In 1979 women in their thousands joined demonstrations against a proposed restrictive amendment to the 1967 Abortion Act. The amendment was defeated.
That generation of women was one of the first to have access to safe terminations and safe(ish) contraception, regardless of marital status or ability to pay.
In 1973 the famous decision in Roe v Wade gave American women similar rights.
On 24 June 2022 the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade.
That could never happen here.
Or could it?
Laura Walker’s thought-provoking 24Weeks takes place entirely in a flatshare bathroom. It’s the morning after the night before and Becca is definitely not well. She doesn’t usually feel this bad. She hardly remembers a thing about the party. Did she get off with Josh?
Faye and Georgia won’t tell her. She’s ‘just hungover.’ Faye’s keen to give her an unidentified drink. Georgia’s equally keen to stop her drinking it.
As Becca begins to realise that alcohol may not be the sole cause of her malaise, Faye and Georgia argue about what to do. They had a plan, a plan to protect Becca, though from what we do not yet know.
But what we soon do know is that these three young women are in a very serious situation indeed.
This story is told in two halves. As a horrified Becca runs from the room, a video takes us back to the previous night; loud music, people having fun – and three girls running up the stairs to the bathroom.
In 2025 the girls’ talk might have been about doctors, clinics, support organisations. But we are in the ‘near distant future’; things have changed. Now women can’t even buy condoms, and any attempt, successful or otherwise, to terminate a pregnancy is a criminal offence. Georgie is a nurse; she’s seen the aftermath of botched amateur abortions, and she knows the consequences aren’t only medical. Faye is a social worker; she’s seen what happens when women are forced to go through with pregnancies they don’t want or can’t cope with.
Both of them know what happens to people who procure, perform or even collude with terminations. Faye thinks it’s worth the risks. Georgia has her own shocking reasons for thinking it’s not. Becca must make a choice, and whichever choice she makes will change her life.
At this first preview performance Erin Jederon-Hogg (Becca) Katie Pedelty (Faye) and LJ Williams (Georgia) all bring real depth, nuance and credibility to their characters, Jederon-Hogg being particularly impressive as the brave, vulnerable, slightly naive Becca. As she fiddles with her hands and smooths down her crumpled clothes every subtle gesture conveys her inner turmoil. She speaks eloquently about why she slept with an unknown man,
‘I’d forgotten what it’s like to touch another person’s skin…..I needed it, something tangible and real.’
Williams and Pedelty also show skill and imagination in developing their roles. Georgia could easily have been used to represent the anti-abortion lobby, but Williams and Walker show us that the reasons for her behaviour are far more complex than that, and rooted in past experience. We feel the conflicts Georgia feels; we know her anger is born of guilt and fear.
Meanwhile Pedelty’s urgent, highly charged delivery makes it clear that while Faye’s views seem diametrically opposed to Georgia’s, what she wants above all is to make sure Becca’s choice is hers and hers alone. Party girl Becca has to become an adult,
‘Don’t make me be your mother’
24Weeks explores issues of control, fear, friendship, and the extremes to which women must often go simply to preserve the freedoms men take for granted. It asks who should have the right to choose, and addresses the consequences of trying to deny women autonomy over their own bodies, their own futures. Stripped of their rights, denied humane treatment, women will always find a way – but if that way is criminalised they may be forced to take unnecessary and highly dangerous risks. The play also considers questions of responsibility; should we primarily look out for number one, or do we have a moral obligation to consider the effects of our actions on others?
Despite their fear and fury, the girls retain a sense of hope. There is a particularly moving moment when, in the middle of all the terror and pain, they chat about the children they could have in future,
‘“Could” is a beautiful word’
24Weeks is a powerful play. In the current political climate the issues it raises could not be more pressing, yet it manages to be neither didactic nor preachy; it is primarily still a story, one well told, well acted and very well worthy of your time this August.
24Weeks is a Tatty Pants Theatre Company production. See it at Nip at Gilded Balloon Patter House (Venue 24), Chambers Street at 1pm every day until 25 August (no performance on 7, 14 and 21 August.)
https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/24weeks
