Everywoman

Aim

Help us make the critically acclaimed show Everywoman accessible to parents/carers, and commission new work on identity & parenthood.

Story

Everywoman is a deep and dirty dive into being a woman, the danger of autobiography, and the existential threat parenthood can pose to identity. Written by an anonymous author, it explores why stories that centre men are seen as ‘universal’, and why everyman isn’t everywoman. It has been programmed at London's Bunker Theatre from 17 to 22 February, as part of their closing TAKEOVER season. We need your help to make our run as accessible to parents as possible.

Our journey

Everywoman was written in the days and weeks following the birth of the author’s child. It started as scraps written in the snatched moments while her baby was sleeping and she was struggling with insomnia – a way of reclaiming herself and her identity as a writer and a woman independent of her child. In a way, Everywoman is the true ‘afterbirth’ of her journey into motherhood, a cathartic exercise that resonated so much with director Amelia Sears that she described it as ‘reading her brain’. Writer and director embarked on a collaboration which resulted in a work-in-progress showing of Everywoman at Vault Festival, exactly nine months after the author’s child was born. In a glowing review, Lyn Gardner said: “Such honesty is an act of radicalism. More please.”

The team at The Bunker saw the play and offered us a slot as part of their closing TAKEOVER season, in which companies are invited to transform the theatre during their week’s residency. We immediately envisioned the theatre as a space for parents and carers; where people could come and share their darkest thoughts and fears about parenthood, without fear of judgment; where children could be included or looked after by someone else, giving carers a well-earned rest. 

The Bunker has a track record of programming some of the most exciting and forward-thinking theatremakers in London, including sell-out hits such as MY WHITE BEST FRIEND AND OTHER LETTERS LEFT UNSAID. Their TAKEOVER season will feature work from writers such as Morgan Lloyd Malcolm (EMILIA, Globe Theatre and West End transfer) and Sabrina Mahfouz (A HISTORY OF WATER IN THE MIDDLE EAST, Royal Court). 

What we want to do:

• Transform The Bunker into a family-friendly space that’s accessible for parents and carers. We will provide wraparound childcare for daily matinee performances, and all performances will be relaxed. This will be a space where parents and carers can come with or without their children, feel welcome and supported, and engage in a process of catharsis.
• Commission and platform other womxn writers to pen their own ‘confessions’ about identity & parenthood, to go in the second half of the show, platforming other experiences and points of view. 
• Have a family-friendly rehearsal process so that the creative team can balance their childcare responsibilities with creating Everywoman. 

Who we are:

We are an all-female creative team, the majority of whom are also carers. Everywoman is written by an award-winning playwright who wishes to remain anonymous. It’s directed by Amelia Sears, who balances a career directing critically acclaimed productions such as YEARS OF SUNLIGHT (Theatre503) and BRIMSTONE AND TREACLE (Arcola) with bringing up her children.  

Why we need your help:

We have applied to Arts Council England for support with this show (result pending). But the money we raises here will used specifically to:

• Commission five womxn writers to pen their own ‘confessions’ about the conflict between identity and parenthood. It is important to us that as many voices and perspectives are platformed as possible, in order for this to be a truly inclusive piece of theatre. For this to be the case, we need to be able to pay the creatives involved, as this otherwise places a barrier in terms of who could participate. 
• Provide free wraparound childcare to make performances fully accessible to parents.
• If possible, provide a small budget for creatives to access childcare, so that they can make the work without compromising on their caring responsibilities (all rehearsals will be open to our children, but sometimes it can be difficult to concentrate while parenting!).

Rewards

We are busy people with caring responsibilities, so please keep expectations low and bear with us. But we still have some fantastic rewards on offer, including a chance to meet our anonymous playwright and work with her on your own ‘confession’.

Pledge £10 or more

A shout out on social media! 

Pledge £25 or more

A shout out on social media plus some of the ‘redacted’ text straight to your inbox: the bits that were too juicy or weird to make it in.

Pledge £50 or more

All that plus a signed poster! 

Pledge £100 or more

All that plus a chance to meet our anonymous writer.

Pledge £250 or more

All that plus a chance to work with our anonymous writer on writing your own ‘confession’, which can then be performed as part of the run if you choose. 

Pledge £500 or more

All that plus a co-producer credit

Risks and challenges

The creatives working on this production are all experienced, established artists with impressive track records. We still have to balance family and work, and that’s always challenging. We expect much of our audience to face the same challenges. But that’s what this piece is all about – how to do we create and make art that’s both great and accessible to carers? That talks about specific experiences (from womxn’s perspectives) in ways that diverse audiences can relate to? In a way, it’s a bit of an experiment, and we expect that we’ll make some mistakes along the way. There will certainly be a lot of learning to do. We hope that we can take whatever lessons we learn through this and apply them in other aspects of our work. The arts can be incredibly punishing for carers. We’re expected to work long hours on low or even no pay. It’s time to make them more accessible. 

Thank you! Any contribution, no matter how small, means a lot to us. We couldn't do this without you.

This project successfully funded on 13th February 2020