I told my Mum I was going on an R.E. trip… at Contact

I told my Mum I was going on an R.E. trip… at Contact Theatre, Manchester, 1–4 February 2017, from £07.00 - Book now

There are some subjects that are so difficult to talk about, or have so much stigma attached, that they get locked away where the light of reason can’t reach them. Abortion is one such subject: although one in three women in the UK have had an abortion it remains a silent and secret problem that many women often have to deal with alone.

One of the best ways to start a conversation is through art, and so 20 Stories High’s new show (co-produced with Contact) I Told My Mum I Was Going on an R.E. Trip… is a positive intervention. It takes the real-life experiences of women who have had abortions and puts them on stage, using dialogue taken from interview transcripts. This, we suspect, will make it a very powerful performance.

The subject matter is important but so is the skill of the storyteller, an area where 20 Stories High have always excelled (The Broke ‘N’ Beat Collective stands out in my memory). They make subjects feel immediate without resorting to gimmicks or other clichés that would push away rather than pull in audiences.