The little-known condition Premature Ovarian Insufficiency (POI) and attitudes to women’s health issues in general are explored, questioned and raged against in Flushed, a funny and heart-warming show about two sisters coming to terms with one’s recent diagnosis.
Presented at Underbelly at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2018, Theatre Unlocked’s debut show was created in close collaboration with UK charity The Daisy Network, as well as multiple individuals living with POI, to shed light on how the condition affects sense of identity and life choices. Flushed plays out in seven different bathrooms, as sisters Marnie and Jen retreat to that well known refuge for a heart-to-heart through cubicle walls.
Flushed, along with Sold, is part of the Say it, Women double bill of stories celebrating women’s strength.
Writer and co-founder of Theatre Unlocked Catherine Cranfield said, “the motivation behind Flushed came from a desire to explore two main things: sisterhood and attitudes towards women’s health issues. Besides that, I was unsure of the specifics of what I wanted the show to be – other than that it would be set in various different toilets! As I delved deeper into my research of women’s health, I was struck by the lack of conversation surrounding Premature Ovarian Insufficiency, and it became clear that this was what Flushed needed to explore. However, what was vital to me was that Flushed would be funny. This is not a bleak and sombre play – it’s a heart-warming hug, it’s an uplifting and relatable celebration of sisterhood and female strength, and it’s an answer to that age old question: why do women go to the bathroom in pairs?”
In a Park Theatre first, this production is part of the Say it, Women double bill, which also features Kuumba Nia Arts and Unlock the Chains Collective’s Sold, a forgotten true story inspired by the storytelling traditions of the West African griot told through theatre, song, live drumming and dance. These two plays not only find an unheard female voice, but sing it from the rooftops, beaconing the listener and celebrating women’s strength.
Flushed is at Park Theatre 12 October – 6 November 2021.
