Dramaturgy In Utero: Judy Alfereti @ Edfringe 2016

Fonmanu Creative

In Utero

 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Surgeons Hall @theSpace, 5th August-27th August 2016

After receiving distressing news that their child will be born with an untreatable condition, Jenni and David descend into a pit of self-loathing, resent and guilt. 

Jumping between past and present, morals and motives are questioned as the pair desperately try to reclaim their happy ever after. Perfectly balancing comedy and tragedy, Fonmanu Creative presents an honest and frank look at love, loss and blame, in their debut Edinburgh Fringe show.

What was the inspiration for this performance?

In Utero is a development of a short play I wrote and produced last year, which was heavily based on my own experiences and decision to have an abortion. 

However, with In Utero, I didn’t want to focus on whether or not the couple will have a termination, but rather on how having some unexpected bad news can wreak havoc on your emotions, morals and rationality. I took the flurry of feelings- ranging from ecstasy to despair; hope to guilt- and applied it to a different (but similar-ish) situation. 

The characters are given the unfortunate news that their child will more than likely be born severely disabled, and I wanted to explore the affect this will have on a relationship, particularly when the couple have opposing views of what to do. Writing wise, I take a lot of inspiration from Dennis Kelly, Anthony Neilson and Zinnie Harris. I like how they can take a dark subject and make something beautiful and entertaining, whilst keeping it harrowing.

How did you go about gathering the team for it?

Luckily, the script is a two-hander, so I only had to cast for the male lead. Amir Tabrizi was my first choice. Having worked with him on several projects before, I know we have a strong chemistry, and gel very well together so can create a believable and turbulent couple. The challenging part of this project was sourcing a director. I am clueless about directing and creating something visually appealing, and finding someone who could recreate my vision whilst bringing in strong ideas of their own was difficult. 

After meeting with several directors, Mitch Tyre stood out as the one with ideas most like my own and so he joined the team. I’m very lucky to have friends who can operate the tech side and work the PR, and am eternally grateful that Craig and Kat were able to join us too.

How did you become interested in making performance?

As a struggling actress, this started off as a way to showcase my acting skills and hopefully generate future work, but it has developed into so much more. I want to tell my story, and to address any stigma attached to a woman’s right to choose.

Was your process typical of the way that you make a performance?

When I get an idea in my head I tend to go full steam ahead with it, and that’s exactly what I did with this project. I had several sessions working on the script with my acting coach Mark Westbrook, who also gave me a lot of Fringe advice. I like to do things a certain way, I guess I’m a bit of a control freak, but if there’s anything I don’t know about then I outsource it or get advice from people who can do it. 

For example, I’m fairly clueless about lighting and the technical side of production, so I had to get people who knew what they’re doing. I just tell them very briefly (and not very technically) what I want and leave them to it.

What do you hope that the audience will experience?

I want them to laugh, to cry, to get angry, to root for a character one scene then despise them the next. To feel hopeful that everything will work out ok in the end. I want them to constantly question the characters’ actions. I want the audience to realise that this is more common than they realise and to ask themselves honestly what they would do in this situation.

What strategies did you consider towards shaping this audience experience?

The script jumps between before and after the couple receives the bad news, so in one scene they are all happy and excited and the next they are distant and struggling. By chopping and changing the time frame and the emotions, I’m hoping the audience will experience a whirlwind of confusion and will be constantly changing their minds on the characters. 

We’re hoping to integrate voice-overs featuring testimonies from people who have experienced this to demonstrate and really hit home just how common this situation is.

Do you see your work within any particular tradition?

I’m not too sure to be honest. I would say it’s a traditional theatre piece, with the focus being on the story and the characters. It’s a realistic piece, just trying to tell a semi-true story.

Producer: Judy Alfereti

Director: Mitch Tyre

Writer: Judy Alfereti

Cast: Judy Alfereti, Amir Tabrizi

Sunday's Dramaturgy: My name is Eva O'Connor

Sunday's Child presents 
My Name is Saoirse

by Traverse 50 writer 
Eva O'Connor 

Directed by Hildegard Ryan
Written and performed by Eva O’Connor


Rural Ireland, 1987. Saoirse lives in a peach coloured bungalow with her Da and big brother Brendan. Her best friend is Siobhán, who has a glorious fountain of ginger hair, a whisper like a foghorn and an arse so big it distracts all the men at mass. 

Saoirse prefers running through fields to chasing after boys, but her best friend has other ideas. After a night out drinking with the lads, Saoirse discovers her pregnancy and is forced to set out on journey that will take her miles away from her home and the carefree adolescence she once knew.

My Name is Saoirse is an award-winning one woman show, set in 1980's rural Ireland, by Traverse 50 writer, Eva O’Connor.  The piece is a tender and moving coming of age story that follows Saoirse, an ordinary, extraordinary 15 year old growing up in conservative Catholic Ireland. 

Abortion remains illegal in Ireland to this day, forcing thousands of Irish women and girls with crisis pregnancies to travel to England every year. Although a prevalent part of Irish life, abortion is still a taboo subject rarely discussed - making Saoirse's story, sadly, as relevant as ever. Inspired by the writer and performer's personal experience, O’Connor's lyrical script explores the reality of life in Ireland for women both then and now.    


WINNER:
Argus Angel Award, Brighton Fringe 2015
First Fortnight Award, Dublin Fringe 2014
NSDF Commendation for Best New Writing, Edinburgh Fringe 2014

NOMINATED:
Best Performer, Dublin Fringe 2014
Best Writing Dublin Fringe, 2014
Stuart Parker Trust Award Longlist, 2015 





What was the inspiration for this performance?
I had an abortion myself. As an Irish woman, I was struck by how much shame and stigma that is associated with it. I was lucky, I was in Scotland at the time, and I received really good care during the procedure. I was actually treated by two Irish nurses and an Irish doctor. Irish women, helping Irish women. Abroad.  No such help exists at home.

I wanted to write a piece inspired by my experience, but removed enough that it wasn't autobiographical. My Name is Saoirse is set in the 80's, and although I did grow up in rural Ireland, my childhood was very different to hers thankfully.

How did you go about gathering the team for it?
The play is written and performed by myself, and directed by Hildegard Ryan who runs Sunday's Child theatre company with me. We live together in London, so we didn't have to go too far to gather the team.

How did you become interested in making performance?
I initially wanted to be a dancer, then became more interested in physical theatre.   I started to write my own stuff when I did'nt get cast in any of the student theatre stuff  at Uni. I went on to do a masters in Rose Bruford in Theatre Ensemble which focussed a lot on devising, which I loved, as I'm quite a physical performer. 

Ultimately though I'm a real believer in the power of a strong script as a starting point for making a show.

Was your process typical of the way that you make a performance? 
I write the script as a short story usually,  leave it, come back to it, and eventually develop a full length script  Hildegard, who runs Sunday's Child with me is a brilliant dramaturg, so we work together to make the script as solid as possible, and then I hand it over to her to dream up the directorial vision.

What do you hope that the audience will experience? 
With My Name is Saoirse I hope people experience compassion. And laugh a lot. Irish people tend to use humour to deal with what ever difficulties life presents. I think My Name is Saoirse reflects that. It's quite a serious subject matter, but it's very comedic.


Do you see your work within any particular

tradition? 
I don't really see myself  in any particular tradition. In Ireland the theatre tradition tends to be script focussed, which I suppose has had an influence on our company. My Name is Saoirse was inspired by the story telling tradition, but then again most theatre is!