Bush Theatre To Host FERTILITY ARTS FESTIVAL

Fertility Fest, the world's first arts festival dedicated to fertility, infertility, modern families and the science of making babies, is delighted to announced the programme for its second edition taking place at Bush Theatre, 8 - 13 May 2018. Over 150 world class artists and fertility experts including scientists, clinicians and academics will share the stage to explore the bigger picture of fertility in the 21st century together, through theatre, music, film, photography, dance, visual arts, literature, poetry, discussion, workshops and debate. The diverse programme will bring together all voices - whatever their sex, experience or parenting stories - to ask key questions about fertility science and education, and encourage a more open public discourse around these issues.

By giving a platform to these crucial conversations, Fertility Fest hopes to encourage wider public discourse around these issues, as well as improving the emotional care of fertility patients and the fertility education of young people. Fertility Fest was founded by Jessica Hepburn and Gabby Vautier, drawing on their extensive experience as leading arts producers and fertility patients to create a fresh and distinctive festival that uses the power of the arts to explore the complex societal issues and emotional experiences of modern-family making.

Tickets for Fertility Fest 2018 are available from the Bush Theatre website from 6th February priced at £10 - £35. Fertility Fest is supported by both the Wellcome Trust and the Arts Council and British Fertility Society, and works closely with a consortium of fertility clinics including: The Lister Fertility Clinic, City Fertility, CREATE Fertility, CRGH, The London Women's Clinic and Fertility Plus.

PROGRAMME HIGHLIGHTS

What Comes First The Career or the Egg?

Exploring this very modern dilemma will be artists from Whiteslate Theatre's play Re:production and author Diane Chandler, whose novel Moondance charts the physical and emotional strain of IVF on a career driven couple, joined by Joyce Harper, Prof of Human Genetics and Embryology at the Institute for Women's Health University College London and Shaun Rogers Senior Embryologist and Laboratory Manager at Gennet City Fertility.

Does Motherhood Make You Happy?

In 2015, Jessica Hepburn swam the English Channel to raise awareness and money for Fertility Network UK. In order to prepare for the 21 mile swim, she interviewed 21 women - some mothers, some not - asking the question Does Motherhood Make You Happy? The result was a series of compelling truths about female fulfilment and the meaning of motherhood which will be published in Jessica's new book 21 Miles: Swimming in search of the meaning of motherhood (Unbound, May 2018). Jessica will be in conversation with some of the women she interviewed (who include Prue Leith, Nicola Horlick, Baroness Prof Susan Greenfield and Baroness Fiona Shackleton)

40 years of IVF & The Future of Fertility

Fertility Fest 2018 will mark the 40th anniversary of IVF as well as looking at the future of reproductive science. In '40 years of IVF', artist Gina Glover will be talking about her recent work, Life in Glass, for which she had access to the photographic archive of the Nobel Prize-winning pioneer of IVF, Prof Robert Edwards. Looking ahead to 'The Future of Fertility', Sarah Douglas, director of the creative design consultancy Liminal Space, will present their project Timeless - a fictional beauty brand designed to unlock the facts around egg-freezing - and artist and designer Adam Peacock, will discuss his latest project Genetics Gym SS18, which explores how brands and products are changing who we aspire to be and how reproductive science might soon meet those aspirations.

The Male Experience of Infertility

The often overlooked male experience of infertility will be explored in 'The Invisible Man' through a screening of The Crossing by Jack King and an excerpt from Thomas Webb's new documentary The Easy Bit. In 'You, Me and The Pornstar' photographer Aaron Deemer and playwright Gareth Farr will give the male perspective of IVF, drawing on Deemer's project documenting semen producing rooms in clinics across the country called Please Make Yourself Uncomfortable, and Farr's play The Quiet House.

The Doctor in the Bedroom

Izzy Judd, author of the bestselling memoir Dare to Dream and wife of McFly's Harry Judd, will share how it feels when you struggle to conceive and your fairy tale life starts to fall apart, together with photographer Sophie Ingleby, whose moving project SEED documents the journey of the fertility patient.

Faith & Queer Fertility

The exponential growth in surrogacy, assisted conception and adoption amongst same sex couples is the subject of 'The Queer Family', with Prof Susan Bewley, former Co-chair of the Lesbian and Gay Doctors and Dentists Association joining the discussion about what this means for family-making in the future. In 'Race, Religion and Reproduction' playwrights Somalia Seaton and Satinder Chohan will discuss the different pressures and prejudices around infertility, depending on what community you come from.

