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An avalanche of empathy
MARY CONWAY sees a riveting performance from Maxine Peake inhabiting the experience of a woman undergoing fertility treatment
On a journey: Maxine Peake in Avalanche
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MARY CONWAY is disappointed by a star-studded adaptation of Ibsen’s play that is devoid of believable humanity
Avalanche: A Love Story
The Barbican, London
AVALANCHE is one woman’s story of in vitro fertilisation (IVF) and it is, by its very nature, a gruelling experience.
The centrepiece of the Barbican’s first international Fertility Fest, designed to raise awareness of fertility and infertility issues globally, it’s based on Julia Leigh’s very personal account of her own IVF treatment and is performed as a monologue by Maxine Peake.
IVF is no picnic and, for those who have no experience of it, Leigh’s piece is an eye-opener. The magic and mystery of conception are reduced to detailed analyses of hormone injections, fresh and frozen human eggs, sperm counts and “viable blastocysts.”
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