We have just come back from London and there was feedback on the pitch of Mycelial, what way should we talk about it, what could help our audiences understand ahead of time what the production is about. It’s about highlighting the consequences of legislation that criminalises the sex buyer. We have post show panels, and they are welcomed by our audiences. There is a lot to unpack and understand. Space is created by the production and the panel.
Audiences have said they have needed the post-show panels, the underpinning of detail with the Nordic Model and what is the Decriminalization of Sex Work. A question asked, since it was made in front of a live audience last year, how can we be an ally?
I’ve prepped this morning for an interview with someone I love chatting to, and the questions were sent ahead. The first is ‘what is Mycelial about’? I know this from 26yrs of making work with the company, I’m supposed to tell the story, but what is the story? I wrote notes….
Mycelial was created in a moment when the world slowed and stopped, the pandemic. You meet characters, inspired by sex worker activists from across the world, our co-creators and authors, tell their stories of the ordinary and extraordinary. It’s a story of community, activism, justice and humanity. It’s international, beautiful, funny – it’s got talking cats, chats about world wars, borders and stops to ask ‘what is money’.
The world was full of unrest and protest, Black lives Matter, shouts for the rights of Black Trans Lives, and the invasion of Ukraine. We wrote, talked, laughed, debated and waited. We had no idea if we would ever make a show. It was four years in the planning, flights booked, workshops prepared, then the world closed its doors. As the clock ticked, we talked to each other about lockdowns.
We learnt in Aotearoa/New Zealand there were sex workers on the street, those asking for help, ashamed they didn’t have a bubble to go to. Activists pulling on their coats and walking into the night air. The world counted teddy bears and in Ireland they shared thoughts on the Catholic Church, state violence, feminists who work with the Church, stigma and self-harm. Co-creators talked about being trans and intersex, the harms done, the surgery and decision made. Being Neurodivergent, ADHD, dopamine, writing books and making pies. The first interviews in the North East started with a broken washing machine and pavements pounded for work, money, the community and laughter. Others talked about radiators, rape and escape. Diverse and intersectional, the co-creators and Open Clasp wrote. They were online, and full of creative writing, different, the individual and their story centre stage, they were a collective still but each story told needed its own platform.
In the play you see the context of the world, shipping lanes, the universe, stars and constellations. It’s epic and at the same time, it’s ordinary, it’s us, they, she and us.
Sex Workers involved said they, are like the Mycelial, ancient communication systems, reaching out, building power, despite the threats over ground. A community, being there for each other and others.
The sex worker activists we had the honour to work with stand on bridges in protest for the rights of themselves, the right not to be criminalised, for a home, community, heat, food, purpose.
Decriminalisation of sex workers: the call is led by sex workers, those that have the experience, and expertise but it goes unheard, unfunded and the narrative twisted. The data is a battle ground, proof and evidence, pushed and pulled. Mycelial is the story that creates empathy. Its theatre co-created and not taken from. It’s a movement, all of us working together but it’s the theatre that can make the change. We aim to change the world by making the best theatre we can. I’ve had it said that this is one of the best productions we have ever made, more than once.
I’m about to find and pack my suitcase, we take Mycelial to Aotearoa/New Zealand, to the collective, co-creators and warriors. The beauty of a theatrical piece made for film is still in England, screening at the North East Sex Work Forum on the 15th November. We return to our home at the West End Women & Girls Centre on the 10th and 11th December where it all started, the need to buy a washing machine, the bridge over the River Liffey and Aotearoa – we are coming full circle, the sunsetting here, and rising there.
The Mycelial ebbs and pulses.
Catrina
