One in three women in the UK will have an abortion in their lifetime. Faced with an unwanted pregnancy, many teenagers go through the procedure with little support, too scared to confide in their families. Hence the title of this latest show from 20 Stories High, a Liverpool company that excels at expressing teenage experiences in a warm, unfussy and yet vivid theatrical style, often using music.
By reimposing the global gag rule with his recent executive order on abortion policy, Donald Trump has removed funding from NGOs working internationally and providing abortion advice. The most pungent emotional moments in this 90-minute piece come from the songs performed by Dorcas Sebuyange’s Cousin, a young Zimbabwean woman, who resorts to a backstreet abortion.
This production uses a technique in which edited audio recordings of real-life interviewees are relayed directly into the performers’ ears and they repeat what they hear in its entirety, complete with intonation and pauses. It lends a direct freshness, and sometimes a comic edge. Emma Burns is wickedly funny as a posturing teenage lad.
The show crams too much in, so that there is not enough focus on the quartet of central stories, but it’s likeable, informative – like having a chat with your new best friends – and crucial at a time when the idea that a woman’s body is her own is increasingly under siege
- At Battersea Arts Centre, London, until 13 February. Box office: 020-7223 2223. Then touring until 10 March.
