Pigspurt’s Daughter

By Daisy Eris Campbell

Director, actor, writer, Daisy Eris Campbell grew up in the lunatic world of her father, master storyteller Ken Campbell, described by The Guardian obituary as the most original and unclassifiable talent in British theatre of the past half-century. Daisy was literally conceived backstage at her father’s 12-hour staging of Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson’s epic production of Illuminatus!, in which her mother Prunella Gee played Eris, the 50-foot Goddess of Discord. In Pigspurt’s Daughter, Daisy presents a surreal and comedic monologue that magnificently continues her family legacy of lunacy.

Prior to Pigspurt’s Daughter, Daisy adapted and directed Robert Anton Wilson’s Cosmic Trigger in 2014 and 2017 in Liverpool and London to great acclaim. She also directed The KLF’s comeback, Welcome to the Dark Ages. She worked with her father for many years on productions, notably directing the world’s longest play The Warp, and a West-End run of Macbeth in Pidgin English, Makbed. Pigspurt’s Daughter is her first solo show.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Hilaritas Press
• Release date: Dec 24, 2019
• ISBN: 9780998713496

Daisy Eris Campbell

Director, actor, writer, Daisy Eris Campbell grew up in the lunatic world of her father, master storyteller Ken Campbell, described by The Guardian obituary as the most original and unclassifiable talent in British theatre of the past half-century. Daisy was literally conceived backstage at her father's 12-hour staging of Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson's epic production of Illuminatus!, in which her mother Prunella Gee played Eris, the 50-foot Goddess of Discord. In Pigspurt's Daughter, Daisy presents a surreal and comedic monologue that magnificently continues her family legacy of lunacy. Prior to Pigspurt's Daughter, Daisy adapted and directed Robert Anton Wilson's Cosmic Trigger in 2014 and 2017 in Liverpool and London to great acclaim. She also directed The KLF's comeback, Welcome to the Dark Ages. She worked with her father for many years on productions, notably directing the world's longest play The Warp, and a West-End run of Macbeth in Pidgin English, Makbed. Pigspurt's Daughter is her first solo show.

Book preview

Pigspurt’s Daughter

A MYTHIC DAD /

A LEGACY OF LUNACY

Daisy Eris Campbell

Introduction by

John Higgs

Pigspurt’s Daughter

by Daisy Eris Campbell

Director, actor, writer, Daisy Eris Campbell grew up in the lunatic world of her father, master storyteller Ken Campbell, described by The Guardian obituary as the most original and unclassifiable talent in British theatre of the past half-century. Daisy was literally conceived backstage at her father’s 12-hour staging of Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson’s epic production of Illuminatus!, in which her mother Prunella Gee played Eris, the 50-foot Goddess of Discord. In Pigspurt’s Daughter, Daisy presents a surreal and comedic monologue that magnificently continues her family legacy of lunacy.

Prior to Pigspurt’s Daughter, Daisy adapted and directed Robert Anton Wilson’s Cosmic Trigger in 2014 and 2017 in Liverpool and London to great acclaim. She also directed The KLF’s comeback, Welcome to the Dark Ages. She worked with her father for many years on productions, notably directing the world’s longest play The Warp, and a West-End run of Macbeth in Pidgin English, Makbed. Pigspurt’s Daughter is her first solo show.

Comedic, meticulously crafted genius and a joyful ride from start to finish

– Theatre Box

A joy to travel alongside her

– London Theatre

Pigspurt is a trickster, a provocateur, who incites Campbell junior to search for her real self by doing something that will surprise it into existence

– The Reviews Hub

The theatre needs this kind of dynasty

– View from the Cheap Seat

Magical, metaphysical, moving and magnificent

– Shaun Prendergast

This is the best. I loved it and was so inspired by it. Brilliant fascinating exquisite shit.

– Nina Conti

"Fizzing with synchronicity, Pigspurt's Daughter slices through the kipple like an expertly-wielded wooden tie, creating an ephemeral entropy embargo-cult whose sole aim is to Hail our cathartic truebadour Daisy Campbell, as she unspins her expertly-conceived fractal mind-dive. Five Pies."

– Bloke on Twitter

The funniest, most bizarre two hours I have spent in ages. What a brilliant performance!

– Lynda Sebire

Pigspurt’s Child is a wonderfully funny, intriguing, mesmerising and alarming show. Beautifully written and performed by Daisy Campbell, who invokes her father’s eccentric, anarchic spirit in many more ways than one. A fond memoir, and a stunning comedic exorcism. Seekers: seek it!

– Terry Johnson, playwright of Ken, Prism and Hysteria (all Hampstead Theatre Productions)

Shouldering the visionary Campbellian tradition, Daisy Eris Campbell has become a revered figure in her own right, helping engender a nascent counterculture by heroically adapting Robert Anton Wilson’s ‘Cosmic Trigger’ to stage in 2014 and 2017, and directing Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty’s anarchic behemoth of a comeback, ‘Welcome to the Dark Ages’ in 2017. She’s become a touchstone for esoteric knowledge and her work is always brimming with mind-expanding ideas.

– Liverpool Arts Lab

Copyright © 2018 Daisy Eris Campbell

All rights reserved. No part of this book, in part or in whole, may be reproduced, transmitted, or utilized, in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher, except for brief quotations in critical articles, books and reviews.

International Standard Book Number: 978-0-9987134-9-6

eBook Version 1.0 – 2020, Hilaritas Press

Print Edition 2020, Hilaritas Press

Performance Tour: 2018

Mosbunall photos are from the personal collection of Daisy Eris Campbell. The photo of Daisy brandishing the wooden tie was taken by Lucie Blockley at the Hampstead Theatre, London. Photos from the October 6th, 2018 performance at the Cockpit Theatre in London were captured from a video by Tim Newton.

Cover Design by Richard Rasa

eBook design by Pelorian Digital

Hilaritas Press, LLC.

P.O. Box 1153

Grand Junction, Colorado 81502

www.hilaritaspress.com

Table of Contents

Foreword by John Higgs

Pigspurt’s Daughter

Review of Pigspurt’s Daughter by Jason Watkins

Some Family Photos

FOREWORD

By John Higgs

There are two types of magical people. The first group are those who want to be magical. They feel drawn to the magical life and they read plenty of books to find out about it. They study hard and discuss arcane subjects with like-minded wizards and witches. Magic is a vocation and something to be nurtured, and they apply themselves.

The second type are people who just are magical, and there’s not a damn thing that they can do about it. Their lives are a constant parade of unbelievable and impossible situations. Synchronicities compete for their attention. The world bends itself into unnatural positions, in order to better reflect their own mental landscape. Their lives are constantly, intensely magical, and they just put up with it as best they can.

The author of this play,