloan, Maeve O'Brien, Cieran Brown
Stage and Communications Manager Zoe Dowler
Access and Inclusion Manager Siobhán Wedgeworth

PAST PERFORMANCES

13th May, 2023 Pegasus Theatre, Oxford
25th - 26th May, 2023 Battersea Arts Centre, London
3rd June, 2023 Attenborough Arts Centre, Leicester
6th July, 2023 Kala Sangam, Bradford
2nd - 13th August, 2023 Red Lecture Theatre, Summerhall, Edinburgh
13th October, 2023 FOODAHOLIX at Queen's Theatre Hornchurch, London
10th November, 2023 Déda Theatre, Derby
13th November, 2023 National Youth Theatre, London
8th September, 2024 Extract as part of Touretteshero's Biscuit Land Cabaret, Southbank Centre, London
25th September, 2025 Battersea Arts Centre, London, as part of Liberty Festival 2025

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