MIS{S} CONCEPTION
20/02/2014 - 22/02/2014
Production Details
Feminist Theatre Collective presents a play about Infertility
The Clitlective presents a new work about the challenges of infertility in modern times. Based on a true story, the play follows Chloe, a successful twenty-something whose life has gone perfectly to plan until she tries to get pregnant. Offering a humorous but empathetic insight into pregnancy in modern times, Mis{s}Conception follows the story of one woman’s attempts to get pregnant, trying anything that might help – including even phallic fertility statues.
This project explores the problem of infertility in modern times, an increasingly pertinent issue for women as many choose to have children later and often face difficulties as a result. The topic of infertility is particularly relevant for co-writer and performer Ania Upstill, herself the product of In Vitro Fertilisation in its early days in the late 1980s.
Says Upstill, “My mother had a very successful career and was ahead of her time in many ways, including the choice to have children in her late 30’s. Only in recent years have I realised how much work my parents had to go through to have my sister and I, and that those difficulties are increasingly becoming the norm. Infertility can be highly fraught, leaving women feeling vulnerable and incapable even though they are successful in other areas of their life. I hope that this play helps facilitate discussions about infertility and lessen the shame associated with it.”
Mis{s}Conception offers a sympathetic look at infertility and conception through Chloe’s experiences. Will she or won’t she? Or will she just go crazy trying?
This Clitlective production follows the success of The Vagina Monologues in April 2013.
Performances will be at 128 Abel Smith St
February 20th – 22th at 6:30pm
running about 1hr long.
All performances are koha entry, and places can be booked by emailing theclitlective@gmail.com with a name and the number of tickets required.
Cast: Rosaleen Moxey, Eleanor Rowan, Helen McIntosh
Theatre ,
1hr approx
MIS{S} CONCEPTION
Review by John Smythe 21st Feb 2014
On the hottest Wellington day this summer we are consigned to an upstairs room in an old wooden villa fully exposed to the sun (and well away from the fog). “This must be what menopause feels like,” quips our Fertility Coach (Eleanor Rowan). The ceiling above her is festooned with what look like Christmas stars except they are made from inflated condoms.
It is the time between taking precautions and its being too late that this Theatre-in-Education style play is about. Having learned how Cervical Mucus may be monitored to indicate Peak Day in your fertility cycle, we are invited to share the experience of Chloe Walker (Rosaleen Moxey) over 3 years, from age 25 to 28.
Finding it difficult to talk with her friends and family about the difficulty she and her husband, Pete, are having trying to get pregnant, she resorts to a Vlog (Video Log) to find empathy in cyberspace. A lot is conveyed from her subjective perspective as we watch her talking to her laptop but we are not privy to any of the support she presumably gets back.
We also see her at work in a Women’s Bookshop, dealing with pregnant customers and friends, on the phone to her mum, visiting Fertility Associates – and there is an agonisingly funny dream sequence where she is a contestant on Who Wants to Be A Fertillionaire, which morphs into Wheel of Fortune.
All the other roles are played by Eleanor Rowan and Helen McIntosh and it seems clear that acting is not the primary vocation for any of these three. Hence there is a lot of over-acting to signal ‘this is comedy, folks!’ while there are times where they settle more into their skins, to much better dramatic – and comic – effect.
Despite the intimate setting, soft volume, usually at the ends of sentences, does mean lines are lost at times. Loud traffic hitting the motorway entry right outside the wide open window is also a hindrance this opening evening.
As an exercise in using simple theatrical conventions to share a very real human experience, so that the wider community will have a greater understanding of what an IVF candidates goes through, Mis{s} Conception does, however, meet its objectives.
Without wishing to detract from the clear commitment of these performers in publicising a private problem, I do feel compelled to add that it’s shows like this that can make us realise how easily we take excellent acting for granted.
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