People seemed to do the highlights of the year or standout shows or companies, so I thought I would do a bit of that in this blog. The first highlight started with Lasagna, and it was the gathering in rooms, the panels and our co-creators as they sat with social workers and hosted conversations, they and we changed. The women had said that being part of this project wouldn’t bring their children back, but they wanted to help others who find themselves in the same situation. Lasagna holds two stories but at the same time one, the women and the role of social workers, shining a light on a system and society that is broken. But it also celebrates community, generosity and it shines a light on another way to live, thrive and grow. It was made in a moment when the world stood still and communities gravitated towards each other, for us we worked with West End Women & Girls Centre to give out soup. It captured us in that moment, our community and our humanity. I love the hope and light in Lasagna. It toured in the spring of this year, our first since the pandemic, sold out, political and a call for action.
The next highlight is when working with a woman in prison when making Rupture and this conversation – she said ‘tell me how one of your plays makes change happen, can you give me one example’. Firstly, I remember thinking its not mine, its ours but it’s a question that we get asked when applying for funding, what evidence are you providing, tangible change. I said this – Well, it’s already started with you and us in this room (prison chapel). You have all just shared you have changed from being in this project. We have also changed, I have learnt things I didn’t know before, even though I’m ten years in and out of the prison, I learn something every time, about the women and the prison state, I change. The creative teams change when they join the project, they work to understand the women, their journey and context e.g. prison or social work systems, laws and borders – they change. Then there is the audience, when theatre is live and in a room, the audience goes on a journey – it needs to create empathy, we/the women want audiences to step into their shoes of the characters on stage – the lens is feminist both personal and political. Change happens. Then there are the post shows, panels and big chats in the room, everyone sharing their thoughts, feelings and reflections, together. It goes full circle, the women in rooms to the audiences in spaces. Our shows are filmed, or made for film, we know this has a huge impact for audiences, workers, women, activists because its there for everyone to watch, share and use for conversations and change, training the police and agencies, our work continues to change the world. Rattle Snake was created back in 2015 to train the police. It’s been developed since and for eight years it’s been shown to thousands, used in training and continues to impact on audiences.
In the summer we showcased Rupture, a production created in partnership with Durham University and NEPACS, their ask for us to work with women to create a piece of theatre that holds the voices of mothers who are incarcerated. It’s a one woman show, their character escapes onto the prison roof, here she meets a vulture and they both breathe out. It will be in front of audiences in the new year, but the highlight for me was when we took the show, the whole show, set/lights/sound (for the first time) back to the women in prison. I find it hard to articulate what it feels like to sit with women and theatre in a prison setting. Women put their heads round doors and ask to come in. The world stops and the theatre speaks to them and us, officers and governors – Its pure art and magical, a space and moment that I feel personally honoured to be in – Rupture asks audiences to think what leads to prison and what the role of prison is for women, mothers, the working class, women of colour and those been in care. We took it to our theatre in the West End Women & Girls Centre, with panels and post show discussions, a room full to brimming, audiences asking ‘when are things going to change’ – change happens.
As the Autumn months drew in, and they air cooled, Mycelial was born. Four years in the making, ambitious and challenging, strong and powerful, human, funny and full of activism, but also the ordinary. In Association with Northern Stage, created to be showcased in front of a live audience but also for film. Life and Art imitated, written like Lasagna in a time when the world slowed and stopped through to the invasion of Ukraine and in 2023 the world tipped once again and is still in freefall.
The steps to create were tough, knocks hard and challenging but together the production was achieved. Making theatre is hard work because its live – its human beings gathering with all the intersectionality of our lived experiences and identities, personalities, ideas, vision and it was huge, the team and the budget stretched and we created something special – together. Dame Catherine Healy said was a ‘gift to the movement for sex workers rights. How brilliant is that.
Again the highlight for me was the panels. It felt groundbreaking, and not just the production, but for the region to have people from across the world talking about things ‘we’ don’t talk or know about…the decriminalisation of sex work. Those directly involved in sex work took centre stage and we were/are accomplices and I feel extremely proud of this moment, and I look to the future in the hope it streams across the world.
I wrote another draft of this blog and the weight of the world felt heavy on my hands, the words I placed talked about being tired, the team and world. I was reflecting on the shame of the US, hand held high and others (UK) who abstain, the shame and stain of those in power – the powerful. I talked about being alone in the office and I talked about the faces surrounding the walls of young women who had co-created Jumping Puddles. Of the framed posters in the hall just outside, that this year we have celebrated 25yrs of making and touring work with communities of women. I described the smell of the centre, its Christmas Dinners, film nights and today is Thursday and we are visiting women in a prison to create and write, on Friday we march and hold red umbrellas high in solidarity with sex workers and in remembrance of those lost. Then we eat pizza and drink wine, then we/I rest up, look to the fairy lights and share laughter of friends, our families, chosen, plus new pets, children and not forgetting Buster. We have been celebrated as the Company of the Year and mentioned as one of three companies by Darren Henley with the Arts Council and yesterday we were amongst our peers being celebrated for our work. There is a lot to celebrate, lots of highs to shine a light on. We are a political feminist theatre, our lens – we can’t walk by injustice and we will continue to change the world one play at a time – but for now we rest.
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