PERIOD.
BATS Theatre, The Random Stage, 1 Kent Tce, Wellington
19/03/2019 - 23/03/2019
The Dark Room, Cnr Pitt and Church Street, Palmerston North
11/10/2018 - 12/10/2018
Production Details
A comedy about menstruation
It’s leak week! Eleven-year-old Karla has her period for the first time and Urban Dictionary isn’t providing much help.
“Hysterically funny… And beautiful” Theatreview
Let’s paint the town red! Eleven-year-old Karla has her period for the first time and Urban Dictionary isn’t providing much help. Not just for girls, this taboo crushing, period positive skit comedy takes you along as Karla experiences every menstruators’s worst nightmares… Overflows! Rouge pads! PMS! Grab your blood plugs, dust off the surfboards, it’s leak week.
Period.is a skit comedy about, well, periods! This solo show, performed by Amy Atkins, follows 11-year-old Karla as she experiences her period for the very first time.
It’s a 45-minute interactive performance. Audiences can expect tampon monsters, giant vagina pillows, and to hold and learn to fold menstrual cups!
Period. is about changing the way society talks about periods. This educational skit comedy interweaves real stories from women and the LGBT+ community into the performance. You will find yourself laughing one moment and questioning how society views this natural bodily function the next.
It encourages menstruators and non-menstruators to engage in a respectful conversation about periods. Periods are not gross, not dirty, they are completely natural!
No one should have to whisper in the shadows about periods. No one should have to hide their pads in pockets and sneak off to the bathroom. No one should ever, ever, have to use socks, tissues, old pads, or rags to manage their flow. Nor should anyone have to go without period products and suffer in silence.
Period. was conceptualised in direct response to the flood of news articles from UK, India, and New Zealand about girls skipping class because they had no access to period products or their school would not provide adequate facilities.
Let’s crush this taboo and break the silence, alleviate period shaming, and end period poverty in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Amy has undergone extensive research including reading texts like Menstrupedia, Te Awa Atua: menstruation in the pre-colonial Māori world, and Chicken Soup for the Girls Soul; consulting online resources like Embracing It, and Endometriosis New Zealand; and interviewing a diverse range of menstruators whose stories feature in the script and skits of the work.
THE DARK ROOM
Thursday 11th & Friday 12th October 2018
6pm
$12 Full, $10 Concession
$5 13yrs and under
BOOK TICKETS
NZ Fringe 2019
BATS Theatre The Random Stage
19 – 23 March 2019
6:30pm
Full Price $20
Concession Price $15
Group 6+ $14
Addict Cardholder $14
BOOK TICKETS
Accessibility
The Random Stage is fully wheelchair accessible; please contact the BATS Box Office by 4.30pm on the show day if you have accessibility requirements so that the appropriate arrangements can be made. Read more about accessibility at BATS.
Lighting Design and operation by Danielle Sciascia
Theatre , Solo , Sketch , Comedy ,
45 mins
Everyone deserves to see this – period.
Review by Emilie Hope 19th Mar 2019
Amy Atkins greets everyone at the door of the Random Stage at BATS and hands them a menstrual cup. We are asked to return these at the end of the show (damn!). Once we’re in our seats, the sweet childhood exploration of menstruation begins!
period. follows the story of Carla, a young (her age is never quite pinpointed) resourceful girl who gets a big red box with a golden present bow for her birthday. Inside are pads, reusable pads, tampons, tampons with applicators, and menstruation cups. It’s clear she doesn’t know what they are, making armour from the pads (women are powerful, yes!), and thinking an applicator is a lollipop, but she’s having fun figuring it out.
Rather than letting her mother bore her with scientific research, we are invited to join her on the journey. Sometimes quite literally. Atkins, as well has having open expressions, has a warm and kind demeanour which allows the audience to feel comfortable watching her trying to insert a tampon, helping her play a game on stage, and even joining her in learning how to fold the menstruation cup we were given at the top of the show.
While Carla is fun and sweet, the show is broken up with acted verbatim pieces of women’s experiences with menstruation, as well as how mothers teach their own children. While we listen to this, Atkins brings out various puppets: plush satin vulva puppets, tampon puppets on strings, and a small child-sized doll made of pads. These small pieces of performative art help the audience reflect on how we talk and think about menstruation.
Atkins is a giving and entertaining solo performer. Carla hardly speaks, so a lot of our understanding of the story comes through her face, making me instantly fall in love with her character and sympathise with her journey.
I am so pleased to hear period. is going into schools. It deserves it. It’s full of beautiful moments between the audience and Carla, very much present with her by being bathed in the same light, as well as some more reflective poignant scenes.
Everyone, of any age and gender, deserves to see this show – period.
Copyright © in the review belongs to the reviewer
Hysterically funny in places; beautiful in others
Review by Alexandra Bellad-Ellis 12th Oct 2018
Period follows the story of 11 year old Karla, who has her period for the first time and is finding the whole thing quite confusing. She’s learning about pads, tampons, menstrual cups and all the other things that go along with that time of the month (including an extraordinary range of slang).
Using everything from voice overs, puppetry, and instructional demonstrations with the audience (everyone gets a menstrual cup on the way in), Amy Atkins shares Karla’s experience with us.
Hysterically funny in places and beautiful in others, Amy gives a stellar performance. The puppetry is particularly captivating. And this is not just a play for women, there were many men in the audience enjoying the performance. This really is a lovely piece of theatre, cleverly written and beautifully presented.
Copyright © in the review belongs to the reviewer
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