Written by Nottingham’s own Jane Upton and shortlisted for the Bruntwood Prize, (the) Woman is coming to Nottingham Playhouse this month. Following a woman struggling to balance her potential as a playwright with her responsibilities as a mother, it tackles hard truths about motherhood and conflicting identities. Jane was able to take the time out of her day to talk to us at LeftLion, having raced back from picking up arts and craft supplies for her children. But, as Jane herself puts it: “Sums it up, doesn’t it?”
In terms of the process, what has it been like collaborating with a creative team on such a personal play?
I started writing in 2021. It was a really hard time because our second child was born in traumatic circumstances with a rare condition. I was clawing my way out of this intense period of change, really, of just a complete shattered sense of self. Then this guy, who I went out with in school said to my brother he’d seen me pushing a buggy around and had expected more from me than just having kids in my hometown. I know that's a feeling people have about mothers. Shamefully, I think I made that judgement myself when I was younger. But he’d said it brazenly and out loud, and I just thought, ‘Wow, that has really lit a fire in me’. So I started to write the play.
New Perspectives wanted to commission and produce it, and that's when it became a collaboration. They said to me, who do you want to be your dramaturg? I really wanted to work with Sarah Dickenson, who I had met years ago at a Soho workshop. Angharad Jones from New Perspectives, brilliantly, got Sarah on board. Honestly, I've never felt this feeling before of somebody who just got me. She's just like a midwife for my instincts.
We had an incredible group of actors doing the first reading, including Ray Fearon and Rosie Wyatt. We also joke that Angharad arranged this special gift for me, because I’m a Sleaford Mods fan. She got lead singer Jason Williamson to do the reading, because he's also an actor. He was brilliant. From that reading, we just kind of stepped away from it. We had a clearer idea of what it was.
So many people come up after the show, like, ‘You've literally taken a chunk out of my head and put it on stage’, and it was men and women. There's a lot of meaty conversations in life that are not gendered
What has it been like to watch the reception of this play?
You know, it’s funny, I don’t really know what’s wrong with me. People say ‘Oh, it’s brave to put those sorts of things on stage.’ I guess because they think the character is literally me - it’s not. I feel like getting to put this play on, and getting to say this, is such a relief.
I know a lot of people carry those feelings around, and when there is no outlet for that, what do you do with it? It would be brave to be holding them and not shouting about them. Yeah, it’s a chance to breathe. If you're an artist and you have those ways of expressing yourself, it’s a real kind of privilege.
I've been glad we've had good reviews. I want people to see reviews and think: ‘Oh, yeah, we'll go’. Because I do feel like a lot of people are turned off by the subject matter, and have these very quick judgments about what it'll be, and that it won't be very interesting. So I'm glad that, on that level, we've had good, nuanced, thoughtful reviews.
This play will really resonate with women; with working mothers particularly. What are you hoping that men might get out of this play?
I really think that men should see it. So many men will connect with it. Jason Williamson absolutely loved it, and was really lyrical about it. He said, “Oh my God, I was reading this, and I went to my wife and just said, ‘I'm so sorry’”. So many people come up after the show, like, ‘You've literally taken a chunk out of my head and put it on stage’, and it’s men and women. There's a lot of meaty conversations in life that are not gendered.
What was the thinking behind the ‘Dirty Laundry’ workshop being run at Nottingham Playhouse? What are you hoping will come out of it?
We were hoping to get a lead actress who was a mother, and we auditioned quite a few who were brilliant, but when we saw Lizzy Watts, who doesn’t have children, we just loved her – she brought so much to the part. Now, we’ve been through the process I’m reminded how incredibly hard it would have been for a mother with a very young child to take it on. The rehearsal period is so intense due to the time and resources available and it’s very hard realistically to create a schedule that would work. I barely saw my kids for four weeks and my husband picked up all the slack. It was a reminder of just how hard it is for actors with children and how that really needs to be addressed more.
Dirty Laundry is a workshop we are running for mothers in theatre – they can bring kids under five. It’s just a chance to be in a room with other artists and we will be doing some writing and sharing thoughts and ideas about how the industry could work better for parents. You lose your artist identity quite a lot when you have little children, because it's very hard to find the headspace, the time, and the energy to connect. Because you can bring kids along, it just makes it a bit more accessible to connect and have those artistic discussions.
Is there anything else that you would like people to know before they come and see (the) Woman at Nottingham Playhouse?
People should know that it’s fast, it’s funny, it's brutal, and it's honest. It doesn’t shy away from conversations that we’re often too afraid to have in relationships. People will hopefully connect with it. I used to be really tied up in knots, asking myself ‘am I a writer?’, or ‘what have I got to say?’. But now I know that when I get the feeling that I’m connecting with people through my work, it's literally the thing that helps me breathe. It's why I do it.
What's it like having (the) Woman be performed at Nottingham Playhouse?
I've had a few plays at Nottingham Playhouse now and it’s always so exciting. The Playhouse was part of my childhood, because we went to the pantomime there every year. Apart from that, I never really went to the theatre so it was a really special place for me. It's obviously nice to have stuff on in your home theatre too because lots of people you love can come and it feels like a celebration
Catch (the) Woman at Nottingham Playhouse between Monday 10 – Tuesday 11 March.
Please note: this interview appears in our March 2025 edition and edits have been made for clarity since printing.
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