After the leaving, the abuse doesn't always end...

Aim

To raise £10,000 to run performances supporting women who have experienced domestic abuse focusing on a time of great danger in their lives

RedEarth Playback Theatre came together in 2007 and has been supporting women who have experienced domestic abuse over the last 19 years.   We have been listening to women’s stories of escape and survival, in collaboration with domestic abuse support organisations.  They say seeing these performances have shown women’s stories in a powerful, new light which can facilitate positive change. Often, it’s the first time women have spoken out and been witnessed by others. The impact of seeing their experiences brought to life with care and sensitivity brings relief and a change to their perspective. Each performance needs a team of actors, a facilitator and a musician. Four performances during 16 Days of Activism 2026 are planned in collaboration with Phoenix Rising CIC.  These four performances will a launch a year-long project until 16 days of Activism 2027 when we will bring these womens’ stories to the people who make decisions about their lives. 

After leaving… the abuse doesn’t always end

For many women, leaving an abusive relationship is not the end of the abuse.  It is often the beginning of another frightening, exhausting and uncharted struggle.

Women who have experienced domestic abuse face significant emotional, psychological, social and practical challenges in new, persistent forms after leaving. The abuser’s anger, resentment, financial or coercive control patterns, their desire to hurt or sabotage the ‘now free’ partner can feed an aftermath of trauma, the isolation of displacement, vulnerability, painful loss of confidence, shame and deeply challenging financial hardship. 

Where children are involved, women often face the challenge of managing the children’s well-being and security while navigating new forms of manipulation and withholding of financial support. 

When they seek formal support to anchor their rights and daily survival realities in their new situation, many women encounter systems and services that are opaque, bureaucratic and flawed that can leave them feeling unheard, disbelieved or practically powerless.

The power of Playback Theatre

We address these experiences with our highly trained Playback Theatre practitioners with their unique, creative methods, skills in trauma support and our developed awareness of realities women face. 

In our performances, there is no prepared script. Instead, we invite people in the group to tell a story from their lives. Our actors listen carefully and then bring the told experience to life – ‘playing it back’ through theatre, movement, music and words. The story belongs to the person who tells it. Our role is to listen and reflect what we have heard, with care and respect.

Through this carefully managed, responsive, improvised performance, women’s stories can be witnessed, their experiences reflected back to them with empathy and dignity. Our performances offer an opportunity to be heard without judgement and to have their experience acknowledged by others. This can be particularly meaningful for women whose experiences have been hidden, minimised, denied or misunderstood. The process can powerfully help women to challenge together the silences and isolation that so often frame domestic abuse and its aftermath. 

Women have said:

"They were the most powerful performances I’ve ever seen, the ladies told some of their deepest vulnerable stories and they were listened to and replayed through a creative performance."

"Yes, It was emotional, but it was about being heard, about being seen and that your story matters."

“When you are in a fog you cannot see, but they gave a clear view through the fog. A pathway”

We now seek £10,000 to support 'After the Leaving…' – focusing on a time of great danger and vulnerability in many women’s lives after they leave.

What happens after a woman leaves an abusive relationship.  It does not necessarily end the fear, coercion or control.  We can support women through this challenging time by giving voice to their experiences to strengthen and empower them. 

Your support will enable:

Stage One: To begin - Four performances in November and December 2026 in Torbay and South Hams.

We are planning four special RedEarth Playback Theatre performances during the international 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, from 25 November to 10 December 2026. These will be private, carefully supported events for women who have experienced domestic abuse, held in welcoming spaces where they can come together, listen, and share their stories. These first four performances will launch a much longer project.

Stage 2: A year of listening - 16 performances

During 2027, we will deliver 16 further performances across the South West reaching more women and building deeper understanding of what happens after leaving abusive relationships. We will be working throughout with an appropriate support organisation that works on domestic abuse issues to help ensure the events are safe, accessible and sensitive to the needs of everyone taking part. And we will be ensuring the well-being of our team as they engage with difficult realities women present.

Stage 3: Taking the evidence to decision-makers

Beyond listening - we want this project to achieve something more by gathering testimonies and bringing them to the people that need to hear them

Our project is to bring clearer understanding of real experiences women face to the people who have the power to make changes that support them more effectively. These could include the police, local authorities, safeguarding services and professionals working within the justice system.

Women who have experienced domestic abuse know, better than anyone, where the systems intended to support them work well – and where they fall short.

What happened when women asked for help? Did they feel safe going to court? Was the reality of their concerns about their children really understood? What did they face trying to find the accommodation and practical support needed? What made life harder? What helped them move forward? What do they wish someone had done differently? How could ‘the system’ provide better, more effectively targeted support.

We will take great care to protect participants' privacy and safety. 

We cannot promise that a particular story will change a policy or a decision.

But we believe that people making decisions about domestic abuse should have opportunities to learn from women who have lived through these experiences.

We are asking your help to raise £10,000 to support After the Leaving…

The funds will specifically contribute towards:

• Our performers: Paying experienced Playback Theatre actors for their preparation and performances.
• Safe, welcoming venues: Providing suitable private spaces where women can take part comfortably and confidentially.
• Project coordination: Supporting the work of our two paid staff members in organising performances, liaising with partners and managing the programme.
• Safeguarding and support: Ensuring that the project is planned and delivered with appropriate care for all participants' wellbeing and safety.
• Sharing what we learn: Developing carefully anonymised findings that can help inform discussions with relevant public authorities.

What your donation could mean
Donations of £10, £25 or £50 will help us take this project forward.

A larger gift could make a substantial contribution towards the cost of a performance; venue hire or the work needed to bring the programme to more women.

Every donation, whatever its size, will help.

Whether or not you yourself can give, sharing our appeal with friends, family, colleagues or local organisations would be enormously valuable.

Please help us raise £10,000

Please support After the Leaving…
because the abuse doesn't always end when a woman leaves.

Read more about our work at: Playback Theatre South West

Funding method

Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made by 10th December 2026 at 12:00pm