Baby is a new play produced by Clean Break and Brixton House. Writer Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti tells us all about it.
“A provocative play about one woman’s desire to survive even though she hasn’t got a chance in hell.”
Where: Brixton House
When: 8-31 Oct
Ticket link: https://brixtonhouse.co.uk/shows/baby/
Tell me about your new play. Baby. What is it about and where did the inspiration come from?
The play is about a woman who has had a complicated life, she was born into poverty and has experience of the criminal justice system. She’s also unusually clever, funny and playful. She emerges on stage and it becomes clear that she wants to tell the audience something and she also wants something from them. As she shares her life story, which is provocative, unexpected and at moments, shocking, there’s a process of catharsis.
As part of my commission with Clean Break, I spent time in a women’s prison and ran writing workshops. Working with the women was moving, inspirational and also deeply sad.
When I was waiting to go through security, I noticed a trail of babies in buggies being wheeled out by nursery nurses on the mother and baby unit.
It struck me that their mothers would never experience taking them out and the babies would never experience being outside with their mothers.
I couldn’t get the image out of my head. I wanted to delve deeper and make sense of something that felt unjust and pointless.
What has the casting of Pearl Mackie brought to the play that perhaps wasn’t there when you put it on the page?
Pearl is a wonderful actor, charismatic and brave. She has the trait that all great actors have – to be truly and only in the moment.
Her ability to use the text and express a vast range of emotions with depth and honesty is extraordinary. She has brought Baby to life in a visceral and magical way and is absolutely electric in the part.
This is your second collaboration with Clean Break. What is the relationship like and has it has a significant impact on your writing practice since Scenes From Lost Mothers?
Clean Break is a special company. There is nowhere like it. I love the fact that members are at the centre of the work and watching women blossom and develop their talents is exciting and profound.
I actually wrote Baby before Scenes From Lost Mothers – this was a play that was developed from Dr Laura Abbott’s research alongside interviews with the Birth Companions’ Lived Experience Team.
The piece was performed by Clean Break members and has been on at the House of Commons twice. The ethos of Clean Break aligns with some of my own ambitions as a writer, to give voice to difficult experiences and to shine a light on injustice and the roots of trauma.
What do you hope audiences will take away from seeing Baby?
I hope the show is an entertaining ride for an audience. I think drama transcends what we think we know and appeals to our hearts and minds in an almost spiritual way.
I would love for the show to activate a kind of activism in an audience or at least be a catalyst to start looking at difficult issues and ideas through a different lens, with more compassion and empathy.
How have you found working with director Milli Bhatia and the creative team? Have they surprised you as Baby has been developed for its stage premiere?
Milli is one of the most talented directors in the country and she and her whole creative team have embraced Baby’s story with incredible passion and sensitivity.
I’m delighted that they are bringing their skills and imagination to Baby’s story, they are building a piece of work that is going to be a real theatrical event.
They are the best collaborators I could have hoped for.