The M Word: Miscarriage Not Motherhood

Experts believe that more than one in five pregnancies end in miscarriage. So why do we still not talk enough about 'The M Word'. Award-winning visual artists Foz Foster and Tabitha Moses will explore how that very word has influenced their creative practice. The artists will be joined on stage by Prof Simon Fishel Founder and President of Care Fertility Group one of the world's most eminent specialists in the field of fertility. Sharing how it feels 'When ART (assisted reproductive technology) Doesn't Work', Julia Copus will be performing her Ted Hughes Award shortlisted poetry cycle Ghost Lines, and photographer and film-maker Katie Barlow, longlisted for the National Portrait Gallery's Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize, will be sharing excerpts from her ongoing documentary film-project Without Child.

The Business of Fertility

Jemma Kennedy, writer of a state of the nation play about the fertility industry - Bank of Britain - will be joined by PEN Ackerly Prize winner Alice Jolly and fertility expert Prof Adam Balen and head of the Progress Educational Trust Sarah Norcross to discuss 'The Business of Fertility', to ask if the booming industry is doing enough to support the customers who are lining its pockets.

Parenting and the IVF Generation

Looking at what it means to be an IVF parent and what it means to be an IVF child. In 'No Longer Extraordinary', parenting after IVF is the subject of theatre trio Drunken Sailor's new cabaret performance, with Anna and Nina Furse sharing the experience of the IVF mother and child. Gareth Farr and Matthew Dunster are teaming up on a new work in progress piece exploring what it means to be a child born of science.

THEATRE, MUSIC AND DANCE

Award winning author and playwright Stella Duffy will be leading a Fertility Fight Club entitled Yes, I wanted children. No, I don't want your children. The Fertility Fight Clubs are a series of provocative ten minute talks about things that artists and experts want to change about the world of fertility. Writer Vivienne Franzmann will be discussing her play Bodies - which premiered at the Royal Court in 2017 and explores the themes of globalisation and capitalism through the lens of international surrogacy. Choices, a play about two women faced with the challenges of reproductive choice, written and performed by Stacey Gregg and directed by Emma Callender; Eggistentialism, a woman's comical quest to figure out the how's and whys of reproducing her genes, written and performed by Joanne Ryan; Aloe Aloe, presented for the talk 'Modern Families', is a short play about making families today, written by Camilla Whitehill, directed by Lucy Jane Atkinson and performed by twelve actors; and The Rhythm Method - a work in progress musical love story (with contraception), written by Gwyneth Herbert and Diane Samuels. Dance artists Maria da luz Ghoumrassi and Shantel Ehrenberg will be showing work from their respective projects in development A Tree and (In)fertile Territories both exploring maternal loss and the bodily moment of encounter with diagnosis.

FILM

Directed by Noah & Maya Moskin, One More Shot is the heart-wrenching story of one American couple struggling through infertility which documents with moving candour the highs and lows of their incredible journey to create a family. The Crossing, written and directed by Jack King which tells the fictional story of Terry, plagued by recurring nightmares following the break-down of his relationship as a result of infertility. There will also be a screening of a section of Thomas Webb's new documentary film The Easy Bit which explores the real-life experiences of men who are struggling to conceive.

VISUAL ART

Artwork by four of Fertility Fest's visual artists will be on display throughout the week including collaborative project Conceiving Histories, between artist Anna Burel and historian Isabel Davis, exploring the history of 'un-pregnancy'; Labour of Love, a body of artwork by Foz Foster celebrating the lives of his three children who were lost through miscarriage; artwork by artist Fiona Dufflen, who finally became a mother through surrogacy; and Life in Glass, by Gina Glover, a body of work incorporating the photographic archive of Prof Robert Edwards.

FESTIVAL DIRECTORS

Jessica Hepburn and Gabby Vautier are amongst the UK's leading patient voices on fertility, infertility and assisted conception, and together their personal experiences present two very different stories of IVF: Jessica went through 11 rounds of unsuccessful treatment; Gabby is the mother of 3 year old IVF twin girls. By giving a platform to these crucial conversations, Jessica and Gabby hope to improve the emotional care of fertility patients - whatever their outcome - and the fertility education of young people.