Raw, brave, wild, and hopeful, Dirty mother is a roller-coaster of emotion in a very untraditional theatre show.

In this fairly ‘woke’ era of sex-positivity and sharing our inner lives on the internet, Dirty Mother tells one of the few taboo stories left: that of unromanticised childbirth.

Through recreated photos, audio footage, pictures of the Royal Family with devil eyes, and a very large pair of pink knickers, Michelle Hall tells the tale of her son’s birth, warts, blood, fear, and all. There are comedic elements all through the show, indeed, the voiceover telling the story is a recording of Michelle doing stand-up, which creates a dissonance between the recorded laughter and the despair on Michelle’s face. Michelle thus emphasises the divide between the socially acceptable birth narrative and her lived experience. A lot of the emotion is conveyed via interpretive dance, which is not to everyone’s taste, but adds another unexpected element to the unhinged tone of the story. 

The show presumably held even more resonance for people who are mothers themselves, or have had similarly unromantic birth experiences, as at least three women seated around me were audibly in tears. Even though I couldn’t relate to Michelle’s experience myself, I felt her desperation, loneliness, and fear for the future, and what is theatre if not for stepping into someone else’s emotional landscape for a moment?

It took a while to process the immense variety happening on stage, but one thing is very clear: Michelle won’t stand for anyone editing her experience to fit the narrative, and the catharsis that comes with that was palpable on the stage. She also pulled off a move of immense vulnerability in the fetal position while in a headstand, which is hard to top. Well done, Michelle.