Birds of Paradise Theatre Company

Scotland's touring theatre company promoting disabled artists and supporting the arts sector

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Afterbirth

Part of Confluence Eden Courts’ 50th-year celebration.

An expectant mother stands at a window, excited, a little anxious perhaps, but mainly excited… She is going to do this! She is going to out poppins Mary!

Part of Confluence Eden Courts’ 50th-year celebration. Confluence is an immersive promenade performance exploring these moments when lives intersect and shape who we become.

But this is not the Hollywood version.  This is… not how it was meant to be.  Join Sally in her living room as she takes the leap from expectant mother to the reality of the early stages of caring for and feeding a new life, the unknown journey we consent to, the delirium of lack of sleep, and the internalised and societal expectations set for ‘how to be a perfect mother’.

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Afterbirth is a short performance commissioned with co-producers Eden Court as part of its 50th anniversary promenade production, Confluence. In Afterbirth, Sally Clay took as a starting point her experience of becoming a mother, the juxtapositions of the expectations and the reality of motherhood, and the curiosity and assumptions that her blindness creates around other people’s perception of her in this role. Directed by Natasha Gilmour and told through movement, song, and an evocative soundscape, Sally takes an irreverent and playful dive into an experience that is universal yet deeply personal.

“But…how do you change a nappy?”
– Midwife

This performance will have us questioning the expectations of new motherhood, for which no manual can prepare you, and the reality that plays out as we build a new relationship with a whole other being – and ourselves.

Written and performed by singer, musical director and actor Sally Clay with integrated captions, BSL Interpretation and audio description at every performance. 

“her show comes as a vital reminder that joining the big flow of life can be difficult, in a society still less inclusive that it sometimes imagines”
★★★★ The Scotsman, Joyce McMillan

Dates

Fri 30 Oct – Sun 8 Nov
Times vary
Eden Court, Inverness

Starting point in Eden Court’s Café Bar

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Access

Afterbirth is a 15-minute performance that is part of a one and a half hour promenade production. Afterbirth is one of five performances that the audience experiences in spaces across the venue. Sally performs in the MacLean Room.

Audio description, BSL and captions are embedded within every Afterbirth performance. Please note that access to the wider production varies.

Audio description
The audio description is available via headsets for Afterbirth as part of the wider Confluence production. It has been developed with audio description consultant Emma-Jane McHenry. PLEASE NOTE closed audio description is available across all five productions at every performance of Confluence. Collect headsets at the starting point of Confluence and access an introduction.

British Sign Language
British Sign Language is built into the creative design of the piece and displayed on screens – sit in the front row of seats for the best view. PLEASE NOTE there is one fully BSL-interpreted performance on Sunday 8 November at 6:45pm, with interpreters Rebecca Goodall and Karen Forbes providing interpretation across the full promenade.

Captions
Captions are displayed in the performance spaces at every performance, so you can follow the words and song lyrics. Sit in the front row of seats for the best view.

Getting around
Confluence is a promenade production: you’ll move through Eden Court in small groups, with a member of front of house staff alongside you throughout. The route to Afterbirth has step-free options – please alert FOH – and there is seating in every performance space.

Relaxed performance
A relaxed performance takes place on Sunday 8 November at 3:15pm.

Booking and questions
To book access tickets or talk through what you need, contact Eden Court Box Office. If you’d like to tell us anything before you come, we’d love to hear from you.

Team

Sally Clay – Lead artist / performer
Natasha Gilmour – Director
Novasound – Sound Production
Emma-Jane McHenry – Audio Describer
Catherine King – BSL Director
Amy Murray – BSL Performer
Amy Helena – BSL Performer
Kodi Sheilds – BSL Performer
Judith Williams – Supporting Artist
Catherine Idle – Stage Manager
Colin Purves – Filmmaker and AV Design
Tim Reid – AV Design
Mairi Taylor – Executive Director, creatively embedded access
Michelle Rolfe – Producer
Jen McGregor – Associate Artistic Director, dramaturgical support
Hannah Smit – Personal and Production Assistant

Meet the wider Confluence artists

Photos

A candid photo framed through a glass panel or window, showing a woman with blonde hair wearing a white dress, holding a white mobility cane in one hand while extending her other arm outward with a joyful, smiling expression. Behind her, white linens, including an intricately patterned lace cloth, hang on a clothesline. The dark silhouettes of spectators frame the foreground, looking on as she performs in a softly lit, intimate setting.
A candid photo framed through a glass panel, capturing a woman in a white dress holding a white mobility cane horizontally above her head with both hands, her face tilted upward in an expressive, triumphant gesture. To her right, white linens hanging on a clothesline catch the warm, soft interior light. Out-of-focus dark silhouettes of an audience frame the foreground, creating a intimate, theatrical perspective of her performance.
A candid photo framed through a window glass, showing the woman in a white dress peering out between light-colored curtains with a contemplative expression, one hand raised open toward the pane. Soft warm light illuminates her from within, contrasting with the dark blurred silhouettes of onlookers in the foreground who observe the quiet, intimate performance moment.
A performance photograph showing the blonde woman sitting on a chair in a warm beige sweater and white skirt, cradling a swaddled bundle close to her chest with a tender, focused expression. Behind her hangs a dark vertically striped curtain, while a screen on the left displays blue text reading "No, you're doing it completely wrong." In the foreground, the dark silhouette of an audience member frames the left side of the scene, creating a sense of intimate observation.
A theatrical photo showing the blonde woman standing center stage in a brown knit sweater and long white dress, clutching a white swaddled bundle to her chest with eyes closed and an emotional expression. Beside her stands a white armchair, while in the background on the left, a vertical monitor displays a recorded image of a person performing BSL/sign language. The warm stage lighting highlights the raw emotion of her performance against dark striped backdrop curtains.
A performance photograph capturing the blonde woman standing center stage, wearing a cozy brown knit sweater over a long white dress while cradling a white swaddled bundle in her arms. She gazes down at the bundle with a tender, tearful expression filled with emotion. Warm spotlighting illuminates her against a backdrop of dark, vertically striped curtains, with a white chair and woven basket set behind her, and the blurred silhouette of an audience member framing the dark foreground.

Photos by Dylan Morrison