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The Cervical Monologues

An engaging collection of monologues exploring life, love, sex and the cervical screening process

Starts: 2010-03-04
Finishes: 2010-03-10

Availability:

Currently available for one-off bookings and short tours. Please contact info@womenandtheatre.co.uk for more information

The Cervical Monologues is on tour in Dudley during March 2010, please click here for details.

Introduction

The Cervical Monologues is an engaging and accessible theatre production that explores life, love, sex & sexuality, as well as demystifying the cervical screening process, through the sharing of stories of real people. Researched with a range of women and health professionals, the play encompasses an entertaining mix of characters and opinions.

Combining original music and visuals with strong performances, Women & Theatre have done for the Cervix what Eve Ensler did for the Vagina!

The piece promotes cervical health but, as with all W&T productions, takes a holistic look at the whole woman, touching on:
• love & sexuality
• relationships with others and ourselves
• body image
• birth and motherhood
• our lives!

The Cervical Monologues is one of our most popular plays, devised and proving effective for:
• health professionals’ training
• health promotion in the community
• an entertaining and thought provoking piece of theatre

The play stands alone as a powerful theatre event but can also be accompanied by a facilitated post-show post-show discussion, allowing audiences to engage with the issues raised and receive more information.

History

The Cervical Monologues was originally developed with funding from the Women’s Nationwide Cancer Control Campaign to raise awareness around cervical cancer. W&T decided to do our own version of the famous Vagina Monologues, and developed the script through in-depth research with a wide range of people including women with diverse cultural backgrounds and opinions, GPs, practice nurses, CIU staff, lab staff and Boots Walk-in staff. The Cervical Monologues premiered with a gala at the Patrick Centre, Birmingham Hippodrome in 2005.

In a few short years The Cervical Monologues has been all over the country and performed to all kinds of people, including:
• The RCN Annual Conference three years in a row
• The first Irish Cervical Screening Programme National Conference 2007
• London Quality Assurance Reference Centre (NHS Cancer Screening Services) Annual Conference two years in a row
• BSCCP (BRITISH Society of Colposcopy & Cervical Pathology) National Conference 2006
• Schools including Swanshurst & St Paul’s, Birmingham
• The Courtyard Theatre, Hereford
• GP Training, Surrey
• International Women’s Day 2007 at The Hub, Birmingham

The play involves minimum set and little technical requirements, making it a very adaptable piece that can be performed in a range of spaces from a traditional theatre space to a community room to one end of a classroom.

Notes

The Cervical Monologues is a wonderful piece to be involved with – both as a performer and director. The relationship with the audience is key and its about really wanting to communicate with people; wanting to share the rich experiences and stories that make up the monologues. So the style is quite direct, open and true!

What never ceases to amaze me is just how many different people love these monologues, these ‘stories’ have the power to connect with so many people ….. and that’s the joy of them!
Terina Talbot, W&T Associate Director

Outcome

The Cervical Monologues is one of our most popular plays and is a hit with audiences, bookers and press… just take a look at what people have said about this funny and enlightening production!

Press
The Cervical Monologues, featuring some of the more intimate medical experiences of Birmingham women, was funny and wise and delighted a full house at The Library Theatre.
Terry Grimley, Arts Editor, Birmingham Post, September 2005

Audiences
It was very honest. I am glad it retained all the emotion. That made it very magical.

Everybody should see it!

Superb! Women & Theatre go from strength to strength.

It was fabulous and heartbreaking at times.

It was extremely informative and reflected women’s dilemmas/success/experience. Well done for telling it how it is!

Health Professionals
Health professionals got a lot out of it, realising about women at the other end of the speculum.

“Thank you so much for your very thought provoking performance… It is good to be reminded that there is a ‘woman’ behind all the investigations with her own conceptions, myths, ideas, feelings and knowledge. Your performance will have touched every one of us to think about this just a little more and will have helped us care for our women just a little better!”

I will remember the positive and negative experiences that ‘real life’ women have had and how that information should be shared with practitioners to inform future practice.

It certainly hit home as a health professional.

Production Credits

Researched & Written by: Kate Chapman and Alison Belbin
Additional Research & Editing by: Janice Connolly
Directed by: Terina Talbot
Music & Visuals by: Michael Aduwali
Original Cast: Lorna Laidlaw, Naomi Gudge and Joanne Moseley

Downloads

Cervical Monologues information & booking guidelines

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